I was really looking forward to reading this book as its the first I have read on the subject of evacuees. I was left a little disappointed as it was very repetitive throughout the book. The stories were all very similar and without the anecdotal detail that I was hoping for. I would like to have known more detail about the evacuees experiences rather than reading the same summing up of each evacuees experience. It just felt a bit lazy. I still enjoyed the book, just would have liked to know more about the detail of their billets.

When the Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees

On 1 September 1939 Operation Pied Piper bgan to place the children of Britain's industrial cities beyond the reach of the Luftwaffe. 1.5 million children, pregnant women and schoolteachers were evacuated in 3 days. A further 2 million children were evacuated privately; the largest mass evacuation of children in British history. Some children went abroad, others were sent to institutions, but the majority were billeted with foster families. Some were away for weeks or months, others for years. Homecoming was not always easy and a few described it as more difficult than going away in the first place. In When the Children Came Home Julie Summers tells us what happened when these children returned to their families. She looks at the different waves of British evacuation during WWII and explores how they coped both in the immediate aftermath of the war, and in later life. For some it was a wonderful experience that enriched their whole lives, for others it cast a long shadow, for a few it changed things for ever. Using interviews, written accounts and memoirs, When the Children Came Homeweaves together a collection of personal stories to create a warm and compelling portrait of wartime Britain from the children's perspective.

Children evacuated during WWII face challenges returning home.

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When The Children Came Home: Stories Of Wartime Evacuees

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