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It seems horrible and sad to me that families were allowed to choose the children they wanted to take into their homes. I think that the fact that they chose the handsome or strongest first is worse. I think that children should have been accommodated in order of priority. I mean, in the first place, they should have accommodated the weakest children or those with some health problem. On the other hand, we must also mention the humanity of the people offering to take care of the children and to help them as much as possible.

Irene T.

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I cannot imagine the lonely feeling of those heartbroken parents whose children were evacuated.

For some children, all this might have seemed as if they were on holidays, but probably, many others remembered those days as a vivid nightmare.
Alberto S.

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In spite of the psychological damage and abuse by the hosts in some cases, these children survived fulfilling the main objective.
It is easy to think that things were not done well, that those abuses could have been avoided and that today things are better. But the reality is that today there are wars, and refugees are often treated in a pitiful way.

Juan V.

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I did not know about this aspect ofd history. As in other countries during the war, it was dangerous to stay in major cities. I can't imagine the drama of families separating from their children and how difficult it must have been for these children to be away from their parents.

No doubt the evacuation was necessary to save the lives of the inhabitants, but the price of the war was too high.

D. Serrano

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I have found  a tender and touching story about a nine year old boy evacuee. I hope that you enjoy the reading.
Curra L.

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BBC - WW2 People's War - An Evacuee's Story

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Now before this I had asked my Mam if I could be evacuated with our Olive who was 6½ years old and ...

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One of the most difficult and painful things about the war. I wouldn't be able to live without my children. I'd rather survive an air raid than a long separation from my kids.
Victoria L.

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CHALLENGE #3 What did Helen organise for the evacuees when she was evacuated herself?

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CHALLENGE #3 What did Helen organise for the evacuees when she was evacuated herself?

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When Helen was evacuated herself, she opened a Saturday morning class for all the evacuees to go in, and she used to sing to them. She loved singing.
Vicente E.

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For Valerie the evacuees were like brothers, since they grew up together. They´ve kept in touch ever since.
Elena L.

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CHALLENGE #4 What kind of relationship did Valerie have with the evacuees her family took in?

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CHALLENGE #4 What kind of relationship did Valerie have with the evacuees her family took in?

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Valerie said her mum tried to treat evacuees as  if they were her own children. "And they were like brothers to me. We grew up together, and that was good. We've kept in touch ever since."
Elena R.

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It was a difficult time for parents to leave their children in order to improve their lives.
Toñi N.

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CHALLENGE #1 How did the people in Oxford treat the evacuees?

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CHALLENGE #1 How did the people in Oxford treat the evacuees?

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"Unfortunately the people in Oxford do not like Londoners". This is the answer given to Hilda Benet, an evacuee from London, when she tried to get a job in a shop and in other places. Besides, they were served last in the stores, it didn't matter where they were in the queue. But, on the contrary, the landlady she stayed with was wonderful. Finally, she got a job  on the buses, as a conductrees.
Trini M.

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The British government tried to protect children and weak or sick people.

Obviously, these people didn’t suffer the effects of the German bombs, but they lacked the affection of their own families.

In addition, some of them suffered all kinds of abuse.

This fact should be taken into account for possible future situations similar to this one.

I believe the best way of learning is from our mistakes.
Ángeles R.

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Although, when the war ended, around 12 per cent of those children say they suffered some sort of mental, physical or even sexual abuse, other children felt they were in a family.

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Although, when the war ended, around 12 per cent of those children say they suffered some sort of mental, physical or even sexual abuse, other children felt they were in a family.

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Loli R.

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I´m not going to talk about the women who worked evacuating, I would like to write about the families which had to send their children to a strange family. I am not a father but I'm completely sure that it had to be awful for those families because they didn't know what kind of family would look after their children, if they would br great or terrible. Generally, the families that hosted children were warm but as we can read on this page, around 2 per cent of those children say they suffered some sort of mental, physical or even sexual abuse.

To summarise, I completely agree with this statement "The main collateral damage in this Operation Pied Piper was the long separation between parents and children".
CARLOS T.

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Another horrible phase of the war are the evacuations of children, families ... It is a pity  we do not learn from the past. History repeats itself, this is still happening in countries like Syria. Day in and day out, images appear in the news like those of the Second World War, showing people fleeing the war. I hope some day we'll learn.

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Another horrible phase of the war are the evacuations of children, families ... It is a pity  we do not learn from the past. History repeats itself, this is still happening in countries like Syria. Day in and day out, images appear in the news like those of the Second World War, showing people fleeing the war. I hope some day we'll learn.

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Leli S

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I saw a film called" The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". The film tells about the evacuation.The movie is a mix between sensitivity and the hardness of those moments. This film can help you understand the evacuation.

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I saw a film called" The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". The film tells about the evacuation.The movie is a mix between sensitivity and the hardness of those moments. This film can help you understand the evacuation.

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Lola G.G.

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I think it must have been one of the hardest things women did during the war.
Carmen G

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This is , together with death, the saddest part of the war. They had to let their children go iso that they would have a chance to survive, but it had to be really hard for the parents. Definitely, they were going to be better in the countryside rather than in the city. The beginning of the first Narnia movie is an example of this.

Ana M. de H.

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It must have been so hard for children to live in the middle of a war away from their families. In the same way, parents had to suffer a lot because if they wanted to protect them, they had to let them go. I believe that this measure made the children's personality much stronger.
Celia T.

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This is  a heartbreaking part of all the wars.  It's painful  to think about the behaviour that many families had with those children. As a motherI couldn't see a kid as a tool to work, or as a sexual object. Jean-Jacques Rousseau though: "Men are good by nature" I totally disagree.
Elena R.

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Thousands of british children were evacuated to safer places during the second world war. Some hated living away from their families. Although sometimes the foster family gave them something that their own family could never have done: a love for books and learning.

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Thousands of british children were evacuated to safer places during the second world war. Some hated living away from their families. Although sometimes the foster family gave them something that their own family could never have done: a love for books and learning.

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José A.B.P.

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The idea of separating a mother from her child is monstrous. I imagine how hard it must have been to take this decision in order to save the lives of your children: leave them in the hands of strangers, abandoned to their fate. The worst about this is that many of the families who hosted the children didn't want them, nor did they treat them well. They just wanted the money. What lack of humanity!

Eva MB

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Although it was possible to save the lives of many children and sick people, the treatment these people received was not the best they could have had. The image of the war is still alive, we don´t learn from the past.
Pedro C.

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CHALLENGE #5 Why was Valerie's mother cooking meals all the time

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CHALLENGE #5 Why was Valerie's mother cooking meals all the time

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Valerie's mother had to look after of their husband, daughter, grandmother, evacuees and an elderly person. Then she had to cook a lot.
P. 51
Ana Mo. R.

This is not exactly the right answer.
Marta

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 How did the people in Bideford treat the evacuees according to Rose Martin?CHALLENGE #2

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 How did the people in Bideford treat the evacuees according to Rose Martin?CHALLENGE #2

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They treated them generously. They shared their lunch boxes with them because they had no food and there were no buffet cars on the trains.
Toñi N

This is not exactly the answer.
Marta

In Bideford, Rose, her mother and brother lived with a farmer and his wife. There was no lighting, but the rationing wasn't so strict as in London.
Montse S.

Better, but still not the right answer.
Marta

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Except on rare occasions, no one will care for a child like his family. Separating children from their parents and taking them to live with real strangers who don't feel any love for them could be traumatic for both of them for the rest of their lives.

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The worst about a war is the civilian victims, long queues of people fleeing their countries. Nowadays we can see a large caravan of migrants going towards the USA
Mario C.