John Welshman

A fascinating piece of history, focusing on the in depth stories of thirteen children and adults, and talking about the evacuations of schoolchildren within Britain during WWII. I was particularly interested in the way in which these stories were positioned in the context of the academic and policy debates that were going on within Britain at the time, and the way in which the mixing of the population in this way (rural and urban; upper and lower classes) highlighted issues of poverty and ill health. The studies that described the impact of evacuation as worse on children than actual bombings were sobering. And I was particularly moved by the story of the Jewish schoolchildren that were evacuated with their teachers to Shefford.… (meer)