No Time to Wave Goodbye

Shares the experience of people who, as children, were evacuated from their urban homes to rural foster homes, and discusses the effects of this experience

YA-- As early as 1924, a government committee decided that if England were ever at war again, the children would be evacuated from London to small villages in the countryside. This is the story of those evacuated children, often told in their words. In one four-day period alone, over 16,000 children were removed from London; ultimately a quarter of London's population was removed. There are repeated reminiscences of heartbroken parents seeing their children off on trains and having no idea of their destinations. In many instances the children arrived in villages unprepared for lodging them. Many times they endured humiliation and cruelty--sometimes even sexual abuse. But for many others it was an opportunity to escape London's poverty and experience indoor plumbing, use knives and forks, ride in a car or train, and see animals. Actor Michael Caine shares his own experiences as an evacuee in the foreword. Wicks provides his own special insight since he, too, was one of these children. He makes it clear that evacuated children are still trying to cope with the impact of this episode on their lives. --Barbara Weathers, Duchesne Academy, Houston
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The World War II British government evacuated hundreds of thousands of children from London to the countryside, even to Canada and the U.S., to escape German bombs. This greatest movement of people that Britain ever experienced is recalled here by those involved, in interviews with Wicks, a Toronto journalist, who was himself a 12-year-old evacuee. Among them is actor Michael Caine, who remembers being, at age six, one of the "filthy kids from London with funny accents." Others talk about deprivation and abuse, about young lives adapting to changed conditions. The author notes that an important repercussion to the evacuation was heightened political awareness of the injustices of the British class system. The voices heard here are haunting. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In September 1939, many urban British citizens--ultimately 3.5 million of them, mostly children--began an exodus to the countryside. Afraid of what heavy aerial bombing might do to cities, officials had begun in 1924 to decide how to evacuate children and mothers from urban areas, especially London. Wicks's fascinating and moving book combines memoir, traditional history, and oral history, based on contacts with 8000 evacuees. Memories from various evacuees are interwoven to depict the process of moving and getting settled, the experiences in foster homes, and the aftermath. The evacuees generally agree on two things: the experience profoundly reshaped their lives, for better and for worse, and they'd never do it to their own children. Highly recommended for most libraries.
- Pat Ensor, Indiana State Univ. Lib., Terre Haute
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.