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Synopsis
Off the children went, some as young as three years old, their gas masks in square boxes slung over their shoulders, their sparse belongings in battered suitcases and paper bags. Their parents, urged by the government not to see their boys and girls off at the railways stations, had no idea where their children were going, nor had they assurances that they would ever see them again.
For the many children torn from their families, taken miles from home and placed with strangers, the evacuation at the outbreak of the Second World War was a life-changing experience. In Goodnight Children, Everywhere, men and women who were children at the time recall their poignant memories of being labelled, lined up and taken away. Their parents, urged by the government not to see the children off on the buses and trains, had no assurance that they would ever see their sons and daughters again. No lives were lost and no one was injured. Not so considered was the psychological wellbeing of these suddenly dislocated children. Some children were advantaged by the dramatic change in their lives; others, separated from all they knew and loved, suffered unendurable heartbreak. This is their story.
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