Evacuation Stations: Memoir of a Boyhood in Wartime England

by Peter O'Brien

In Evacuation Stations, historian and octogenarian Peter O'Brien transports us back to a boyhood spent on evacuation. From New Cross in south London, Peter was moved between billets in Sussex, Kent, Devon and Hertfordshire.

439 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Urfan Ashraf · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the author's experiences as a child during the second world war, when he along with countless other schoolchildren were evacuated from the cities to live out in the countryside. He recounts his experiences in vivid detail, even being able to recall street names. You get a strong sense of how important family is to Peter, it's refreshing to hear a child's perspective on life during the war, away from the horrors of the battlefield but no less traumatic.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag, on one hand I liked the fact that it written from a child's perspective and the vintage photographs really helped to provide context and to picture 1930's Britain. On the other hand I expected to know more about his thoughts and feelings.

I think this book would be suitable for children from the age of 7 and up. Using this book in class would be an ideal opportunity to try some cross curriculum learning. For example Evacuation Stations can be used to provide historical context and then the teacher can ask the pupils to imagine that they are children in 1930's Britain who have just been told that they are going to be evacuated and to write about their experience (how they are feeling etc.)They can use different writing styles e.g.writing letters, a diary, a survival guide. This will encourage the children to think about their audience, language and tone and combines concepts from the English and History curriculum.