"I'll take that one" - Martin L. Parsons

The civilian evacuation which began on 1st September 1939 represents the biggest social upheaval in Britain's history. Government officials has planned evacuation merely as a military manoeuvre which was designed to disperse the civilian population and make them less vulnerable to enemy attack. For those involved however, evacuation meant that their lives would never be the same again. While government propaganda and jingoistic journalism portrayed the young evacuees as happy smiling children set for a great adventure, the reality was somewhat different.;In this book, Dr Martin Parsons looks behind the government propaganda and traditional portrayals of evacuation in order to uncover the myths which have surrounded this period in British history. His in-depth anaylsis of documentary evidence reveals a complex picture of evacuation. Parsons allows the evacuees to speak for themselves through his collection of oral history testimonies. The book uncovers the many ways in which the experience of evacuation disturbed a myriad of human relationships, often with traumatic consequences.