Children in the Second World War

Extensive use of previously unpublished primary sources

It was not just the upheaval caused by evacuation and the blitzes that changed a generations childhood, it was how war pervaded every aspect of life. From dodging bombs by bicycle and patrolling the parish with the vicars WW1 pistol, to post air raid naps in school and being carried out of the rubble as the family's sole survivor, children experienced life in the war zone that was Britain. This reality, the reality of a life spent growing up during the Second World War, is best told through the eyes of the children who experienced it first-hand. Children In the Second World War unites the memories of over two hundred child veterans to tell the tragic and the remarkable stories of life, and of youth, during the war. Each veteran gives a unique insight into a childhood which was unlike any that came before or after. This book poignantly illustrates the presence of death and perseverance in the lives of children through this tumultuous period, each account enlightens and touches the reader; shedding light on what it was really like on the Home front during the Second World War.