Goodnight Mister Tom

In Britain, the growing likelihood of war during the summer of 1939 contributed to widespread fear of German bombing of British civilian cities. There were also fears of a German invasion, and it was thought that cities would be targeted for a potential militaristic invasion. These fears prompted the creation of Operation Pied Piper, which entailed the relocation of women and children from high-risk areas to the relative safety of rural areas.

Two days before Chamberlain declared war on September 1, 1939, Operation Pied Piper was brought into effect. Pregnant women, young mothers, and school-aged children started to be evacuated from major cities in England, such as London, Bristol, Birmingham, and Glasgow, mostly by train. They were relocated to rural areas, such as Kent, East Anglia, and Wales. Between September 1 and September 4, 1939, 1.5 million British evacuees were sent to rural locations.

Evacuees came from a vast array of backgrounds. Some were well-off, but others, like Will in Goodnight Mister Tom, came from impoverished lives in industrialized cities. For these children, life in the country was an astounding cultural shock. Similarly, country dwellers were often surprised by the different accents, world views, and skill sets of their city billets.

The experiences of evacuees and their billets differed widely. Some children formed strong relationships with billet families. On the other hand, many children were extremely unhappy and homesick away from their families and communities. As the public hysteria around bombing died down, many children returned to the cities (as is depicted in Goodnight Mister Tom, when many evacuees leave before Christmas of 1939), although there was another exodus of children when the Blitz began in September 1940. This bombing campaign continued until May 1941 and resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 thousand British civilians, mostly in the city of London, which was targeted the most aggressively in the campaign. Operation Pied Piper is credited with saving the lives of many women and children, although it is difficult to gauge the exact number of lives saved through the measure (“The Evacuation of Children During the Second World War.” The History Press, 2023).