Operation Pied Piper: The WWII Evacuation of British Children

Date/Time: March 30, 5PM
Place: Robinson 324

Join us as Rowan in the World, an International Studies lecture series, presents "Operation Pied Piper, the WWII Evacuation of British Children," a lecture and discussion by Dr. Lee Talley, Professor of English and Dean of the Thomas N. Bantivoglio Honors Program.

Operation Pied Piper evacuated over 3.5 million British children during the Second World War and was ostensibly designed to save young innocents from the perils of German aerial bombing. Children, who were sent away from vulnerable cities to the countryside and abroad, were separated from their families for weeks, months, or even years. Government propaganda campaigns stressed the wholesome possibilities of life in England’s “green and pleasant land,” and advanced the differences between child and adult, innocence and experience, work and play, as well as city and country. The lived reality for children, however, was far less black and white. Evacuees’ letters and diaries shed light on how the young were important citizens who “did their bit” for the nation and were keen observers of global politics. These materials further reveal how children and young adults authored themselves in remarkable and subversive acts of narrative self fashioning, providing us, in turn, with new ways of apprehending the Second World War.

"Rowan in the World" is a series of lectures offered by Rowan faculty on international issues. The series aims to highlight the research and expertise of Rowan faculty on a broad range of international topics, promote interest and awareness of international issues in the Rowan community, and engage students and faculty in discussions about these important issues.