The guest children : the story of the British child evacuees sent to Canada during WW II

Summary: Believing that a German invasion of England was imminent, Canadian and British officials opened negotiations in June of 1940 to allow British children to evacuate to the safety of Canada. The following month the first British children journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean. Parents were struck by a sudden sense of loss. For many of the children, too, the farewells were traumatic. One girl never forgot the sight of her father "standing on the platform in his Anthony Eden hat and crying". 'The Guest Children' follows the lives of the children as they depart from Britian, live in many parts of Canada, and finally after years away, return home. These very moving first-person accounts tell an amazing story of children leaving their families under the threat od a German invasion and sailing to Canada to live with strangers. Once in Canada most of the children quickly fit into their new families and adjusted to the very different lifestyle. Some of the children had difficult lives while in Canada and their memories are not happy ones. After years in Canada the time came to return home and once again most of the children were faced with the difficult task of leaving, this time their foster families to whom they had become quite accustomed. Once safely back in Britian, the children and the parents had to overcome four or five years of separation, often a very difficult task for both. For some the reuions did not succeed and the children returned to Canada. 'The Guest Children' also explores the fascinating story behind the governments' arrangements for the children living in Canada. Some, like Lester Pearson, applied the term refugee to any child fleeing the War. Others were no so generous. In many respects this story is overshadowed today by the fact that the Canadian government was reluctant to help the Jewish people trapped in Hitler's Europe. This story would inspire us more if the welcome had been more open, more generous and unmarked by racial and religious barriers.