Author(s): Edward Stokes

Australia | Secondhand

In 1940, the British government established the Children's Overseas Reception Board with the aim of sending working-class children to safer shores. " Wartime Haven" tells the story of the children who sailed to their homesickness, their fears, their courage and their adventures. Based on extensive interviews, it tells of new lives in sunny cities and the bush, loving homes for the lucky children and - for some - years of neglect and exploitation. It also explores the legacy of the evacuation unhappy homecomings and unsettled lives for some and, for others, opportunities and success they may not otherwise have experienced. Edward Stokes is an independent writer and photographer. His books include "United We Impressions of Broken Hill 1908-10", "To the Inland Charles Sturt's Expedition 1844-45", and two books on the other Australian inland explorers, Edward Eyre and McDouall Stuart.

This tells the moving story of the British children who sailed to Australia in 1940, when Britiain stood alone against the might of Nazi Germany: their homesickness, their fears, their courage and their adventures. Based on extensive interviews, it tells of new lives in strange cities and in the bush: loving homes for most, and for some, years of neglect and exploitation.