A Place to Hang the Moon

As Germany’s Nazi forces grew more aggressive in Europe, English military leaders began to consider how the country would defend itself from Nazi aerial strikes should they target England. Part of this plan included voluntarily evacuating women and children from towns and cities in southern England. Evacuees would take trains north to rural areas. All along the way, volunteers from the WVS, like the novel’s Mrs. Norton, would assist the evacuation and resettlement.

Though this project, “Operation Pied Piper,” had been in development sine 1938, the first official evacuation was ordered on September 2, 1939, the same day Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, both Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. By one day after that, 1.5 million people had evacuated: mostly children, but also mothers of young children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and various teachers and caregivers. A second evacuation was ordered in June 1940 when Germany invaded France, who at that point was Great Britain’s greatest ally and stood between them and Germany geographically. In A Place to Hang the Moon, the Pearce children are part of this evacuation.

While these evacuations were ordered for the good of the evacuees, the reality of relocation was often unpleasant and traumatic. Children were evacuated with gas masks, sparse belongings, and an identification card. Often, children from poor families were not able to bring the recommended coats and shoes for their evacuation. While children from wealthy families would often lodge with family friends, relatives, or in second homes, children from middle-class and poor families more often lodged with strangers. Citizens in evacuation zones were mandated to serve as “billets,” or host families, to evacuated children.

A child’s billet was not decided based on suitability or the host’s desire to shelter an evacuee: If one had the space, it was considered a mandatory part of the war effort. This resulted in many children being sent to unwelcoming homes. Thus, not only were children traumatized by the ongoing war and the emotional upheaval of leaving the city, their homes, and their families, but they were sometimes also subject to abuse or neglect by host families. Psychological studies in the 21st century have subsequently shown that evacuation had a notable negative effect on the mental health of evacuated children through their adulthood (Rusby, James SM and Fiona Tasker. “Long-term effects of the British evacuation of children during World War 2 on their adult mental health.” Aging Mental Health. National Library of Medicine, 2009). In the book, this is shown through the Pearce children’s negative experiences with the Forresters and, later, Mrs. Griffith. Even Miss Carr does not warm up to the children until the end of the book. The Pearces only find an ally in Mrs. Müller, the librarian who is similarly outcast among the community.