Author(s)

ZhiHao Zhu

Affiliation(s)

Kings' School Al Barsha, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Corresponding Author

ZhiHao Zhu

ABSTRACT

This short story captures a poignant moment in the lives of the Owens family during the London Blitz of World War II. It focuses on the emotional turmoil experienced by two children, John and Anna Owens, as they are forced to evacuate their home. The narrative delves into their sense of confusion and loss, first triggered by their father's abrupt departure to war, and now compounded by their own impending separation from their mother. Through John's perspective, the story explores themes of familial love, childhood innocence shattered by conflict, and the profound loneliness of war. The pivotal scene at King's Cross station, where the children board a train to an uncertain future in the countryside, underscores the harsh realities and personal sacrifices endured by civilians, particularly the young, during wartime. The story is a moving portrayal of how war traps its youngest victims not just in physical danger, but in a deep and unsettling emotional void.

KEYWORDS

World War II; Evacuation; Child evacuees; Psychological trauma; Home front; Narrative analysis; British history

CITE THIS PAPER

ZhiHao Zhu. The inward battlefield: analyzing the psychological impact of evacuation on children in wartime Britain. Journal of Trends in Arts and Humanities. 2025, 2(2): 1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/jtah3049.

REFERENCES

[1] Briggs Susan. Keep Smiling Through: The Home Front 1939-45. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1975.

[2] Crosby Travis L. The Impact of Civilian Evacuation in the Second World War. Croom Helm, 1986.

[3] Gardner Juliet. The Children's War: The Second World War Through the Eyes of the Children of Britain. Portrait, 2005.

[4] Harrison Tom. Living Through the Blitz. Penguin, 1990.

[5] Hylton Stuart. Their Darkest Hour: The Hidden History of the Home Front 1939-1945. Sutton Publishing, 2001.

[6] Macdonald Lyn. The People's War: Britain 1939-1945. Bodley Head, 1982.

[7] Parsons Martin, Penny Starns. The Evacuation: The True Story. DB Publishing, 1999.

[8] Titmuss Richard M. Problems of Social Policy. H.M.S.O., 1950.

[9] Welshman John. Churchill's Children: The Evacuee Experience in Wartime Britain. Oxford University Press, 2010.

[10] Ziegler Philip. London at War, 1939-1945. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.