Operation Pied Piper

Operation Pied Piper is a new film made by community organisation digital:works and local primary school St Thomas' on Appleford Road. It's all about children who were evacuated from London during the Second World War Blitz under Operation Pied Piper, and you can watch it online.

The film marks the 80th anniversary of the start of Operation Pied Piper and focuses on the experiences of the children who were evacuated from London during WW2. The film is an oral history that captures the memories of school-aged children who left the capital.

To make the film, digital:works brought together two schools, Golborne's St Thomas and Furzedown Primary School in Wandsworth. Also involved were local archives in Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth plus the Imperial War Museum. Some 90 children were trained in heritage research skills, oral history interviewing and recording skills and worked on the actual production of the film.

Here is an extract from the Operation Pied Piper website:

The oral history project explored the experiences of those who were evacuated, leaving families behind, not knowing where they were going or when they would return. There was the intense pain of separation, and then moving to parts of the country that were very different culturally to London.

Many children had to work hard on farms, others found adventure in their new surroundings. Some did not receive much or any nurturing while others found loving homes. It really was a lottery. This was all compounded by families not knowing where children were going or when or even if they would see them again after the bombing began in London.

WATCH THE FILM

Operation Pied Piper: An Oral History of London's Evacuees website