Within hours of the German invasion of Poland in 1939, children were being evacuated out of the cities into the countryside in a carefully planned operation. For all these children, evacuation was an emotional experience; for some it was deeply traumatic, yet others discovered the pleasure of living in the country and formed lasting friendships. Here, in their own words, are the personal accounts of evacuees, both famous and unknown, written in reponse to advertisements placed in newspapers all over the world. Many of them speak here for the first time and snapshots of the children both then and now are included, as well as letters written by children to their parents in the cities. The introduction is by one-time evacuee Michael Caine and the author himself was also evacuated and brings his own experiences to bear on this exploration of a phenomenon that dramatically changed so many children's lives.