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The Long Farewell

1985

Cat no. 5038

The Long Farewell

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Interviews from a BBC East programme looking at the experiences of children evacuated to North America during WWII.

Evacuees from across England share their experiences in a series of reminiscence interviews, with occasional inserts of old photographs, news clippings and documents further highlighting their stories of evacuation to North America as part of the Children's Overseas Reception Board transportation scheme. Male and female evacuees talk about leaving their families and schools and embarking on an 'adventure' to London, where they transferred to Liverpool via train and onto transportation ships for a new, temporary life in Canada and the north-east of the United States. One woman talks about how her ship, the SS Volendam, was torpedoed by German U-Boats, with the loss of only one life, whilst two men share their horrific experiences aboard the ill-fated SS City of Benares. Also attacked by U-Boats, the City of Benares was sunk, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life which lead to the cessation of the overseas transportation scheme. The item concludes with those who did make it to North America sharing their stories of returning home to England, with one woman describing how, after such an easy life in Canada, she was shocked to discover the terrible time being had by those she had left behind.

Featured Events

Torpedoing of the SS Volendam; Sinking of the SS City of Benares

Keywords

Evacuation; Evacuees; Transportation; World War II

  • Production company : BBC East

  • Producer : Douglas Salmon

  • Editor : K Heward

Manifestations

The Long Farewell

  • Sequence Details:
    • Group 1:
      • Part Number: 2
      • Parts Unit: Episode

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