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.