Clifftop Farm in Wartime Series
By Michael E Wills
Treason
Publication Date: 28th April 2022
Publisher: Nielsen UK
Page Length: 136 Pages
Genre: Children's Historical Fiction
A thrilling story of children in wartime
In the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated from British cities and sent to areas of the country where it was regarded that they would be safer from bombing.
This Government operation was named "Pied Piper". The first evacuations were in 1939 and the second wave in 1940, at the time of the Blitz.
Children went to stay with complete strangers, who had been deemed by the authorities to have spare space in their homes. The hosts were obliged to take the children. Many were unenthusiastic about having a young guest staying with them for an unspecified length of time and there were incidences of unkindness and even cruelty.
"Treason" is a story about two such city children. Judith is a twelve-year-old girl from London, an only child from a very privileged background. She finds herself billeted in a farm on the Isle of Wight. The farm is run by Mrs Orton, a widow, who lives with her twelve-year-old son, Jimmy, and her handicapped brother-in-law. They are joined by another evacuee guest, Alfie, an eleven-year-old boy from a working class family in
Portsmouth.
The story tells how their lives change and how the guests adapt to a very different way of life. Like all children they enjoy adventure, but the one on which they embark gets them involved in a danger to their lives and leads them to TREASON!
This is a story for children to learn about this tragic time in history, without hearing about the horrors of war, but still what children their own age had to endure during a time which changed everyone’s lives.
Treachery
Publication Date: 28th April 2022
Publisher: Michael E Wills
Page Length: 122 Pages
Genre: Children's Historical Fiction
A Thrilling Story of Children in Wartime
In the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated from British cities and sent to areas of the country where it was regarded that they would be safer from bombing. They went to stay with complete strangers, many of whom were unenthusiastic about having a young guest staying with them for a long period of time.
This is the second story about young evacuees. It tells how their lives have changed and how they get involved in a dangerous mystery in their new home in the country on the Isle of Wight. Their adventure leads them to ......
TREACHERY!
Trouble
Publication Date: 27th December 2023
Publisher: Bygone Ages Press
Page Length: 119 Pages
Genre: Children's Historical Fiction
The lives of the four children at Clifftop Farm become very difficult and dangerous when their beloved collie, Billy, gets into serious trouble.
The youngsters are compelled to devise a plan to rescue their dog. However, to get the crucial evidence they require, they must outsmart a group of criminals.
Unexpected assistance emerges from two surprising quarters: an Italian prisoner of war and a sergeant in a commando regiment stationed near to the farm. In a race against time, will the children succeed in locating the vital information needed to secure the dog's safety?
The only people still remaining were Mr Stevens and one child who had not been chosen: a tearful boy in a disheveled grey jacket, with a black eye, dirty knees, and a smear of raspberry jam across his mouth.
Operation Pied Piper saw hundreds of thousands of children evacuated from major cities in England, and sent away from their homes and parents to the country, to places of low importance, where there was a low risk of bombing. Children from all walks of life were sent together, to a new life, a layover place, where they would be fostered by families who had the space for them until it was safe for them to return home.
The Clifftop Farm in Wartime series by Michael E Wills follows the lives of Judith, who grew up in a privileged household in London, and Alfie, from a working-class family in Portsmouth, as both find themselves on the same farm after they are sent to the Isle of Wight. The series highlights the experiences of wartime children in England, who were sent to the countryside for their own safety, providing an educational, yet adventurous, story for younger children to learn about certain aspects of history without exposing them to the horrors of the Second World War.
The first novel in the series joins Judith and Alfie as they arrive at Cliff Top Farm, having left their parents and homes for the first time, and travelled for many miles by themselves, with only their classmates and teachers as company. Country life is a shock to both Judith and Alfie, and as they get stuck into the jobs they are assigned on the farm, they begin to realise what is normal and what is not. While it is normal to have to muck out the horses and geese, and help around the house, it is not normal for a bright light to flash at a quarter to nine each night, during blackout hours, or to pick up German Morse Code on the wireless while trying to listen to Children’s Hour. As they start to poke around, Judith and Alfie, joined by Jimmy, whose mother owns the farm, begin to find more and more strange things. What is Uncle Don really doing when he is shut in his room with his wireless, and why is the farm hand, Merve, so quiet? There is a mystery afoot, and the children are determined to solve it.
It came to a halt, almost by the side of Alfie. He stood rivetted to the spot. The sign on the side of the plane was a black cross with a white surround. On the tail was a swastika. He was aghast, it was a German plane!
As the series progresses, more mysteries arise for the children to solve. With the landing of a German plane, and a German pilot who seems almost too happy about his plane being shot down, the question arises about how much of what the pilot says can be taken to be true. As the war progresses, the farm is joined by a group of Italian prisoners being put to work, as the Ministry of Food tells farmers to start growing potatoes instead of wheat. With the progression of the war, life for the children continues to change, and the difference between their old and new lives is stark – especially when Judith’s mother comes to visit, and discovers her daughter is living, and working on, a farm, and being made to look after animals and clean the house. However, while Judith’s mother may not be entirely happy about where Judith is living, she is certainly one of the luckier children. Those taking in the refugee children were not always happy about their new charges, or were not suited to parenting young, traumatised, children. This is shown through Alfie’s younger sister, Pauline, who was separated from him when they reached the Isle of Wight. Siblings did not always get to stay together, and the families they joined were not always welcoming to their ‘guests’.
Alfie supported Jimmy by blurting out, “Yeah, I think Jimmy is right! And we are going to get evidence that Mr Chivers is dishonest!”
“Yeah, and we’ve got an idea about how we can do it. We actually saw him taking stuff from a lorry and putting it in the old garage.”
“What sort of stuff ? asked Vera.
“Sugar, tea, and tinned fruit. I’m sure they are black marketeers.”
Sitting in court, Jimmy and his mother learn the verdict for their beloved dog, Billy. It is said that Billy attacked Mr Chivers, and bit him badly on the hand for no reason. Jimmy and Mrs Orton both know that Billy was only scaring Mr Chivers off, who was trying to steal rationed eggs from their henhouse, but the court does not listen to them. In an attempt to save Billy, the children try hiding him in several places, so he is not taken from them, and in doing so, they uncover illicit operations happening on the island. A group of people are smuggling rationed goods, and the illegal activity might be just what the children need to prove Mr Chivers a dishonest man and save Billy. But black marketeers are dangerous people, who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, and gathering evidence is not quite as easy as the children thought. As more and more food items were rationed, people began growing desperate and began trying to find food items wherever they could – for example, stealing eggs from those with hens, or turning to the black market, where items such as tea and sugar were available.
There is a definite clash between the children, with Jimmy, whose home has been overtaken by the ‘guests’ staying with them, Judith who is used to having other people do work for her, and Alfie, who is still very young and struggles with the responsibility that has been placed upon him. They are at odds with each other, but have no option but to work together, for there is no escaping the fact that they will act as siblings until it is safe for Judith and Alfie to go home. Mrs Orton certainly deserves some respect, for she is not only running a farm in a time of war, but also takes in two additional children to raise, and works hard to keep the peace between them, and make sure they are all clothed, fed, and have the emotional support they need.
The series bears a close resemblance to The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence, with an unlikely group of children working together to work things out. The big difference, of course, is the time period, but for children who enjoy books such as The Roman Mysteries, The Clifftop Farm series is a likely progression, and provides an insight into an important era of history, in a lighthearted way, with the focus on the mystery at hand. The war, while being present, makes up the setting of the novels, rather than being the main subject, allowing readers to learn about and understand some of the events of the war while being about to relate to some of the struggles of Jimmy, Judith, and Alfie. To be able to connect with the children of this novel, gives young readers an insight into the Second World War in a controlled manner, so they can understand the time period without needing to know the dark details of the war.
The writing style, with a clever use of words and directional storytelling, of this series is perfect for a younger audience, especially to teach what life might have been like for children their own age during the Second World War. The addition of the ‘True Facts’ snippets running alongside the story, like articles in a newspaper, helps to reveal the truth behind certain events which allows a deeper understanding of the events of the stories and help the reader to understand what is happening in certain scenes.
With exciting stories of mysteries and an unlikely group of children working together to solve them before something bad happens, The Clifftop Farm in Wartime series by Michael E Wills is a wonderful introduction for young readers to the Second World War and allows them to begin learning about the events of the past without the concern of them learning about the horrors the Second World War brought to the lives of those living during the war. It is a brilliant series of novels, which entices the reader with adventure, while softly educating.
Review by Ellie Yarde
Yarde Book Reviews & Book Promotion
Michael E Wills
Michael Wills was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight and attended the Priory Boys’ School and later Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter’s College, Birmingham, before teaching mathematics and physical education for two years at a secondary school in Kent.
After re-training to become a teacher of English as a Foreign Language he worked in Sweden for thirteen years. In 1979 he returned to UK with his wife and young family to start a language school, the Salisbury School of English.
From small beginnings the school developed into substantial business enterprise. Michael retired in 2008 after over forty years in the field of education. Along the way, he was President of Salisbury Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Co-Chair of English UK, the national association of English language training providers.
Currently, Michael is employed part-time as Ombudsman for English UK. He divides his spare time between indulging his life-long interest in medieval history and enjoying his grandchildren, writing, carpentry, amateur radio and sailing.
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