Once Upon a Wartime

Due to Easter and the Royal Wedding, the UK has virtually been on holiday for the last two weeks. All very nice but it means I haven’t done much writing (although reading and research has continued as I can do that with someone else in the house). In an attempt to mix holiday with study, I went to the Once Upon a Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. This features five stories: War Horse (Michael Morpurgo), Carrie’s War (Nina Bawden), The Machine Gunners (Robert Westall), The Silver Sword (Ian Serrailier) and Little Soldier (Bernard Ashley). It is an exhibition designed for both children and adults and includes information on life at the time of the novels to provide context and objects (e.g. a letter from some children to Kitchener begging that he let them keep their horse as well as Kitchener’s reply – no he didn’t take it). One of the most exciting things for me were the objects relating to the authors themselves, everything from Robert Westall’s typewriter to the actual sword that inspired Ian Serrailier and the painting of a horse that hangs in Michael Morpurgo’s kitchen. There were also original typewritten manuscripts complete with scribbled comments from the editors. The ideas for the stories as well as characters were also set out. Carrie’s War and The Machine Gunners were key stories for me as a child so this exhibition was a treat.