Teaching World War Two: While the Storm Rages by Phil Earle

August 1st 2022

Guest blogger: Phil Earle Born and raised in Hull, Phil's first job was as a care worker in a children's home, which inspired him to train as a drama therapist. After then working as a bookseller, he embarked on his own writing career. Accolades include the Children's Fiction prize at the Books Are My Bag Awards 2021 and the Children's Fiction Book of the Year at the 2022 British Book Awards.  BOOKS BY phil

Fantastic for discussing World War Two with your class, the bestselling author's latest book, While the Storm Rages, includes themes of animals, loss, friendship and adventure. Discover more in his video, or read his guest blog below. 

Inspirations behind the book

The idea for While the Storm Rages came courtesy of my editor Charlie (one of many things I have to thank her for). Whilst reading her editorial notes for When the Sky Falls, she told me not to give too many characters pets, as of course, the vast majority of them were put down at the start of World War II. This was news to me but had me scrabbling to the internet to see what she meant. And there it was – The Great Animal Massacre.

In September 1939, the government sent a booklet to every household. It was called ‘Air Raid Precautions Handbook No 12 – Air Raid Precautions For Animals’. In this 30-page book, the message was loud and clear. It was not going to be safe for your animals once war broke out. There would be bombs, gas, destruction and food shortages. If you weren’t able to evacuate your pets as you would your children, then you should have your animal put to sleep.

The message was frank and stark, the illustrations on the pages even more so: pictures of sheep, horses and cows with crosshairs drawn on, making it clear how you could kill your animal as painlessly as possible. People were scared, terrified. The threat of Hitler and the Nazis overwhelmed their love for animals to such an extent that in September 1939, it was estimated that 750,000 of the UK’s animals were put to sleep. To give this some context, around 384,000 British soldiers died during the entirety of the war, half the number of animals that perished in just 30 days.

Always ask 'What if?'

That was it for me. I knew, instantly, that this was a story that I could tell. The only question I had to ask myself was ‘What if?’ What if one boy said no to the government? What if one boy, Noah, made a pledge to his dad as he marched off to war, promising to keep their dog safe, in return for his own dad’s safety? What if Noah, and two other children decided not to save just their own pets, but every pet they could round up? What an adventure that could be!

This is where history came in useful again, as after a little research I came across the fascinating figure of Nina Douglas-Hamilton, the Duchess of Hamilton, who during WWI became a staunch opposer of animals such as horses being used as part of the war effort. It was reported that when WWII broke out, the Duchess let it be known that her estate would be opened up to animals who were due to be needlessly killed, that she would care for them until the war ended. I loved the Duchess instantly: not just for her kindness, but because her actions gave Noah, Clem and Big Col a purpose, a destination to sail to. If they could only sail Queen Maudie to the Duchess' estate, then all of the animals would be safe.

Writing is a quest

It felt exciting to be going on a quest like this. I’ve published 22 books now, but none of them felt like an adventure story. Could I do it? Could I emulate Katherine Rundell’s peerless The Good Thieves, or Robert Westall’s classic The Machine Gunners? I hope I managed it. Only you can tell me the answer, but I know that I couldn’t have written While the Storm Rages without that simple gift of a story that history had largely kept hidden. I’ll always be grateful, and I’ll always keep looking for more.

DISCOVER

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