When World War II started Britten and Pears went to America to avoid the war. In 1941 Britten started to feel homesick because he read an article by E.M.Forster about George Crabbe, a poet who had lived in the same part of England that Britten came from. Britten started to realize that, in order to compose well, he had to go back to his own country. Britten and Pears returned to England in 1942.