大象传媒

This story added by Kate Arkell, with the permission of the author, Joyce Hornsby

I was born in Shoeburyness, Essex on November 24th 1930, and I lived there with my mother and three younger sisters. On September 3rd 1939 I was at Sunday School at the Baptist Chapel and when I arrived home I couldn't understand why my mother was crying because there was going to be a war. I went to the Richmond Avenue Primary School, and in June 1940 it was decided that the children from the school were to be evacuated. There was a large Royal Artillery base at Shoebury, and it was also thought to be the only place for an invasion. I can remember going a long way on the train and that my parents were very upset (my father worked in London at the time) but in a way I think I felt rather excited. Our destination was to be Ashbourne, a small market town in Derbyshire. I can't remember a lot about the family I stayed with but, soon after, my mother and sister came to Asbourne. They had to share a council house with an elderly gentlemna, which must have been very hard for them, and also for him! After a while he died and the council allocated the house to my mother and she stayed there until she died. In the meantime I had passed the 'scholarship' for the Southen High School for Girls, which had been evacuated to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire and so, in September 1941, when I was 10 and three quarters, I left Ashbourne to start the next part of my story...

When I arrived in Mansfield I was lucky enough to go to live with Mr and Mrs Guilor and their daughter Brenda. She was 15 months younger than me, but we became firm friends and remain so 63 years on. Mr and Mrs Guilor were extremely kind to me and I stayed with them until I was nearly 17. At first I only went to school for half a day, as the Southend School and the Mansfield School had to share the same building, but after a year or so the South School returned to Essex. I decided I wanted to stay in Mansfield so I transferred to the Mansfield Grammar School for Girls. This changing around did not seem to have had an adverse effect on my education, as I obtained very good results in my 'school certificate' and would have stayed on in order to go to college if I had not had to return to Ashbourne as my mother was ill and I was needed there. Mr Guilor kept chickens and also grew vegetables so we were never hungry. I can remember preserving runner beans in salt, putting eggs in preservative, and peeling loads of tomatoes in boiling water before they were bottled for the winter. I enjoyed my years in Mansfield, I made many friends (of both sexes!), played hockey for the school, joined the Guides, the church and of course the Youth Club. I think I was very fortunate to have been able to do all these things, and very grateful for the way my life has turned out.

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