大象传媒

At the age of 7 Fred was evacuated to Warwickshire from Willesden, and was adopted by the family to whom he was evacuated at the end of the war because he liked the life living on a farm in the countryside. He never went back to Willesden or saw his parents or family again.

Fred originally grew up in Uxbridge Avenue, Willesden. He was born in 1932 and lived in a two-up and two-down tenement with his parents and several brothers and sisters. He can remember how is parents had a double bed in the sitting room, covered by a curtain during the day and the children slept - 'tops and tails', all in one bed upstairs. The girls had the top of the bed and the boys slept at the bottom in one room upstairs. There was a communal bath in the kitchen and if he had mate with him when called in to have a bath, the other child got bathed as well! They grew up very street wise so, he was quite an 'old' seven-year-old when he was evacuated. He remembers his mother always had time to give him a cuddle and that the whole community cared for all the children. He remembers with affection how all the children played in the street outside their houses and how the women would be sitting outside their front doors and if any child was hurt any of the women would offer comfort. Fred's last memory of his mother is of her telling his two sisters to 'keep an eye on Fred', as they left.

Fred would dearly love to have the opportunity to trace his brothers and sisters, who he believs may have been evacuated to Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. All were older than him and his two sisters, Betty and Maggie Harrison, who were about 9 or 10 at the time, travelled with him but returned to Willesden, leaving him in Brinklow with the Moloney family. Fred also remembers a friend, Henry Franklin, 2 years older, who was evacuated from the same community to Warwickshire, with him, who stayed with a family called Pinfold in Brinklow, but who returned to London after the war.

If you grew up in Willesden, in the 1930s and remember this family, Fred would love to hear from you. If you grew up in the Harrison family and remember a brother called Fred, who was evacuated to Warwickshire, you may remember how, on a Saturday night, when you were all in bed upstairs, how when your Mum and Dad returned from the pub, a little typsy, Fred would call down the stairs to them, "Dad could you sing us that song", and his Dad would call up the stairs, 'What song', and Fred would reply, "Hands across the water". His Dad would call up "There'll be hands across your arse if I have to come up there!" Everyone would collapse in laughter, but Dad would never sing the song.

PERHAPS THE FOLLOWING WILL JOG A MEMORY.
"These are the childhood memories of a little boy called Freddy Harrison who was aged 7 at the beginning of World War ll and cover the war years 1939-1945.

It began on Saturday morning at 7.00 a.m. my mother got my sisters and me out of bed, and then we had breakfast of bread and jam. We were then taken over the road to our school and from there we had to walk down to Willesden Junction. We did not know what was going on, to us it was a big adventure, as most of us had never been away from home before.

At about 10.00 a.m. the train came in, on we got, Mum gave us all a kiss and told my two sisters to look after me. Betty and Maggie had always looked after me as I was the yountest of 12 - so you can tell what it was like. For most of us it was the first time we had ever been on a train. We had a packet of food with us which had to last for the rest of the day. Off we set and eventually at about 3.00 p.m. we arrived at Rugby. After getting off the train we were put into lines and made to walk to Rugby Cattle Market, where we boarded a Midland Red bus which took us onto Brinklow School. There we were met by the women of the village and given tea and cakes.

From then on it was a nightmare as my sisters did not want to be parted from me and that meant someone would have to take in all three of us. As it happened one lady, a Mrs. Moloney, said she and her next door neighbour would have us between them, the neighbour having my sisters and Mrs. Moloney took me in. I will always remember the look on her husband's face when he saw her coming down the road with the three of us.

I can remember going into the house, the name of which was Harmony Farm. I had never seen so big a house, only in books. All my life I had lived in a two up, two down house, and in the bedroom we slept with the girls at the top and the boys at the bottom (tops and tails). My sisters could not settle down, so after about 12 weeks they went back to London and left me in Brinklow. I could tell lots of stories about life in Brinklow at that time, but they could be another article for this magazine.

When the war was over I was asked what I would like to do - stop with the Moloney family or go back to London. I forgot to say that I never heard from my parents or any of my family from the time my sisters left till now, so I decided to stay with Mr & Mrs Moloney. They eventually adopted me so I became their son, Fred Moloney.

They were hard days but good ones and I shall always be indebted to my Mum and Dad - Mr & Mrs Moloney for all their kindness over the years."

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