大象传媒

We lived in Walton Liverpool, 4, over a shop, my mother had 6 children, the eldest, Winnie, was in the Wrens. Jean, our sister, also went to work in the ammonium factory, my brother Billy, the baby of the family was left behind while the rest of us went away as evacuees. My mother took us to the train station, I didn鈥檛 understand what was going on at the time as I was only 6 years of age. We were all upset and crying. We had a gas mask hanging over our shoulders.
When we arrived at a big house in Shrewsbury-Kiddiminister we had to go into a hall, then they called our names out, my brother Jonny was separated from us. He went to live and work with a butcher. While me and Mary, my sister, went with a lady and a man, but we didn鈥檛 stay with them for long as my sister wet the bed so they didn鈥檛 want us anymore. So we were sent to a naughty home where I wasn鈥檛 very happy as they were very strict. My sister Mary was separated from me, I went to live in Wales and my sister Mary went to another family.
I went to live in a beautiful bungalow in Bonty N Wardd in Wales with a man and wife, Mr and Mrs Jones. They had a little girl called Betty who was about 5 years old so we played together. I was very happy living there until I was very sick and had to go to hospital as I had scarlet fever. I was in hospital for about 5 weeks and when I came out I went live with someone else.
The lady I went to live with was a widow living by herself as her husband had just died. She was dressed in black all the time. She used to take me to the cemetery after I come home from school and we had to kneel at the grave to pray for his soul. She also had me bowing to the moon 3 times. She was a very nice kind woman. One day, when I came home from school, she鈥檇 gone, so I had to be moved again, but on to a friend of her who lived down the road in a cottage. Her name was Mrs Evens, it was ok but I was scared of the damped beetles that were in the bedroom where I slept. She took me to Caernavon and while I was walking down the road some children went by and I noticed a girl who looked like my sister Mary. She then noticed me and we both ran towards each other and hugged each other, but her teacher dragged her back into the line with the other girls and she had to walk away from me.
I liked living with Mrs Evens, I loved the countryside, I loved going to visit the farm. One day I was going along the road and I saw Mrs Jones and Betty walking with a new pram. She had just had a baby so maybe that was why she didn鈥檛 want me. I was very happy until my mother came to take me home in a taxi, back home when I was 11 years old.
I didn鈥檛 really want to go back to Walton because we were very poor as my mother used to go to Mrs Jacksons who owned a Dolls hospital and had a daughter the same age as me, so she used to give me her daughters old clothes, and we used to have to walk for miles to get a new ration book. I cried to go back to Wales. When I got back home our Jonny was there. He said he鈥檇 been beaten up by the butcher and returned home. Mary was also home, I was so glad to see her.

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