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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Berkshire on behalf of Margaret Biddle and has been added to the site with his permission. Margaret fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was sent to Brighton as an evacuee, then on to Twyford hoping for accommodation but there was none. So, my mother and I slept in a ditch!
I spent about a year in Brighton, which at times was a little tough. My mother was concerned about my safety and health as diseases such as, Scabies were rife at the time, so she took me home.

We faced a lot of hard times. I remember one occasion when we had to sleep in a rat infested building next to a cowshed; it was very noisy and smelly.

When we were in the ditch a farmer found us and brought us a jug of coco and moved us to his barn. We then went to the Church and eventually a flat was found for us. We were there for a few months before we were moved to a lovely Bungalow.

I was married there and the council gave us house, which I live in to this day…43 years later.

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