大象传媒

I was just five years old when I was evacuated and was told nothing about my impending fate. I knew something was wrong, however, when a large luggage label was tied to my coat buttonhole and I was taken by my two older sisters, Sylvia and Betty, to the Green Line bus stop near to where I lived in South East London.

My sisters took me to the back seat of the bus and I started to cry for my mummy. In an effort to console me, my sisters told me that my mummy was on the next bus. I knelt on the seat and looked out of the window for a bus that never came. I couldn't understand why my mummy wasn't on the bus with us. I cried all the way to my destination in Banbury and now fully appreciate the saying 'No hope is better than false hope.' I still feel the pain of that lie.

On arriving in Banbury, we children were lined up in a row like some uncollected suitcases and our luggage label details were matched to names and addresses. I was even more distraught when, still crying for my mummy,I was taken from my sisters and deposited at a local address.

The woman who took me in said "Would you like a cup of cocoa?" I replied "No, I want my mummy," and started crying again. She seemed quite irritated and made no attempt to comfort me.

It was obvious from the start that this woman did not want me there. I was not treated kindly and was very miserable. Everyday, I hoped my mummy would come to take me home but, that was another false hope as she didn't ever come to see me.

The woman who took me in had a daughter of the same age as me, who tormented me mercilessly.

When there was a lull in the London bombing, we evacuees were sent home. I do not remember anything of this, I just remember the painful times.

When the London bombing again intensified, my sister Betty and myself were evacuated to Nottingham. The treatment of evacuees was equally as bad as the first time but, at least I was a little older and already primed for the experience.

My second host also had a daughter of similar age to me and she was a bully. Her mother gave us lots of jobs to do; mine being the most difficult. The girl bullied me into doing her jobs as well because if I didn't she would tell lies about me to her mother, who would duly punish me.

My mother never came to see me so, one day I wrote a letter to my mother asking her to come for me. I walked to the post box and was then too afraid to post it in case someone read it and I was punished further.

Apparently the hosts would go to any lengths to rid themselves of the evacuees, that by law, they were obliged to take in. Mine was no exception and lied about me having eye problems, saying that she didn't have time to take me to hospitals. My eyes gave me no problem and were never checked but, she won her case and I was duly 'parcelled' to another home.

This time, I went to a large family and although nobody showed any physical cruelty toward me, the same animosity existed. I shared a room with a daughter of similar age and despite having to share her bed with me, she was not unkind.

During this stay, my head itched constantly but, I couldn't understand why as the'nit nurse' who visited the school, passed my head as 'clean'. One day, I looked in a hand-mirror and was shocked to see a multitude of huge white lice, crawling around my head.

Apart from the shame and discomfort of the lice, I was luckier than some evacuees who through emotional upset, wet the bed. This was punished by a beating which caused these terrified children to wet their bed again and again. I can only imagine how upsetting this must have been.

One thing that sticks in my mind regarding Nottingham town is the walls of the castle. A school friend and myself were standing outside the walls of Nottingham Castle when two American soldiers approached us and asked "Do you girls like candy?" They then gave us a mouth watering bar of chocolate. As sweets were not available at this time of the war, we were sorely tempted to eat it but, where I lived in London, I was warned that the Germans dropped poisonous sweets from their planes, so I persuaded my friend not to eat any. When we were out of sight of the American soldiers, we threw the chocolate away. I was quite young and my vivid imagination told me that the Americans might be Germans in disguise, sent to Nottingham to poison all the children.

When I eventually came home for good my own mother seemed a stranger to me and I felt quite confused. Also, despite being sent away to be safe, I had a near miss when I came home as a German plane had slipped through the radar and so the air raid siren ( a terrifying sound ) had not been operated. Fortunately by now, I knew the sound of German planes and so I ducked behind a hedge. Still hiding, I looked up as the plane passed over and saw that it was a two-seater. The pilot in the front was looking round to the man behind him, with a big smile of satisfaction on his face. I can remember that he was blond and very young and that his smile sickened me. The next day I heard that this same pilot had gunned down a playground full of innocent children in a nearby Junior school at Catford. I shall never forget that smile!

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