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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Dunstable At War Team on behalf of Douglas Darby and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

The weekend the war started, after fixing the black out covers on our cars headlamps, my father and I went to the old skating rink at the top of Half Moon Hill to await the arrival of evacuees from London. By early evening most of them had been accommodated. After the first rush those that were left had a meal and spent the night on camp beds or mattresses on the floor.

Next morning members of the Committee checked their list of appropriate offers and I was asked to go to Markyate (Bedfordshire), where a lady had a spare bedroom. Ready to drive off I did not look to see who was in the rear seat and sped off. Arriving at the house in one of the side streets I jumped out, knocked at the door and returned to find my only passenger was a woman. The lady of the house having opened her front door looked as concerned as I was — and then the truth dawned. She said she had offered to take a boy or a girl but………………..
At this point the evacuee broke into tears and they put their arms around each other and went indoors.
Part way along the High Street a policeman and a warden stopped my car and asked me who I was and where I was going. Being satisfied, they said they had just had warning of a possible air raid and I’d better get back home as quickly as possible. I didn’t stop to ask any more questions and covered those four miles back to Dunstable in almost as many minutes.
However, as we know now it was a false alarm that time!

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