- Contributed by听
- ElderlyEsmerelda
- People in story:听
- Kathleen Balchin (nee Searle)
- Location of story:听
- Trebanos, South Wales.
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A8966208
- Contributed on:听
- 29 January 2006
Story as told by Kathleen.
My father died when I was 11 and the next year I went to live in a children鈥檚 home in Reigate in Surrey. That was in 1940.
When the bombing got too bad in Reigate we all went by train to Reading where we spent a night in a school. The next day we travelled on to Neath in South Wales. From there we went on by road. We were put into coaches and I was separated from two of my three sisters. Pat and I went to Trebanos.
We went to a school hall where all the local women looked us over and said things like, "I don't want that one, I'll have that one!" I was very lucky because I was picked by a lovely family, Mr and Mrs Powell and their daughter Derith who was the same age as me and we were treated exactly the same. There was a mine at the back of us and Mr Powell worked in the mine office.
Our teachers went with us so we had our own classes.
Those six months as an evacuee in Trebanos were the happiest six months of my life.
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