大象传媒

I recall listening to the radio broadcast by the prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, telling us that we were at war with Germany, which was frightening because I imagined that they would immediately be landing on the beaches and coming up the middle of the street, which is how children then visualised war. My parents decided it would be a good idea if I were evacuated, possibly to Canada, where a lot of children were being evacuated to at that time. However, not wishing to be so far away from home and parents I declined the idea and my parents contacted relatives in Horbury near Wakefield and I remember being taken by car to their house, which was a rare treat in those days as there were not many cars about. The relatives I was evacuated to, my uncle was a miner and at the bottom of the street where we lived was a farm and I spent many happy hours playing in the farmyard with the boys who lived at the farm. But after a while my parents were notified I鈥檇 passed the eleven plus and was allocated a place at Kingston High School. The school was partially evacuated to Bingley near Bradford and the school was attached to Bradford High School, so I was moved out to Bingley and billeted with foster parents and started school.

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