大象传媒

This story was edited and submitted to the site by Brian Cape of Sutton Library Service with the author's permission. The
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Aged nearly 13, I was evacuated with Bec Grammar School (Tooting) from 1939 to 1944. Originally the school was sent to Chailey (a village in Sussex outside Lewes), but it was soon realised by the authorities that the village school could not cope with the large number of pupils from a London grammar school.

Before we were moved to Lewes I remember an occasion when my parents made the extreme effort to come and see me (difficult because travelling by train and bus was severely restricted due to wartime regulations). As they arrived unexpectedly I told them that I had been invited to go fishing with my host family (which was a new experience for me), and so my family reunion was rather short!

Within a few months the school was moved into the then county town of Sussex, Lewes, where we shared the school facilities of the town鈥檚 grammar school- each school using the building, etc. for half days. This severely curtailed the ability of the staff to cover the syllabus, so much studying had to be done in the home of our host family- with space restrictions of increased family size affecting many pupils鈥� ability to study.

Although aged 13-17 I remember few details of my various billets or any vivid experiences during this period of my life. Contact with my family was mainly through letters. My mother spent most of the war years, together with my sister, Beryl, in the village of Linslade, near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. My father volunteered to serve in the army.

Although many pupils left Lewes to return to their families in London during the 鈥減honey鈥� war of 1940-41, some returned when the German bombing of London began in earnest.

Because Lewes was so close to the South coast we were conscious of a build-up of troops for D-Day, with our area being the headquarters for the Canadian contingent- many from the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry. During the nights before the landings we heard the nighttime movements of military vehicles.

By Christmas 1944 the Headmaster reported to all evacuated pupils, before they returned home for the Christmas holiday, that there were more pupils in the former Bec school buildings in Tooting than in Lewes, but that officially he had to remain with the evacuated school. He strongly recommended that we all stayed back in London when the school reassembled in January 1945- which happened- just in time for the 鈥渇lying bombs鈥� (V1 and V2 rockets) campaign of early 1945. On my way to the London school (walking because the tram system was so unreliable) I heard a V1鈥檚 engine cut out- which we all knew was the time that the device dived to the ground. I threw myself into a hedge and saw the houses on the other side of the road completely demolished.

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