大象传媒

I lived in Sale in Manchester. We experienced a few nights of bombing. Grandmother declared that "the child must be moved" and we moved to the Isle of Man.

My father who was in the airforce, was stationed at Portreath in Cornwall. I was so proud of him - especially when he was in his uniform. He was a leading aircraft man - but he used to tell people he was a pilot. Many people did this.

I used to go to school past the refugee camp in Peel. We were told we were not to speak to them, but they used to call to us and we were very tempted to go and talk to them. We didn't need passes, but the adults did. If they forgot them they had to walk the long way round - which was very annoying.

When I was 7 I went to the Buchan school. My mother was assistant matron there. We had several refugees there from Germany. We missed the sweets but the food wasn't too bad if the meat wasn't a little war-grey. It put me off meat for years.

We used to go home on holidays. The boat was full of soldiers and sailors. It always seemed very dark. All the ladies in the depths of the ship would be sick in open bronze cans - the smell was terrible. There were huge heavy wood staircases and people would queue for Smiths crisps! (they may have been sold halfway down the stairs - but I can't quite remember).

We got onto the train at Fleetwood and they were very crowded with forces sitting on cases in the corridor. The blinds were drawn. The trains would stop and start a lot. Could have been air raids or trains. The stations were very dark. You had to wait hours at Crewe.

We loved living in the Isle of Man

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