大象传媒

A Guernsey family leave Guernsey for Coventry

Ken Birch interviewed at home in 2005. Transcribed from CD by John David 24/11/05.

My mother is a Guernsey woman, big Guernsey family, going back generations, my father arrived here with one of the garrisons that used to be at Fort George, one of the regiments that used to arrive, and he married, and then when the regiment was withdrawn they set up home in Coventry, where one of my mother鈥檚 sisters and also one of her brothers and their families were living at the time.
I鈥︹�︹��. What was your mother鈥檚 maiden name?
Cox, and her mother鈥檚 name was Taylor, my grandmother was a Taylor from the Gouffre, born at the Gouffre.
So we as a family were living in Coventry, but I used to spend about four months of the year here in Guernsey, with my grandmother, and with various uncles and aunts and cousins, who all lived in a very large Guernsey house, on different floors. When the war started in 1939, September, we were all here on holiday, and it was decided by the family that it would be much safer for my brother, my sister, and I to stay in Guernsey, because it would be too dangerous being in England during the war. So we stayed here, and I started school once again at Notre Dame, in Town. I had started there originally when I was five years old, and then we moved over to England. And so we were more or less living in Guernsey, and one morning I was walking to school with friends as one gathers them walking to school, and somewhere at the top of the Market or in Mill Street, we met boys walking back the other way, and they started calling out to us, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going away, and you鈥檝e got to get some clothes, the teachers have told us鈥�. But we decided that we鈥檇 get the real message, and we carried on to school. And there we were told we had to go home, we could have one case, bag, or parcel, - because in those days people often carried things in brown-paper parcels tied up with string 鈥�
I鈥︹�︹��. Because in those days people didn鈥檛 have suitcases?
They didn鈥檛 have many of them, and the whole school was being evacuated, we were to turn up down at the White Rock, I can鈥檛 remember the time. So I got home and reported this to my grandmother and aunts 鈥� my parents were back in Coventry, and I was staying with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and such, and cousins 鈥� and instantly they said, no you鈥檙e not, nobody leaves until we all leave, we鈥檙e not going to be all split up and spread out all over the place and dispersed. And then came a period, of course, school had gone, and we were in the thoughts of needing to go away, and thinking of going away, and presumably my uncles were keeping a check on boats when we could all go away. Meanwhile, because we were only allowed to carry one bag, case, or whatever, I was dressed each day with two vests, a couple of shirts, a jacket, I can鈥檛 remember if it was a raincoat or an overcoat, and just about everything I could wear, and it was hot, and we are talking of June. And they had very sensibly thought that if we can only carry something in a bag then we鈥檒l wear as much as we could.
I鈥︹�︹��. It does make sense, yes, but probably quite uncomfortable.
Well, it wasn鈥檛 very good for a ten-year-old boy in June. So that went on for quite a while. Now during that period some fishing boats 鈥� I think there were one or two, originally 鈥� appeared in the harbour, from France, and they came into the Old Harbour, and it was quite a news item, people went down to gather to look at this, the news spread around the island, and traders went down and gave these people shoes, clothes, and food, trying to help these evacuees who鈥檇 come away with just what they stood up in. I remember a friend of the family, a gentleman named Mr Delaporte, who said 鈥渋t鈥檚 all very well, it looks good, but before very long I fear they鈥檙e going to be needing these themselves鈥� because I think he foresaw that if France fell the islands were going to be taken over as well. Incidentally Mr Delaporte was the owner of a pawnbroker's in Cornet Street which is called Lombardy House. And he in fact evacuated with his wife and daughter with my enlarged family, because he was a friend of the family. And then one day, I think in the afternoon, one of my uncles arrived back in the house in a hurry 鈥淲e can go on the boat, there鈥檚 one in the harbour, we can leave鈥�. And so we all gathered, messages went out, I think children were sent to run to fetch the ones who were working in shops in Town or whatever, and a whole crowd of us went down to the White Rock where the boat was in. And there were crowds of people down there watching, and I can remember there were people down there giving things away to the people leaving, like sweets, and chocolate, and I can remember someone there was giving away jellies, the squares you make jellies with, which of course we took a handful of them and made ourselves sick on the boat. We got on the boat, it was called the Duke of Argyll, I can remember that very clearly, it was filthy, and stank, because it had been used for the evacuation of troops from France, and had obviously been working for a couple of months non-stop, without anyone cleaning or doing anything else. We travelled over to Weymouth, we left in the evening and travelled through the night. The next morning I got up, and one of my cousins, who was a lot like an older brother to me, we wandered round the boat. We were anchored outside Weymouth harbour, as were many other boats, and it was foggy. And we wandered up to the bows, where a sailor was hitting a ship鈥檚 bell, twice, two dings, every now and then. We chatted to him, and he said that was what all the boats were doing, they were ringing to identify themselves because of the fog. And so he said 鈥渄o you want to have a try?鈥� and being kids we said of course we did. So he said 鈥淟isten to when that one sounds,鈥� and he pointed out a particular bell 鈥渁nd then hit it twice after them鈥�. He said 鈥淪ee if you can do it鈥� So after we had done it successfully half a dozen times he said 鈥淩ight, carry on鈥� and cleared off. And then there was a lot of hooting and shouting from the various boats, and into view came the Courier, which was a small boat with a tall funnel which used to travel up and down to Alderney, and that had now made the journey across the channel by itself, and that went past us, and obviously went somewhere to Weymouth, and a little time later they all made more noise, because this time it was the Joybell, and that was the boat that used to go to and from Sark, and that was a small boat with a funnel, and it was very much like a miniature liner of those days.
Now maybe in memory I鈥檝e got it wrong, it may have been the Joybell first and then the Courier, but I think it was the Courier first.
We landed eventually, we鈥檇 all got a luggage label tied to our coats,
I鈥︹�︹��. Was it the next day by then?
It was the day after we鈥檇 left, because we鈥檇 got there in the morning, in the fog, and during that day we鈥檇 been taken ashore, and then we were in Weymouth Railway Station, crowds of us, and people were marshalling everyone, and putting them here or there, and then my family said, that鈥檚 it, we鈥檙e going away, because we know where we want to go, we want to go to Coventry, where my parents, and two more aunts and uncles, lived. So we then went up to Coventry, and arrived there at my parents鈥� house, so the first night people were sleeping anywhere and everywhere.

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