大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Sarah Housden of Norfolk Adult Education鈥檚 reminiscence team on behalf of Joyce Harvey and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was living in Marlow in Buckinghamshire during the war. It is the arrival of the evacuees I remember best. About teatime one day about 25 鈥� 30 kids were all standing round the gates outside our houses. We were at the far end of town on the Council estate, and by then all the good looking kids had found homes. The woman said 鈥淔or goodness sake, take what you can. It鈥檚 getting so late and they鈥檝e got to be housed鈥�. So we took in two boys and a girl who refused to be parted. The two boys slept in a double bed together and the girl came in with me. The oldest boy, Ronnie, was very plain looking, but he turned out to be a cracking little boy 鈥� running to the shops for Mum whenever she needed anything, and bringing in the coal. Ronnie was almost 14, the girl was about 12, and the youngest boy, David, was seven.

My step sister had taken in two girls, who had two brothers who were unhappy where they had been housed. We were asked to take these two boys until they got them sorted out. So, we then had five evacuees and the four boys slept two up, two down in the double bed. They were so happy that the powers that be decided to leave them there. All those kids, put together from two families, got on so well together, and never had a row or a fight. I did have to go down the school with them once, after they鈥檇 been caught shoplifting, but after that we had no trouble with them. Their parents visited quite often and would pay for any extra expenses such as when their shoes had had to be mended. When Ronnie reached 14 he went back home.

My Mum became ill with nose bleeds through worrying about my brother who had been taken Prisoner of War at Dunkirk. We were one of the last ones to hear that he鈥檇 been captured, and for ages we didn鈥檛 know whether he was dead or alive.

I was working in munitions, making pistols and smoke floats. I used to have to assemble them and check them. We travelled to work in a broken down old coach, and the driver was an old boy who wasn鈥檛 safe. I remember one night in the black out I stood on the steps of the coach with a torch, directing the driver 鈥淟eft a bit; right a bit鈥� to keep us on the road.

The evacuees gradually dispersed towards the end of the war, and after Mum died we didn鈥檛 keep in touch.

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