大象传媒

Chapter 1 Gangway into the Unknown

The Outbreak of War & Evacuation

1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War to indelibly mark my lifetime. At this time it did not seem to disrupt our way of life and business continued almost as usual. Cargo ships still ran between the islands and the mainland, and flights were little affected other than by the English Airforce that operated on the island. As the year continued ration books became a constant feature of life but living in the country and growing all our vegetables this was not a problem. However to many others with young men and women from their families serving in the regular forces, the war was much more real.

By 1940 Hitler鈥檚 hoard was over-running Europe and sweeping all before it, including France. Ever nearer to the relative tranquillity of our islands they drew. I can clearly remember the beautiful sunny afternoon in early June when a plane buzzed round and round the island. What else could it have been other than a reconnaissance aircraft taking aerial photographs?

Etched in my mind is the vision one beautiful Sunday evening. We were listening to the Salvation Army band playing an open-air meeting on the common overlooking Grande Havre. The sea seemed so green and peaceful and nature was alive all around us. Then as we watched a huge dense black cloud formed in the east, not a thundercloud but something far more sinister. Gradually it blotted out the sky, surely this was an omen for the future? What we were witnessing was the slash and burn of our allies鈥� armaments during their retreat to Dunkirk. To us on our little island this was the beginning of the end.

Decision Time

From this point the decision on whether to stay or go would be quickly upon us. This choice was probably one of the biggest we would have to make in our lives. Life as we knew it was about to change for good. The war in Europe was coming to an end and the 鈥渄ark, dark days鈥� were upon us, the next phase for us was the inevitable invasion of our island.

Each and every family on the island had to make up their minds as to whether to evacuate or remain. The future was unknown and there was no advice from authority, the choice was entirely ours. By this time my wife and I had a daughter, Jean of two and a half years. So we decided and in mid June on a Friday afternoon I took them to the White Rock with the idea that I would send them on to the mainland and that I would stay. As we drove to the docks we saw the long line of mothers and teachers with all the children of school age waiting to bard a special ship to take them to England. The heart-rending tears and farewells from parents had a big impact on me. I turned the car around and drove straight home vowing that we would either all go or all stay together.

In the early hours of Saturday, after the scenes of Friday I woke my wife and told her that I had decided that we would go, if a boat were available. I telephoned my brother and brother-in-law and told them of my decision. They both decided to evacuate their families, and another English family also made up their minds to accompany us. Upon our arrival at the docks we found a ship that had taken part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. It was filthy and it still had its stinking cargo on board in the hold. To us though it was a lifeline though, for that we were very grateful and so onto the gangway we stepped.

We had one suitcase between three people and as I owed money to the bank, only the princely sum of 拢25 in my pocket. Our human cargo amounted to approximately 600 men, women and children. We left the harbour at about 9:30am and anchored in Weymouth bay in the late afternoon. The bay was packed with ships and boats of every size and description, most of them carrying their own refugees. Some smaller boats were packed tightly with people standing shoulder to shoulder.

It was impossible for us to disembark that day, this did not happen until Sunday at 2:30pm. We spent a total of 28 hours on board before we were able to go ashore. We had taken nothing to eat or drink but the crew kindly shared their provisions amongst the children.

As we walked along the docks amid the weeping and utter desolation of so many separated families, a burly sergeant major stood in the centre of the disorganised mass of humanity and shouted out that in no uncertain terms people were to line up:

鈥淩efugees on my right and those who can fend for themselves on my left.鈥�

Our families quickly pooled their meagre resources together with those of our English friends, who showed us great kindness during our time of need. We all decided to line up on the left and our friends made themselves responsible for finding us somewhere to stay in the local area where they had lived previously. They were from some of the villages in the Sheffield and Doncaster area.

After a big bite to eat at Weymouth all 14 of us travelled by train to Bristol where we found a hotel for the night. Despite our exhaustion we were still unable to sleep comfortably, as that night we were exposed to the first of many air raids that we would experience during our time on the mainland. Nevertheless we were very grateful to be in the comparative safety of England and under God鈥檚 protection.

Everything that we owned and possessed was but a dream. Our lives and our families were now of primary importance. However we were also desperate to help those who had opened both their hearts and homes to us in our place of refuge. We wanted to help in our own small way and to make our contribution to the fight for right over wrong and liberty over slavery. It is extremely important that we never forget the sacrifice of those brave men and women on land, sea and air, who gave everything for the future of our nation. They enabled us to have the freedom of choice and freedom of speech that many now take for granted.

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