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Evacuated to an Ammunition Site

This story was submitted to the Peoples’ War site by a volunteer on behalf of
Mr Thomas O’Connor and has been added to the site with his permission.
Mr O’Connor fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was a boy of 10 or 11 or so when I was evacuated. I went from Wimbledon on the mainline to Guilford. We were met by buses that went on to Shere in Surrey. We were taken to the village hall. From there my three sisters and I were split up. Boys and girls were taken to separate places. I was sent to a place called Hollister. We boys were taken to a posh house with a cook. First of all we were given special treatment. But, boys being boys, the owners of the house decided that they couldn’t keep us and I was moved. I ended up staying with a lady in the middle of an ammunition dump! There were no other children there. My sisters were a mile away.

We walked every day for a mile to school and spent half a day there, since there were so many children who were evacuated that school only lasted for half a day. But there were no other boys at the school, that I can remember.

There were French- Canadian soldiers guarding the ammunitions dump and there were guards on every site.

I remember that I stayed at that ammunition dump, with the lady in Holllister for a year or so. Finally we went home to Lily Road, Fulham. I can remember sleeping on bunk beds in the Earls Court tube station and also under Putney Bridge to miss the bombs.

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