大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Serene from Dover Road C.P. School and has been added to the website on behalf of Mr Raymond Weeks with his/her permission and they fully understand the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

Raymond originally lived at 57 Barnfield Road in Plumstead in South East London, he lived with his parents and 5 brothers and 4 sisters.

Like thousands of other children at the beginning of September 1939, 2 days prior to the declaration of war on the 3rd September we were evacuated.
I was only 9 when I was evacuated like most of the children, to Hawkhurst.
We went from home in Plumstead to Plumb Lane School then by train to Waterloo and then to Hawkhurst. I came home from Hawkhurst after about 3 months (just before Christmas).

In June 1940 I was evacuated again to Torquay in Devon, after about another month I came home again. Then the blitz started in 1940. On the 26 of September 1940 I was again evacuated; to Ilfracombe in Devon with one of my sister鈥檚, like all children I started writing letters to my mum and dad and we were not getting any answer from them. After about 2 months my sister and I were called over to the headmistress, who had to tell us that our house had been bombed on the 5 of October 1940 and that our mother, father, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and my brother-in鈥攍aw had been killed that night.

From that day on I officially became an orphan, after that all happened I and my sister Pearl, who is now Pearl Tappenden, stayed with our aunt Dorothy Alldis until April 1942 when we both came home from Ilfracombe. We went to live with my aunt and uncle, in Eltham South East London and stayed there for the remainder of the war, until I got married in March 1955.

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