大象传媒

Introduction.
Born on 18th. January 1932, I was an only child.
I do not remember a father but I lived with my mother, in a house shared with two other families, at 111 Moray Road, Finsbury Park, North London.
We were poor, my mother went out to work all day, often until late, and I was what used to be called a 'latch key' child. I remember being looked after by a large Jewish lady who lived alone with her Dachshound dog on the ground floor of the house.
Strangely, I have no recollections of my family life, friends, or schooling, until just before the start of WW2.
I was going to be evacuated somewhere, presumably with my school. However, due to a serious cycling accident, when racing some older boys, I spent a long time in hospital. When discharged, that school must have left London.
I was later evacuated with some other children and taken, by train, to St. Columb Major, near Newquay, Cornwall, complete with a label around my neck, a gas mask in a cardboard box, and a few clothes in a bag.
My left leg was still encased in plaster from hip to toes and I could only get around, with difficulty, on a pair of crutches.

On arrival at St. Columb Major we were taken to a small school and sat around on chairs or floor, waiting for adults to home us.
I must have seemed a liability as no one selected me, and after all the other children had gone, I spent a tearful night on the floor with a couple of blankets.
I seem to recall one lady who stayed with me and slept on a nearby chair.
Early the next morning I was aware of a ginger haired man stooping over me, and a tall lady, with her hair in a bun, standing nearby.
I particularly remember the man's hair as there was a distinct black line between the hair and his face and I thought that very odd.
(I later came to assume that the hair was, in fact, some form of wig.)
The man said "Would you like to come home with us?"
I was so unhappy that even if he had had two horns and a dragon's tail, I believe I would still have said "Yes, please"
The lady picked up my crutches and my very few possessions, and the man simply bent down and picked me up in his arms and we left the school.
Outside there was a small blue Ford van and as we approached I could see a head of reddish curly hair through the small windows in the rear doors.
I do not know why, but I suddenly felt very unhappy and blurted out "Oh no, you have a girl"
The man simply smiled, opened the doors and said "Yes, and she is for you鈥�
There in the van was a Golden Retriever puppy, which I later called 'Gifty'.
The man and lady were Harold and Gladys Walkey who owned the general store, and ironmongers cum farm chandlers in Broad Street, St. Columb Major. They had a house in the town and parents on a farm nearby. They had no children of their own and they treated me as if I were their son.
I only saw my mother for a couple of days during the war as she was working in a munitions factory in Troon, Scotland.
She almost seemed like a stranger at the time, and it is sad to recall that I did not miss her at all.
Instead, I came to love and to call Mr. and Mrs Walkey, my mum and dad.

...to be continued with "my war years in Cornwall"

...and "The return to London"

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