大象传媒

On the 2nd September 1939, my brother, Harry, and I were taken by coach, with other primary school children from Cobourg Road School to Waterloo station to board a train to Brighton. We had a label on our coats with our names on, our gas masks in cases on our shoulders and a bag with clothes in. After being taken to the reception centre, we were taken by car to Preston Park (it was the first time we had been for a ride in a car). We were then walked along the roads, while the teachers knocked on doors to see which people were willing to take the children in.

Unfortunately, Harry was taken in by a couple of elderly ladies at the beginning of Cleveland Rd and I was taken in by Mr & Mrs Redman further down the road. Neither of us had been away from home before without our parents, so it was quite frightening to be separated as well as evacuated.

On the Sunday morning - after War had been declared - the air-raid warning went and we sat under the stairs in the hallway with our gas masks on. But nothing actually happened.

Harry wasn't very happy with the ladies, as he was on his own, so Mrs Redman said she would take him as well. However, we were still homesick, though I got used to it and liked it.

We went to school opposite Preston Park, near the railway viaduct. There were a lot of Jewish children there as well. If it was good weather, we sometimes had lessons in the park, which was nice.

We used to play in the small park opposite the house with other children, and we had snail races!

Sometimes Mr Redman would take us up to his allotment on the Downs and we used to play in the woods nearby.

When it was Harry's seventh birthday, Mrs Redman laid on a party for him in the garden and Mum and Dad came down and said it would not be long before we would be going home again.

One day Mrs Redman took us to Hove to visit a lady who worked as the Housekeeper at a big house, and we had tea with her - I think she was her mother.

Mr Redman worked as a Shunter on the railway at Brighton Station and he went to Brighton & Hove football games.

Unfortunately, after about six weeks, we were taken back home because our Mum missed us.

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