大象传媒

This story was added to the People's War website by a volunteer from Radio Newcastle on behalf of Colin Ross. Mr Ross fully understands the site's terms and conditions and the story has been added to the site with his permission.

I was later to do my national service in a field ambulance in Korea. In 1940 aged nine with a happy home life in Sunderland; my parents though that mass bombing would annihilate Tyneside and Wearside.

I visit schools to talk about the Korean War, but most children are more interested. Now as schoolboys we were suddenly removed from home, and in my case dropped on foster parents in distant Penrith. Memories are of tears, counting the days to the holidays but never fear for the future. Much to our parents' horror, the greatest excitement was one of frequent air raids in the holidays, and the joys of seeing a Heinkel shot down in day light over the sea off sunderland. On that occasion all the crew being picked up by a fishing boat.

We were always hungry as evacuees but spent precious pocket money on "chips" 2p and something - long forgotten "Carlins" which were a wild pea which came on a saucer swimming in a delicious gravy!

As evacuees you sometimes got "balmed up" by local kids whose school you had been dumped in, and noone ever thought of complaining.

Though most children were hungry and this hardship continued long after the war, the diet was a good one. Children's medical problems were chilblains, thigh sores from short trousers and Wellingtons, Scabies and the dreaded impetigo - all now consigned to history.

As D-Day approached, the fifth Royal Tank regiment assembled on the Lowther Estates, and many were billeted with us in Penrith - fine fellows in their twenties - how many would get through it? We also witnessed the amazing roar off the first "thousand bomber" raids going out.

Like Vietnam - Korea - Malaya - Cyprus - Falklands - The Gulf... will it ever change?

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.