大象传媒

On sunday morning the third of september 1939,i was evacuated along with my two younger brothers to great wakering near southend.We were taken by double decker bus. It took a couple of hours but to us it seemed an afwul long way from home. I remember feeling very very lonely. We were billeted with a young family in a very modest home. We were settling in, had started school and were making friends when our father arrived to take us home. It had been a mistake sending us there as it was on the coast. In 1940 when the bombing had started we were evacuated for a second time to Maidenhead Berkshire. This was a very tramatic experience as we had three seperate billets, miles apart from each other. I was fortunate enough to be billeted with the former mayors widow who was a very comfortable lady. I had my own bedroom a bowl and washstand and comforts that i were a new experience for me.I worried about family who were back in London where the bombing was becoming increasingly worse. I also missed my brothers although i saw them at school. We would patiently wait at Maidenhead station waiting to see if our mother had come to visit us.Our mother arrived and we all had a lovely day, all four of us together. When the time came to say goodbye my brother John ( always a softy) started to cry. My mother had to go to collect his clothes from the billet and finally had to take him home. That just left my other brother Bobby and i. Bobby was billted with an old lady who died a few weeks later. In 1942 the bombing had eased off and my mother thought that it was safe for us to return home. In 1942 my mother took myself my two brothers and my little sister age 7 to Ireland to be evacuated with her sister who had two daughters. It was good because we always had some company and shared some lovely times together. But i did not come to London again until i was nearing the age of 16.

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