´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer at Dorking Library and has been added to the website on behalf of Colleen P Bright with her permission and she fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was born in 1940 so for me the war was always there when I was tiny. My dad died when I was very young and mum had been a nurse in Rangoon, India. We lived in Paddington, London. I was evacuated to a large house called More Place in Betchworth, Surrey. I was probably there between 1942 and 1945, from the ages of 2 to 5 years. It’s strange because I remember more about this time than I do about my life from 7 to 9 years old, for example.

I mostly have pleasant memories of More Place and would love to find others who were there then. There were other children with me, boys and girls, but I don’t remember how many. I do remember boys beating me to the outside toys kept in the shed, like bikes and cars. Groups of us were taken for walks in the countryside and cows would come towards us over a bridge. We’d have an afternoon nap on pull down beds in what was probably a conservatory. The kitchen had a large table and backstairs — there was a separate main staircase. I was happy, looked after, fed and put to bed — given my young age, I can’t have been emotionally attached to mum or at least don’t remember feeling sad being away from her. I just accepted it. I do however still have a letter written by me to mum (but it must have been hand — guided by the ‘nurses’ who looked after us kids). The letter says ‘Dear Mummy, thank-you for my lovely new hat and coat they are so smart. I do like them. With lots of love from Colleen’.

When I lived at More Place, mum was around at times such as Christmas, and I had an aunt who lived at nearby Ewell. Canadian soldiers entertained us at a Christmas party in the house. Their uniform seemed better than that of the British soldiers — maybe it was of a softer material than the coarse British material. A short film was shown.

Mickey Mouse featured only in the gas masks that most of us kids had to carry around except me. Kids would frighten each other with them. Other less pleasant memories include being made to drink salt water after eating unidentified berries — the remedy was given to all children as a precaution.

I had my tonsils taken out at Redhill hospital. The lights in the theatre made me uncomfortable and once I had come round the frightening nurse ordered ‘Don’t you be sick’, which of course I was. Once I was home mum noticed that my uvula was also missing.

Sadly I later discovered that I was a twin and that mum had taken two babies to the shelters with her. My twin died at 6 months old. The difficulty mum experienced taking the two babies out to the shelter put her off and she did not go again. Mum’s attitude was that if it was her time to die then it would happen wherever she was. In any event mum remembers people being killed when a shelter itself was hit. Mum’s thoughts may have been shared by my husband’s parents as although he grew up in heavily bombed Dagenham, he was kept there with his parents.

As I mentioned I am keen to see the stories of other evacuees to More Place, a time in my life that I remember reasonably well and happily despite being so young.

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