大象传媒

I was 9 years old when the war was declared living with my Mum and Dad and Brother Bobby, who was 7 years old. We were living in 2 rooms and an attic the top of a tenement house at 12 Rydon Crescent Clerkenwell E.C.ll, a matter of yards from Sadlers Wells theatre and Metropolitan Water board. My brother and I both attended Middleton Street School and on Saturday 2nd September 1939 our school was evacuated to Luton Bedfordshire.
My Mother came with my brother and I to see us off at the Angel Tube station. We had labels on our coats with our names on, plus a rucksack with our belongings in. The journey I cannot remember until we reached Luton. We were all taken to a hall. We were given a bag with chocolate and goods in. Then it appeared people were coming in and taking children away with them. My brother and I were part of a few children left. A lady took us all around the roads and eventually there was just my brother and I left. Knocking at 36 Hart Lane the lady of the house agreed to take me only. My Mother's last words to us was to keep together so I refused to go, to the effect that Mrs Brown took us both in. I remember well the Sunday morning 3rd September being both taken down to the garden shelter (no roof on it lovely sunshiny morning) standing in the shelter with the siren going with our gas masks ready to put on. It was extremely frightening.
My brother and I attended Hitchin Road School; we didn't do much schooling as I remember.
Mr and Mrs Brown looked after us well they had 1 daughter of their own, who was 14 years old; the same name as myself Joan. My brother and I had one bed between us in a very small room. We were well fed.
We were there a few months when we were sent off to another area to a policeman his wife and 3 children with lots of pets. They made a great fuss of us, showing us all the pets they had. Mrs Brown apparently had got in touch with our parents, which led to my Mother coming down to take us back to Mrs Brown the same day we moved. So we were only there for dinner.
We didn't stay at Mrs Browns for very long after that. My Mum took us home to a new address, which was 75 Plimsoll Road Finsbury Park. We didn't attend school there but a teacher used to come for an hour or so to another boys home and we had to go there. While living at this address my Mother had my brother Roy in May 1940. From this flat every day we would all go at 2 pm to the Holbom tube station, Platform 4 to sleep for the night, we had to carry our own blankets and food. My dad worked at Neasden Railway Depot, so would get the train to Holborn each night. We did have a very frightening experience there one day when a bomb dropped on Aldwych station and the noise and dust all came through the tunnel. People panicked but were calmed down. Since then I have to this day been unable to travel on the underground or to go into any enclosed spaces, so obviously this experience has stayed with me.

The Blitz was on in London and it was a terrifying sight to see the city all alight, when coming out the Angel Tube station one morning. Another fright we had was a plane came down on a Bakers Shop at the end of our road in Finsbury Park. People were gathering and screaming at the Pilot to get down off the roof as he had baled out, thinking he was a German,
but when they realized he was English they welcomed him as a hero.

From here we were evacuated again with my Mother this time as she had a young baby. We went with quite a party of mothers and children from Waterloo Station. Nobody knew were they were being sent until we arrived at Wareham in Dorset. On the train down my Mother got friendly with a Mrs Etheridge and daughter Shelia who was 3 yrs old, also a Mrs Becky Wines with Baby Johnnie, about 1 yr old, she came from south London.
At Wareham a billeting officer, Mrs Bond, was organising where people were going. We were very fortunate in the fact that a very large house called Binnegar Hall in East Stoke, could accept 3 families. So Mrs Etheridge, Shelia, Mrs Wines, Johnnie plus my Mum 2 brothers and myself, were all taken to this lovely mansion in its own grounds to live. The elderly couple Mr and Mrs Farrar welcomed us to their home. Each family had a bedroom, but we had 1 living room we had to share. They had maids a gardener and chauffeur. In the living room there was a primus stove to use for cooking. This caused some chaos, as not one of the Mums knew how to use it. It was always flaring up out of control. The maids use to come and help and showed them how to use it.
Mrs Farrar would come up to us of an evening occasionally and read bedtime stories to us. She also took my brother Bobby and I with her in her Chauffer driven car to pick flowers in the woods on Purbeck Hills for the local church. When her 2 grandchildren came to see her she invited Bobby and I to go with them to a lake they had in the grounds of the hall, to watch them play with their remote control boats. Something we had never seen in our lives.
My Brother and I both attended the village school in East Stoke it had only 2 rooms one for 5 to 7 yr olds. The other one for up to llyr olds. It was heated by a lovely big open roaring fire. The teacher in my class was the vicar's daughter a Miss Taggart, a lovely teacher.
After we had been staying at Binnegar Hall a few months or so, the Americans arrived in Dorset and they requistioned Binnegar Hall for the grounds, and used the rooms for their officer's quarters. Mrs Bond, the Billeting officer, had to find us all different accommodation.
Mrs Etheridge and Shelia were taken in by a local couple a Mr and Mrs Selby with 1 daughter of their own same age as Shelia. Mrs Wines and Johnnie were sent to East Holme. But being separated from Mrs Etheridge and my Mother found it hard to settle as she was quite a few miles away. After a few months she went back to London. We never knew if she survived the war or not.
My Mother, 2 Brothers and myself were taken to Mrs Bond's house, named Stockford House which stood in its own grounds with a very long driveway. Once again we were made very welcome, we were given a living room and Double bedroom. My Mother was allowed to use the kitchen to cook our food, with the maids that attended Mr and Mrs Bond. My Dad was able to visit us whenever he was able to get away from London.
When I became 11 years old I was then sent to Wareham Senior School. I was taken each day with the local children and brought back by the school bus, as it was 4 miles from East Stoke. I made quite a few friends at school and enjoyed it very much.
We stayed with Mr and Mrs Bond until around the end of 1943. Dad had found us another house to live in at Ilford, Essex, so we had to come home to get it ready for living in. We had been home quite a few months when the doodlebugs started. In February 1944 my Mum had another boy John. One particular night one doodlebug dropped at the end of the road. We were in the shelter but the blast was quite bad. My Mum and Dad wrote to ask Mrs Bond if we could possibly come back. She sent a telegram to say, "Come immediately" which we did. We were so glad to be going back to Dorset. I was now 14 years old and I got a job in service at Hefelton House as a Kitchen maid. I was lucky to have at Hefelton a friend I had been at Wareham School with. So I was quite happy to work there, earning 拢2 a month.
On one occasion Mrs Bond held a fete in her garden and a Lord Hinchingbrooke was invited. He spoke to my mother about the war and evacuation as we had come from London. We all returned home from Dorset in summer 1945. I was extremely sad to leave. To me it was home. My Mother always kept in touch with Mr and Mrs Bond, also Mrs Etheridge after we all returned home. I to this day have kept in touch with Shelia Etheridge, also my friends in East Stoke. It is now 64 years ago since the day we met. The memories of these years are still with me today.

Joan Gooding (formally Willis)
August 2005

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