大象传媒

In September 1939 I was just seven years old. My Brother John was five and my sisters Shirley and Marion were four and two years old respectively. When war was declared we knew we would have to be evacuated, but because of our extreme youth, our Mother had to come with us.

My Father had started his own business in the late thirites, owing to the business he had been employed in previously becoming bankrupt (it was a carpet and lino retail shop). He therefore decided to go into the printing business, with other sidelines of a similar nature. Unfortunately, this was not something that was of vital necessity at the onset of war and he, too, was in dire straits financially.

From North London we were evacuated to East Anglia, and we took the train from Liverpool Street with the two older children carrying very little luggage. Mother had to cope with the younger children and just one suitcase, with our immediate overnight things and probably just one change of clothing.

On our arrival in St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, we were billeted overnight in one large holding house, and the next day all the mothers and children wre taken, a few at a time, to the homes where they were to be billeted. The gentleman selected to put us up was a local shop owner and quite elderly then. When we arrived on the doorstep with the billeting officer, he was quite upset and very hostile. He refused to take us all in with comments such as "have they brought their own blankets?" and similar remarks. The billeting officer said to him that he had to take us in, but it took a Police presence to enforce this and naturally this caused a great deal of upset for my Mother.

Anyway, overnight we were made comfortable to the best of his ability, and in the morning we found he had softened somewhat as on the kitchen table was a basket with some jigsaw puzzles in, to keep us amused.

My Mother was a well brought up person and had taught us to mind our manners, so we were obviously not as bad a crowd as the old gentleman had expected.

Looking back now, as an adult, one can put oneself in his position and realise what a terrible shock it would have been to have 5 people deposited upon you, especially when he had been used to living alone for some time, and also not knowing what sort of family we were.

It was not long before we were moved to a home of our own, as it was really too much to expect the old man to have such a large family living there, and the deputy town clerk who had no family of his own at that stage, gave up his own council house for us to use, and he and his wife moved in with her Mother.

A few years later, his wife became pregnant, and then they moved back into their own house and we were given a smaller, previously condemned, cottage in the town for the remainder of the war.

I have to say that coming from London to the countryside was absolute paradise for we children. In those days we were given a degree of freedom that would probably be unheard of today, and despite the fact that the town of St.Ives is on the River Ouse, we were taught to respect the water, but never forbidden to go near it. We used to take out skiffs at quite an early age - and as children never had any mishaps. We all learnt to swim at the local swimming baths (outdoors and just a portion of the river fenced off) so Mother had confidence in our ability. We used to cycle to the boatyard during the summer holidays and take out the boats, and I could only have been about 11 years old then. Mother did not come along most of the time, being busy looking after the younger ones and working at home.

We spent many happy hours walking and cycling to neighbouring villages. Picking runner beans and plums for the Chivers company in the summer holidays; strawberries in the Whitsun holidays. Many women and children were roped in to get the various fruits and vegetables harvested, as many of the farm labourers had been called up. I think we had extra long holidays then to enable us to do this. We thought it was wonderful, especially as we got paid for the fruit we picked. Officially it was all added to Mum's tally, but we got pocket money from her. I can remember feeling very proud at the age of 12, as I had a 'card of my own' and all the money I earned came to me. Picking plums at 4d a stone, and carrying them to the scales to be weighed, was quite hard work. Up and down a long ladder - but at the end of the week I had earned the vast sum of 16 shillings, which was an absolute fortune then. I never remember feeling tired, but at 12 years old, who does?

There was a friendly rivalry between the evacuee children and the local children, but I can't remember there being any ill feelings. We made lots of friends and played happily in the Anderson shelters, which we made into our 'camps'. We rolled marbles from the clay soil which had been turned up when the shelters were constructed, and left them in the sun to dry. Toys were not easy to come by.

Before my Father was sent to Burma, he came down several times in his Army uniform and we looked forward to his visits. The remainder of our clothing and what few toys we had were sent down by trunk - which I still have as a reminder of those days. After Dad went off to Burma, we had to manage on our own, and Mother worked hard to see we were all fed as well as she could manage.

In those days every item of food was precious and there was never any waste. The few peelings and scraps were saved to feed the neighbours chickens and pigs, and occasionally we were given river fish, caught by the few anglers who were around. I can remember never enjoying this fish, as it always tasted 'earhty' but nevertheless it was eaten. Mum used to swap her sugar ration with other folk for golden syrup, as none of us took sugar in our tea (never given the chance!), and the golden syrup was much more enjoyable to have on porridge and suet dumplings. I think my Mother must have been a wonder, really, as she convinced us that carrot soup, with a minute amount of grated cheese on, was manna from heaven, and to be honest it was, as being more or less permanently hungry (not starving) anything to fill the tum was welcomed. We seemed to live on an endless supply of large baked potatoes, with anything from a scrap of butter, margarine or dripping to a morsel of cheese on. Looking back, I imagine our diet was extremely healthy. We had very little in the way of sugar and fat, and a large supply of vegetables either home grown by us, or neighbours. Apples and plums were abundant, there being always plenty of windfalls to be had (either legally or scrumped) and not much meat.

To the people of St. Ives and the surrounding villages, I say thank you. Despite being inundated with children and Mothers, and later on by the American airmen who were based nearby, they welcomed us with kindness and open arms. We knew there was a war on, and we followed it avidly on the radio, cinema and in the newspapers, but we were fortunate and only a few bombs and doodlebugs fell in the vicinity with no casualties that I can recall.

Despite it being a time of great sadness and hardship for many, we were extremly lucky to come through the war unscathed, and happily my Father returned from Burma in 1946, also unscathed. We all settled back in London in our old home and continued our teenage lives until we all married and left home. Although our parents are no longer alive, we four 'children' happily are, being parents and grandparents, and all of us have wonderful memories of our time as evacuees during World War II

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