大象传媒

My sisters and I all went to school near our home in Peckham. I had 2 sisters, Helena the eldest who was 12 and Jean who was 9. I was the youngest and only boy in the family and I was only 7 years old when we were all evacuated.

We left by train from Peckham and traveled first to Westerham in Kent. There we were taken to a hall, told to form a line and were each given a brown paper carrier bag. As we then progressed around the hall the reason for the carrier bags became clear. We were each given a bar of chocolate, a can of evaporated milk, a tin of corned beef, an orange and an apple. My sister Helena was at the head of our line and much to my amazement, when we came to the end, she quickly took the carrier bags from Jean and myself and told us to quickly go round again. What gave Helena this idea I will never know. We had all had a very strict upbringing and this was most out of character, but given the circumstances and the prospect of a second bar of chocolate, Jean and I did as we were told!.

Eventually we were on our way again to our final destination of Limpsfield in Surrey. At Limpsfield my sisters and I were very lucky to all be placed together, in the care of Miss Thompson.

Miss Thompson had a lovely big house and had two members of staff to help with the household duties and we liked her very much. When Miss Thompson was out we were left in the care of the staff who unfortunately were terrified of gas attacks. They used to make us sit, with gas masks, under the stairs far more often than was needed, but this they did for the best of reasons.

We had only been with Miss Thompson a couple of weeks, when one day she came home early and discovered us under the stairs. This she decided would not do at all and so, she contacted our mother and invited her to come and stay at her house to look after us. How delighted we all were.

This story was submitted to the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by Kaye Larkins on behalf of Mr Alex Finlay and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Finlay fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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