大象传媒

Iwas evacuated twice during the war,we were in Devon the first time,which i dont remember as i was only a baby.Why we came back to London i dont know.Then we were evacuated to Wales,just outside Aberdare in a mining village called Abberannan.There was four of us,all boys.The older brother and sisters were working for the war effort,dad was in the army,a sister was in the A.T.S and older brother Bill was in the navy.Mum and my oldest sister was doing what most people done and that was to survive.Nick,the second oldest of the four of us went to Swanage in Dorset,the other three of us went to Wales.John the oldest and me went with a family called Jones,Peter the other brother brother went with a family a few streets away.Mr Jones was a miner Mrs Jones kept house and son Eddie was a schoolboy like us.After a few weeks Peter came to to live with John and myself,evidently he was crying a lot,although in later years he would not admit it.The street we lived in led straight onto a mountain.Can you imagine the fun we had,streams,mountains,rabbits,trees and sheep.For three lads from Lambeth Walk who had never seen all this before,what fun we had.Our food was basic but we never went hungry.Mr Jones was very strict and when i wet the bed he made me sit on the kerb and miss tea.And another strange thing was when we had a haircut he made us have a cold bath in a tin tub in the back yard,this was done summer and winter,he said it will stop you getting a cold.Peter and i went to the same school,John the oldest and cleverest went to a college a bus ride away.We had the mickey taken out of us because of the way we spoke.Time went by and in April 1945 John was taken into Hospital with stomach pains,i remember being in school when someone came into the classroom and spoke to the teacher,then she told me to go to the toilet.Great i thought,a break from lessons.When i got there my brother Peter was already there,he was told the same as me,go to the toilet.After a while someone came in for us and took us to the headmasters office and told us to sit down and sit still,which we did as school was very strict in those days.He then told us that our brother John had died in hospital that day.He had an appendix which had burst and it was to late to save him.When you are younger news like that does not affect you like when you are older,but we cried when we were told we would not see him again.It was not long after that that Mum and Dad,who had got leave from the army came to take us back to London,i think that Mums attitude was if my boys are going to die then we will all be together.One month later the war ended.Thankfully all in the family came home save and sound except John.I often sit and think what he would have been like,74 this year so my older sister tells me.But like all familys things move on and brothers and sisters go to.I have often holidayed in Wales,and been back to the house we were in,but things change,double glazing,extensions,alterations but the road still led up to the mountains and i stood there remembering those days,lovely days but with some sadness in my heart.

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