大象传媒

I was 9 when the war started.We lived in Leigh on Sea in the Thames estuary.By 1941 the war had hotted up and we had a marvellous panoramic view of the estuary from the cliffs we could see from Foulness Island to just short of Tilbury docks.We could see convoys assembling with their barrage balloons and the aircraft attacking them. Mother thought it was getting too dangerous for my brother snd I to stay so decided that we ought to be avacuated.
Most evacuees seemed to have had a good time at their new homes but we were very unhappy. We were sent to Brassington to a farm about 1 mile South of the village.
Our duties were that first thing in the morning we had to muck out the cowsheds,this took a considerable time, after this we were given a bowl of porridge before our walk to school.
The villagers were for the most part resentful of the evacuees presence.We boys had been brought up to be respectful of adults but this attitude was severely strained, although being a quiet shy lad my teacher delighted in verbally abusing me. Almost daily I was sent to the headmaster who taught in the next room who would give 6 strokes of the cane. After this became a frequent occurence I was made to crawl from the doorway to his desk before the beating.
In the winter we had to negotiate the snowdrifts on the way to school & were frequently late resulting in another beating.
Whilst there I sat the 11 plus exams and failed with all the other evacuees.
A year later my Aunt who lived in Nottingham managed to visit us and reported back to my mother who straight away came to take us home.
After returning home another two boys from Brassington were killed when their house was hit by a land mine just a few streets away.
I retook my 11 plus after complaints about the biased nature of the first test and passed, subsequently attending a very respected grammar school.
I know a lot of people suffered tremendously during the war and my ordeal might seem trivial but I feel that it affected my personality a great deal but I feel better for having got it off my chest for the first time in nearly seventy years

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