´óÏó´«Ã½

About two or three days before the war started, children were evacuated from London. I had to go - I had a younger sister ‘Rosina’— I was seven years older than her (she was five and I was twelve - nearly thirteen).

We had to report to the school with our gas-masks and just a change of clothing. My Mother came with us, and there were two double-decker buses waiting outside and we just said goodbye to our parents and got on the bus — we didn’t know where we were going. We were taken to the railway station (I’m not sure which one now, it was either King’s Cross or Euston) and the train was full of other children from all other schools. Every so far along the railway track at different stations a school was called out to get off.

We arrived, I didn’t know at the time, but it was Bedford. We were taken in buses to a school at the end of ‘Anthill Road’. We were taken inside and given a drink and something to eat (even though my Mother had given us a packed lunch). We stayed in that school overnight; we were given a blanket to cover ourselves over. There were a lot of German refugee children and they couldn’t speak any English and we couldn’t speak any German so we just looked at each other.

The next day we were taken out in groups of six with a lady or a man, and they went along the road knocking on people’s doors. I don’t know if they had to take you if they had a spare bedroom, or whether it was optional. We ended up with a very elderly lady called Mrs Sharpe and her daughter Nancy, and we were with them for about three weeks because the girl was joining up and Mrs Sharpe was too old to look after us really. Then we were taken to another couple — a Mr and Mrs Easom, and we were with them for about three or four months until I think things got very quiet in London, and we were a bit homesick so my mother came along and we went back home along with many, many other children. When we returned our school was closed but there were some that were open so we had to go to those schools.

Then the Blitz started, and as it went on we had another chance to be evacuated. This time we stayed. First of all we stayed in the house and then in a shelter, and then when it got really heavy we slept in a tube station: Old Street tube station.

We were there for a while but then my mother decided we should be evacuated again. I was practically due to leave school, but I went with my sister to a village called West Charlton. We lived with a young couple called the ‘Spencer’s’ there and Mr Spencer worked on his Mother’s farm, but later he rented a farm himself and my sister and I went out with them to this farm- about a mile out of the village. I had left school so my younger sister went back in to the village and stayed with Mr Spencer’s Mother (she had a farm in the village), but then Mother came and we went back home again. I was going to start work anyway.

When the V1’s and V2’s started, my elder sister was expecting a baby and we had the chance to be evacuated again. She went up to Lancashire to a place called ‘Bury’ and my younger sister went with her. My mother and I stayed in London working. Then in 1944 you had to sign on when you were 17 or 17 and a half and I signed on and was called up in to the ATS (The Auxiliary Territorial Service) the Army. I went into signals there and became an operator keyboard and line. I really enjoyed it actually. I was stationed at Scottish Command up in Edinburgh, and then later down in London district. I was with them until I got married just before I was 20 when I came out. My husband was a regular soldier so he was still in the army until 1950.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Lilian Hollis and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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