大象传媒

In 1938, the war in Europe seemed to be averted, by the return of Chamberlain, waving a piece of paper, and proclaiming 鈥淧eace in our time鈥� I wonder if our Defence Department really believed that Germany could be trusted. The following days of waiting were marked by the issue of gas masks in the same year, and we each had our little cardboard box, containing our masks. Then the plans were drawn up to evacuate the children, and mothers and babies from the industrial areas and towns which would be the danger zone, i.e. coastal towns, where invasion could take place. The babies gas masks, where complete hoods, covering the whole head, as they could not have coped with the face masks we had. To test these, we were taken in small groups, into sealed rooms, and capsules of gas were let off. I found this quite scary.
In July 1939, I left school wanting to go to University, as my exam results were very good, but there was no money, so I decided that I would take the Civil Service Entrance exam . However Hitler had other ideas and the exams were cancelled , when war was declared on September 3rd and we all waited to find out what would happen next. I suppose we expected that planes would come and drop bombs all over the place.
On September 1st over 1,000,000 children were evacuated from cities to 鈥渟afer鈥� areas. What a traumatic experience.! The children went to their schools, taking a small suitcase of clothes, something to eat and the small cardboard box continuing their gas marks. They also had labels on their coats, giving their names and the school. The mothers lined up along the road, as the children were taken to the local railway station, and some of them did not return for four years. On arrival at the destination, the children were herded into the local parish hall, and people who were willing to take them into their homes, came and picked out one or two that they wanted. In many cases this meant that the most appealing child was chosen, and it must have hurt the feelings of those left until the last. Having read many letters of these children, which have been collected and published in a number of books, it becomes very obvious, that it must have added to the terrible wrench of leaving home, and obviously must have changed the lives of those involved. In some homes, the children were treated as one of the family, and in others, they were made to do all the housework and were treated as servants. The people taking them, were given money by the Government, but there was no check on how the money was spent. The parents were also made to contribute towards the upkeep of the evacuees. Some parents sent food for the children, but there was evidence that some did not reach them, but was retained by the families looking after them.
1st September 1939
The German troops invaded Poland, and it seemed that this was one step nearer to a war. At the same time, Mussolini declared that Italy would remain neutral, so attention still remained on Hitler. Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that their troops should be withdrawn from Poland, but we didn鈥檛 believe for one moment that they would. I supposed we really could not believe that this was all happening.
3rd September 1939
It was a fine Sunday morning, the radio said an announcement would be made at 11.00. We all tuned in and heard the words, 鈥淔rom 11.00 this morning, when no answer had been received to the British Ultimatum, we are now at war.鈥� About five minutes later, the sirens sounded their shrill notes and we sat and waited. Ten minutes later the all clear went and we breathed again. Apparently there was an aircraft which could not be identified immediately, so the sirens had been sounded just in case. I think we were all in a state of bewilderment, as we had no idea what would happen, but most of us, thought that the planes would come, and that bombs would rain down on us.
France also declared war on the Germans, and their troops crossed the German frontier into the Saarland.
On September 5th, President Roosevelt declared US neutrality, so we felt as though we were rather alone, and that we had to stand up and fight on our own, with France. Poland certainly had no chance of survival, as on 17th September Soviet troops also invaded that country.
In October the first men (over 250,000 over 20 years old) were conscripted. There were certain people who were deemed to be in a 鈥渞eserved 鈥� occupation, who were exempted. A great deal depended upon the way the employer described the job being done, and in some cases men who should have gone, evaded the draft. At the end of the war, this caused a great deal of bitterness, as many of these men were able to buy houses, and bring up their families in a normal way or more normal way. The men who were de-mobbed came home, as my husband did, after two and a half years, and the amount of 拢40.00 given him by a board of assessment. No money, no home and people did not want to know. For some men, who had been prisoners of war for many years, it must have been even worse.

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