大象传媒

The week after the war started we were going to go on a camping holiday to selesy in Sussex. I was more upset at not going on holiday than on leaving home. My sister and I had previously spent 18 monthes in a foster home when my mother had TB, so perhaps it was not quite so traumatic for us as for some.
On evacuation day, the school assembled at Tooting Junction station. My sister did not go to the same school as me but sisters were allowed to stay together. Once on the train, our teacher told us that she thought we were going to Chichester, which turned out to be the case.
On arrival we were marched to the Chichester Boys High School, and allocated our billets in alphabetical order of name and street name. Out surname was Bird and we were sent to a couple who lived in Bognor Road. We were given a carrier bag of food such as sugar, butter tea etc, and taken there by car.
The couple were middle aged with no children of their own, but they made us welcome and treated us well. They did not have any choice as to which child or children they had.
As we were a girls school, we had to share the Chichester Girls High School, but we kept our own teachers and had our own classes. As space was so short, we also used part of the Bishops Palace which we also shared with other evacuated schools, and where my sister joined another school for her lessons. at first we were allowed the run of the very lovely gardens, but this was stopped after a few days, they were never meant to cope with all those London children.
To make more space at school, when the weather was fine we were sent out for nature walks along the canal tow path, up to Brandy Hole woods, or across the Westgate fields to Dell Quay. These fields no longer exist an Dell quay is now a big marina.
A few days after we arrived, our parents came dow to see us and took us to Selsey for the day as it was so near. While we were there, the first sirens of the war sounded, fortunately it was a false alarm
By Xmas, about half the evacuees had returned to London as nothing seemed to be happening, but our parents made us stay. We did not stay in the same billet, after 6 months, our "Auntie2 got fed up with my sister and I bickering and we were split up and I had several other billets for varying reasons and I returned home in 1942, just before the doodlebugs started. My sister who was 3 years younger than me stayed till the end of the war,
I was mostly well treated by my various hosts and as well fed as anyone else, I think the worst bilet was a tempory one where the elderly couple were very religious and I had to go to church 3 times every Sunday, but they were not unkind to me, just very strict. When you think of it, the people of Chichester had their lives disrupted just as much as we did although in a different way. One billet I was in the lady looking after us was only 19 herself and she had 4 of us to see to, now I am older and wiser I thank them all very much.

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