大象传媒

I was five years old when the second world war broke out, so my general memories of this are not clear. However, when the bombing began in earnest and the Government decided it was time for chldren (and mothers also if they wished to accompany their children) to be evacuated away from danger, I remember it very clearly.

I have two sisters, Brenda and Joyce, who are older than me by 2 years and 16 months respectively. We were taken to school carrying our little suitcases, gas masks (which were in cardboard boxes and had been issued to everyone before that time) and wearing a large brown label on our coats with our name and address written on. Brenda, our oldest sister, was given strict instructions not to let the people in charge split us up when we reached our destination. All the children assembled at school and we boarded buses to be taken to our destination.

Although many children were upset and crying, and mothers too because their children were going away and they didn't know when they would see them again, there was also a sense of excitement and adventure. We travelled along singing songs and chattering away and wondered at the lovely countryside we were seeing. Holidays for most families in those days were few and far between and some children had never seen green fields and cows.

We arrived at our destination sometime late in the afternoon and it turned out to be Nelson in Lancashire. Today it is not considered a great distance, but in those days it seemed miles away. We congregated in a church hall, were given milk and ginger biscuits, and waited to be 'chosen'!

The good ladies of Nelson came along to the hall and told the organisers their preferences, i.e. 'a girl', 'a boy' 'one child' or 'two'. Slowly the hall was emptying of the children and we three girls we still there. No-one seemed prepared to take three girls together, not surprisingly really. The organisers kept coming up to Brenda and saying 'I think you will have to be prepared to split up', but Brenda - remembering her instructions from Mum - said 'No'. It was a very sad feeling when we were the last children in the hall and eventually had to agree to being split up. We each were taken to a separate house and it was many days before we saw each other again. None of us were happy with our new homes and in fact we changed homes several times during the evacuation years, always separated. It was a very unsettling time and I am sure it would not happen in these 'enlightended days'.

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