大象传媒

My sister Doreen (Aged 5) and myself (Aged 7) left Woodside Station, Birkenhead and arrived at 'Llandrillo', a village (Nr Corwen) where farmers and villagers selected children they were prepared to care for. Beryl Roberts (aged 18), a farmers daughter, chose us. We were quite happy on the farm until Beryl's mum died two months later, and Beryl could not cope with both of us. So I was moved to the village hall with the rest of the evacuees not selected. We were cared for by two nurses. I stayed at the hall for a couple of months. Beryl noticed I was not happy there and she found a cottage where Mr and Mrs Rowlands said I could live. I was liveing there for about six months (the worst days of my life). Mrs Rowlands was not a nice person. I was now 8 years old. My meals consisted of jam sandwiches and Oxo drinks. I'll never touch Oxo again. I was not allowed sugar or saccarines. She watched me once in a reflection of a glass bowl. She caught me trying to take some saccarines, O' Dear!

Her 15 year old son used to bully me but she never stopped him. My mother and father used to save their sweet coupons every month. They would send a parcel of goodies to my sister which we would share. Once at Christmas while at school I noticed my sister eating a bar of chocolate, so I challenged her about my share. She said I was sent a parcel of my own to the cottage. So on returning I asked Mrs Rowlands about it, and she replied, Yes a parcel had arrive for me, there is half a bar of chocolate in the drawer.... I did not find the chocolate bar or the accompaning letter.

Beryl came to my rescue again. She had a word with a farmer named 'Dufrig Evans', who was willing to take me. I was happy there, we became good friends. I helped him on the farm, which I enjoyed. Good days where when I was allowed days off school to help him to take sheep to market. On one memorable occassion, we heard that an 'American Bomber' had crashed up in the mountains near the farm. Dufrig and other farmers went up to try and locate it and I was allowed to go too. We found the crashed plane and I was amazed at the size of the wheels.

It was as an evacuee that I met Frank Dawson, another evacuee, (who actually came from the next street to me in Birkenhead), living on a farm close ti me. We became good friends. When the war ended I never saw Frank again. One day in 2003 a person, while in my doctors waiting room, recognised me, and told me Frank had been trying to contact me for years! So I gave Ron Hayes (also an evacuee) my phone number. It was passed on to Frank (who was married and living in Belgium). He rung me and we finally met up again at a reunion in Llandrillo in September 2004! I now know ies moving back to live in the village on 1st June 2005 and another reunion is scheduled to place on 26th June 2005.

'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of John Ryan and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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