大象传媒

I was heartbroken when my daddy had to go back to Canada, at the time I was very young, but still had memories that have stayed with me all my life. When my mum was at work, daddy took me out to the countryside, he loved the woods and showed me rabbits and flowers. He must have passed his love of them on to me, as I have always loved them as well. I met his friends, they were his crew I think, as he was a pilot and flew the aeroplanes at night time. His friends were in a funny shaped house, that they called a nissen hut and I could see big aeroplanes nearby.

One night when I was in my cot, I was hurt when a wall or something fell on me and cut my head, my cot was also damaged. We had to move out of the room in St Albans and had a room in Letchworth, where my mother worked. The room we had been in was in a Mother and Baby evacuee home. My dad got me a new cot and put it in our new room, but there wasn't enough room for daddy to stay. My daddy also rushed me to hospital when I had pneumonia. My daddy鈥檚 parents in Canada used to write to him and they sent their love to me. I believe that they sent me a coat for my birthday, to keep me warm. He said he would write to me when he went back to Canada, but I never did hear from him again.

Shortly after he left with his friends in 1946, my mum put me in a foster home, she couldn't cope by herself. I never saw or heard from either of them again. My daddy had some pips or buttons, as I thought they were on his uniform and I used to rub these between my finger and thumb, as a kind of comforter to me. When he went, my comforter went as well. I don't think he ever knew how important they were to me. I still rub my finger and thumb together, whenever I think of him and the buttons.

My mother's name was Jessie May Thompson and I found her family, 10 years ago, but unfortunately she had died two years before. I'm still searching for my father's family, his name was James Nickolson, my name is Madeline and he called me "his little girl" This is just a small story of my life during the war and immediately after, there are thousands of people like me, lots who have found their father and lots more still searching like me. Good luck to everyone who is still searching for their roots.

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