大象传媒

My earliest memories of being evacuated were of sitting in a school playground waiting to be sent away from home because of 鈥淭HE WAR鈥�. It was 1939 and I was six years old and my family (mother and 3 sisters, father was serving with the K.O.S.B). We were living in army married quarters in Portsmouth. My eldest sister, aged 12, was in charge of my younger sister (aged 5) and I, as we were being evacuated to the Isle of Wight. I vaguely remember school railings and people standing outside them watching us as we assembled. They were probably our anxious parents, one of whom was my mother who had given my eldest sister Dorothy, instructions on taking special care of my younger sister Betty, who hated to leave my mother, and was inclined to wet the bed when she became very nervous and homesick. So inside Dorothy鈥檚 case was a rubber sheet and an extra small sheet to use to avoid accidents.
The next thing I remember was sitting in a school classroom, that had a huge pot bellied stove and we were drinking mugs of cocoa. Then we were taken round the streets 鈥渟omewhere in the Isle-of-Wight鈥� with the billeting officer - man or woman I do not remember 鈥� trying to find accommodation for all the evacuees. We were the most difficult to accommodate as there were three of us, so finally we were 鈥榝orced鈥� on a lady living in a large house who did not want evacuees, but was compelled to take us in.
I don鈥檛 know why, but we were very unhappy there, especially my younger sister who unfortunately 鈥榳et the bed鈥� one night. Secretly, my elder sister took the extra cotton sheet off the bed and washed it and hung it out of the window to dry, hoping that our lady would know nothing about it or the rubber sheet, which had managed to keep the rest of the bed dry. To our horror the lady spotted the sheet and was appalled at what my sister had done. 鈥淲hat would the neighbours say鈥� seemed to be her attitude.
In the meantime, on the mainland, my mother had been advised to move further north if possible, as Portsmouth being a dock area, would very likely be bombed some time in the future. So she came to the Isle-of-Wight to take us home 鈥� but where were we? She had to walk along the streets where the billeting officer had been and it was only by chance that she found us playing in the garden of the large house where we were staying. We were so delighted to see her and so tearful when we told her of our treatment, that I remember being told to wait in the garden while my elder sister packed our cases and mum went to speak to the lady.
My mum was only small and very rarely lost her temper, but I have a very vague recollection of standing by a sundial in this beautiful garden, hearing raised voices coming through the French windows. My mother told us many years after that she had given this lady 鈥渁 piece of my mind, how would she like it if her children had been taken away because of the war, not knowing where they had been billeted and finally finding us so upset?鈥�
My mother then returned to Portsmouth with my younger sister who was determined not to let my mother out of her sight again. I don鈥檛 know why, but then my elder sister and I were billeted with an elderly salvation couple, presumably while my mum made arrangements for us to return to Stoke-on-Trent, as she was originally a Burslem girl and has a lot of relatives living in the area.

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