大象传媒

This contribution was submitted by Alf Pagden to the People's War team in Wales. It is added with his permission.

When the war started I was just four years old and I lived in Canning Town, West Ham, which if you look at the beginning of Eastenders you鈥檒l see a lovely big bend in the River and I lived right at the top of that bend. So it was an area which was really bombed during the war. The first I knew was when I looked out of the window and saw people digging the yard and putting in a shelter. Then my sister, who was at school, was evacuated with the whole school to Somerset. But because I was just four, I was too young. So my mum and I followed my sister within a few weeks I think. Even though I was only four, I still can remember the flags and the 鈥淒ig for Victory鈥� parades even in a quiet little village. The Londoners had come down and taken over the place. One night I remember people were getting quite excited and when we got up in the morning everyone was chattering away and what had happened was an aircraft which had been bombing Bristol, presumably, and had offloaded its bombs in the field just opposite. And that was the talk of the village and everyone would go down to this field, and all I can remember was seeing half of cows, and craters and that sort of thing. Which was quite a thing when you鈥檙e five years old.

When we were in Somerset my sister went to a secondary school which was evacuated from East London to Newquay of all places. My mother and I followed and went to a lovely little village called Goonharan situated between Perranporth and Newquay. It was marvellous鈥alking to church over the sand dunes to Perranporth. That was a side of the war which benefited a young kid because we went into the country. And I know of many people taken out of London who in fact settled into these country areas, or if not had their eyes opened.

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