大象传媒

A few days before the war broke out in 1939, two of my brothers, myself, and my sister were evacuated to 鈥淓venwood鈥�, a small pit village in County Durham. When we arrived people from the village waiting in the schoolyard had volunteered to foster one or two.

My younger brother, John, aged 6, and myself, Edward (Ted), aged 12, went to stay with an elderly couple by the name of Wilson, the same name as ours. Syd, aged 13, went to stay with a nice couple at the top of the village, and my sister Dorothy, aged 11, went to stay with another couple, but wasn鈥檛 happy being split up from her brothers.

When we arrived we must have looked like little lost sheep with name tags pinned to our coats, gas masks, carrying suit cases and carrier bags with food and a Kitkat.

Mr Wilson, who worked in the pit, and his wife made John and I very welcome, but we did feel strange. Their married daughter, Amy, and son-in-law had a farm which we visited on occasions. I loved to help with the haymaking and gathering in the cows for milking.

After about 6 months, Mrs Wilson was finding looking after John and I too much for her to manage, so it was arranged for us to stay with a younger couple, who were very nice. They had one son, Maurice, who was in the forces, aged about 20 鈥� 25. Their name was Collinson. We met Maurice on one occasion when he came home on leave. Sorry to say he was killed a while later on duty.

Mr Collins had quite a run of hen crees, about 30 鈥� 40 hens and lots of chicks. The first time I went to feed them, which was about a 10 minute walk away, I was told to collect the eggs, which I did, but I brought the pot eggs as well as they all looked the same and it was the first time I had heard of them.

My sister Dorothy went back to Newcastle and Syd also as he was now 14 years old and had to get a job. John decided to go home also. I was left and stayed until I was 14 - that was April 1941.

We did on occasion have an air raid, but nothing serious. One night the Germans dropped incendiary bombs, but they all landed in the fields. We collected a couple burnt out which smelled horrible, we cleaned them and used them as ornaments.

Mrs Collinson liked me to go to church, on occasions I decided to walk in the country instead. I also joined the Boy Scouts which I quite enjoyed as we had some fun and games.

I really liked Evenwood in the winter months, sledging down the hills. One particular winter, 1940 I think, the snow had fallen and it was about 4 feet deep. We had to shovel our way out of the back door to get to the back yard toilet, which I had never seen the likes of before as they are also used for household ashes. The council workers came once a week, opened a door from outside, and with big shovels cleaned them out. The first time it happened when I was sitting there 鈥� I felt a very cold draft and got the shock of my life when I realised.

Evenwood certainly was a memory I shall never forget: I loved it.

Back at Newcastle I started work on my 14th birthday. I received 14/- a week less 4d taken off for stamp. I was errand lad for 鈥淎lfred & Warner鈥� on Barras Bridge, Haymarket, Newcastle, and later worked at Heaton Junction Railway cleaning engines, and as a fireman on small pilot engines. That was until the end of the war.

I remember also the smoke screens that darkened the places while we had a full moon and they certainly smelt horrible.

My Dad was in the NFS (National Fire Service), I remember when he was fighting a huge fire at Newcastle Goods Station, New Bridge Street, which burned for quite a number of days after being bombed during an air raid. One of his mates died fighting that fire.

I鈥檓 now 78 years old with all those memories to cherish. Things have certainly changed over the years, like before the war playing racing around the block with your gord-bicycle wheel with no spokes or tyre, marbles in the street, and your top and whip, the lasses playing with skipping ropes and chalking bays on the ground to play games, the kids played for hours, no bother like today, no shops boarded up.

After the war Mr and Mrs Collinson came to stay with us for a few days, when she saw us she said, 鈥淵ou are my little evacuees鈥�. Many years later I took my wife to Evenwood, also the farm I used to visit, but it had certainly changed, all new faces. My wife also died. That concludes my story before, during and after the war.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.