大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Liz Andrew of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Kenneth Clayton and added to the site with his permission.

I was eleven when the War started and I was evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool with my brothers and sisters. I'd only been there two days when I ended up in Devonshire Road Hospital with diphtheria. It was very contagious. My Mum and Dad were still in Manchester but when they visited me they weren't allowed in - They had to stop outside my room and look through the window. Even the nurses who looked after me were muffled up to the eyebrows.

Diphtheria wasn't considered life threatening - but it was dangerous. I remember swallowing was very difficult and even though they were very nice to me and the matron came round with a tin of sweets, the days in hospital were very long.

When I came out, the schooling was terrible. Any trouble was blamed on us evacuees. To begin with we - my brothers of nine and six and my sisters of eight and four - were at Baines Endowed
School. We all lived in the same house, in Ord Avenue. Then the four of them went home - but I stayed on in Blackpool to finish my schooling. I moved to a house in Penrose Avenue which belonged to Mrs Hartley. She was very old and looked after ten evacuees in her house. We used to go to the Co-op and come away with 13 loaves. She did very well ...and she lived till she was eighty six.

The town was full of servicemen during the War - but it didn't really affect me.

I got a little part time job while I was still at school. I would collect Kit from the Blackpool FC footballers and take it to the trainer's wife, who did the washing. After school I had several jobs. My first was on battery ends . I also delivered milk - I had the first electric float in Blackpool - and I enjoyed that. Then I was apprenticed to a butcher. We used to start at six in the morning and work till five at night. It was very tiring and on Fridays we had to work till 10 o clock getting orders ready for Saturday. After that I went to Box Brothers where I mended cars and used to get the horse and landau ready for Mr Box.

My Mum and Dad were affected by the bombing in Manchester. Once they had just got back from seeing me and there was an Air Raid. They had to hurry straight to a shelter - they were lucky to get out alive.

I was called up for National Service after the War and servedin Egypt and Jerusalem. Then I worked as a roadsweeper and then for a Fruit and Vegetable merchant for twenty years.

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