大象传媒

On Friday 30th June 1944 a terrible disaster happened at Weald House a children's evacuation home at Crockham Hill in Kent.

Weald House was a very large house which enjoyed spectacular views over the Weald of Kent. From its lofty position it overlooked miles of open countryside. Because of this location the home was considered a place of relative safety for short stay evacuated children from the London area. The children living there were all under three years of age and many were new arrivals. It was a warm summer evening and the children had been taken to bed for the night.

Somewhere nearby a doodlebug on its way to London had been intercepted by anti-aircraft fire and had been badly damaged before it could reach its intended target. The doodlebug should have landed somewhere in the miles of open fields causing no loss of life, but for some reason on its final descent it was carried along on warm air thermals and smashed directly into the children's home. Twenty-one infants and eight female staff were killed that night in one of Kent's worst tragedies of the Second World War.

My Mother was a member of staff caring for the infants, and I understand she was killed instantly. I am told that I was one of only two or three infants to survive this terrible disaster, but I have no recollections or memories of what happened. Tragically not only did this devastating event deprive me of my Mother, but also of any roots or knowledge of my natural family.

A year later in 1945 I was adopted and taken to the North of England. It was not until 1989 when I started to trace my roots that I discovered the truth of the terrible tragedy which had robbed me of my Mother.

I have since travelled to the site where the disaster took place, today it is a beautiful and peaceful place just as it had been before 30th June 1944. I can only reflect with great sadness on how my life would have been so very different but for the events of that fateful summer night in 1944.

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