大象传媒

It was 1944. My father was in the RAF, he was an officer. He was stationed at Holne, Devon. My mother, sister, and I followed him and stayed in Ashburton.
On May 1st they did the May dance. The place was full of young American GIs who carried us up the street in their arms. A lot of the soldiers became our friends. They used to stand me on the table in the lounge and I had to sing 鈥淚鈥檓 a Yankee Dudle Dandee鈥�.
A couple of weeks later we woke up and Ashburton was deserted. They had all gone off for D-Day. We had not known that they had been waiting to go away. We, as children, thought that they had just been there for fun. The contrast in their lives is amazing. To think we were all having fun and dancing around, while they were really awaiting to be sent to the battlefield. I wonder how many survived.

I was only 6 years old. My father used to arrange concerts at home and my sister who was only 10 was one of the acts and used to sing. We returned to London in 1945, three days before VEday.

Disclaimer:
The author is aware of the Site's Terms and Conditions.

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