大象传媒

We were bombed out. We lived in 28, Kings Road, Hay Mills, Birmingham, and behind where we lived, I think it was the BSA works, which they started to use as an ammunition factory. Round about 1940 or 1941 when it was being raided and there were unexploded bombs, there was all hustle down the road. We picked up the belongings that we could and we were sent off. Unfortunately, I contracted German measles and I landed up at Kidderminster workhouse where they used to have the old fellows used to come in on the night with no bed, and they used to put them up. I was made a fuss of because I was only little kid and they treated me well in there. Then my sisters came for me and we went off to Sambourne House at Bewdley. I can still remember now, as a little toddler, going up the drive with my coat and gas mask, marching up and we were ushered round the corner. Brilliant people they were, very friendly. I have got to admit there were some evacuees that had some trouble, but I can鈥檛 honestly remember any trouble that I had given me as a boy; I was treated very well. Pity there wasn鈥檛 such good food about, because we didn鈥檛 have such good food, but saying that, we had other things. There was a swimming pool there, which we were allowed to swim in, provided there were no guests. They were very, very good people, and we lived up in the servants quarters, up above the house. There must have been about thirty of us, thirty at least, but we kept in close contact with the family, we had this family circle.

We stayed there for what must have been about three years, or something like that. As time went by we had to leave Sambourne, because of other things that were going on, I suppose, I don鈥檛 know why we had to leave, and then we went into what we called 鈥渄igs鈥�. That was horrendous. Horrendous. I still drive past, it was in Stourport Road, by Wilkes鈥� farm, and I wouldn鈥檛 mention the people鈥檚 name, but she was dreadful. I drive past now, and I still see the name of the house. As a kid she was dreadful; she used to smack me, and he was evil, evil. There was just something about him I didn鈥檛 like.

We left Stourport Road towards the end of the war, after my father had died. He was gassed in the First World War, and he died when he was about fifty. I鈥檝e got a photo of him when he was twenty-one where you could see the pain in his eyes to this day. I鈥檝e still got it on me. I understand he was mentioned in dispatches, because when he was being gassed with mustard gas there was a nurse in the trenches and she lost her mask so he shared his mask. But he took the full brunt of it. Eventually he looked dreadfully old, and eventually he died when he was about fifty, fifty-two.

During the war itself I had hand down clothes. My sisters worked at the needle factory in Bewdley, Coates. But someone asked me if I ever had any hardship through being an evacuee, and I can honestly say I couldn鈥檛 remember any. I had all these hand down clothes because we couldn鈥檛 afford any clothes, and the only trouble was by these couple of people where we were lodging. But that was the only real problems I had. I had some good times.

When I hear people mention about the bombing, it didn鈥檛 make any effect on me, I just ignored it. But as young as I was, and it has been, well, sixty four or sixty six years ago, something like that, I can still feel it now, the effects of it. So I can understand how some of these people who come from war can still feel the effect of what they went through. I was only a young kid then, when we were in Birmingham, seeing the devastation. People say, 鈥淗ow on earth can you remember that鈥�, I don鈥檛 know, it鈥檚 just things I can remember.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Joe Taylor for the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Ben Jenkins and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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