大象传媒

I was four years old when Dad, who was in the Army, said that we should all be evacuated. We being my Mum, my brothers Charlie aged seven, Chris aged six and my sister Anne at just one. Dad said the reason we needed to be evacuated was that we lived in a little village near Maidstone in Kent and we were right in the path of the doodlebugs on their way to London. Many times the doodlebugs didn't reach their targets in London and ended up dropping around where we lived.

So we were put on a train with our gasmasks in a box round our necks and our name on a tag pinned to our coats. We seemed to be on that train forever.

We finally reached our destination, a place in Devon called Holsworthy. We were all sent to the village hall where we had to wait until our names were called. We then found out who we were going to be staying with. Mum had told us that we would all be together but that wasn't to happen. First my brothers Charlie and Chris were taken - they were very lucky they went to a lovely couple who treated them like their own. My mum and sister Ann were called next, but Mum said she wasn't going without me. The authorities said that it wasn't possible as they were having trouble getting people to take more than two people, so Mum had to go to where she was staying without knowing where I was going.

My Aunty Millie with her two daughters had also come with us and she was called next with one of her daughters, Jenny aged one. That just left me and my cousin Rita, who was six. I remember it well, just the two of us standing in the hall and nobody calling us. It seemed they had no-one to take us.

We were then put into a car and taken to a big house and by then it was very dark. When the door opened a very old lady stood there and said she didn't want us. The lady and the man who had taken us in the car to the house shouted at the lady in the house that she had to take us. Then another old lady came to the door, who was the first old lady's sister, and in the end they had to take us in.

We were given nothing to eat and were sent straight to bed. The old ladies gave us a candle holder with a candle and told us to go up the stairs to the very last door which turned out to be the attic. Going up the stairs was very dark and very scary. There were stuffed owls on both side of the stairs and all we could see were the horrible, staring eyes of the owls, made worse by the flickering candles and the shadows they made.

We got into one single bed together, cuddled up and cried ourselves to sleep.

There was no heating in the house, no electricity and everything was cooked on an open fire which was the only warmth in the house. The ladies used to wash us in a tin bath in cold water and were very cross if we cried.

I don't remember anything nice about that house. The only thing I remember is being very sad and wanting my Mum.

We stayed with these old ladies for over a week before my Mum could find out where the authorities had put us. She kicked up such a fuss they finally moved Rita and me to a lovely couple who treated us very well. That is where we stayed with Mum being able to visit us whenever she liked.

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