大象传媒

I was an evacuee, aged 13 years, when I was evacuated with my sister, who was 10. We all had to meet at the local school, and each had a label on with our name on, a small suitcase and a gas mask in a box round our necks.

We were sent away to miss the bombing by the Germans. We had to leave our parents behind and they did not know where we were going.

We went by coach to London Terminus, Waterloo Station, and went by train to Bridgewater, Somerset, and then went on to a little village called Stawell, where we all say on wooden benches, and given a small bottle of milk. We were in the local school where local people came in and said 鈥淚鈥檒l have her/him鈥� etc, and then we went to our 鈥渘ew home鈥�. These new parents were paid 10/0d (now 50p) per week by the Government to feed and look after us, although our parents always sent extra money. We stayed with a farm worker and his wife and his small daughter for six months in a Council house. The house had no electricity, paraffin lamps, were used but they did have running water and an outside toilet. Cooking was done in a peat oven. I still keep in touch with their neighbours 鈥� Joan and Ferdie 鈥� who live in Glastobury.

After six months, we all moved to a farm in Moorlynch, where they had electricity, but no running water 鈥� it had to be pumped up from a spring well. The outside toilet had no flush, etc, just a shed with a long plank with two seat holes in it.

Our new school was a small house about two miles away, we walked, unless the P.O van came along and about six of us piled in the back.

We were away about one year. When we came home, we had a 鈥淢orrison鈥� shelter in the dining room; it was a large heavy-duty table, with mesh round the sides, and we all slept under this.

The V.1 (doodlebugs) and the V.2 rockets started falling around this time. Some of our windows were blown in, some tiles were lost off the roof and some ceilings came down. The war lasted from 1939-1945/46. All our windows had to be blacked out and the street lamps were not switched on.

Food was severely rationed, and clothes were allocated by use of coupons, so it was a case of 鈥渕ake do and mend鈥�. There were no bananas for anyone, except in cases where a very sick child needed one. After a short while we bought parachutes to make underclothes and blouses.

I met Elizabeths and Keiths father in 1946, when he was 鈥渄emobbed鈥� from the Army, and married him in 1949. Unfortunately, sadly, he died in 1977. In 1979 I met and married another gentleman, who unfortunately and sadly was killed in a road accident in 1992, and left me disabled, but I have a lovely family, and grandchildren, and they have all been a great blessing and help to me.

This story was told to the staff at Chesterfield Library

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