大象传媒

At the outbreak of the Second World War, my father, Edwin Pearson, was three years old and living with my grandmother, Alice Pearson, in a flat in Harleyford Road, Kennington, South London. My grandmother worked full-time as a shop manager for the Goddard & Hankin Bakery in Berwick Street and Edwin attended the Cynthia Mosley Day Nursery in Kennington which was situated close to the Oval Cricket Ground. As rumours of the likely outbreak of war spread, the nursery began to make plans to evacuate the children in their care and asked parents not to tell their children anything about the evacuation.

Once war broke out on 3rd September 1939, the Nursery put its evacuation plans into action and on the day of departure the parents were instructed to bring the children to the nursery as usual. My grandmother related that when she took Edwin to the Nursery each morning they would always say 鈥淭oodle lolly, Toodle pip鈥� to each other as they parted. On the morning of the evacuation, my grandmother prepared to take her son to the nursery. He had been told nothing of the departure that day and she knew she must act normally so as not to alarm him. As they reached the nursery she was ready to say their usual parting routine when Edwin left her side at the nursery door, looked at her very solemnly and for the first time ever, simply said 鈥淕oodbye鈥�. My grandmother said that it nearly broke her heart - it was as if he had known that he was going to be sent away.

The entire nursery, which included babies and children up to the age of five, was evacuated to Munstead House in Godalming, Surrey, the home of General Freyburg. General Freyburg had offered to accommodate the nursery at his home and as a result of his generosity and the evacuation scheme arrangements, nursery fees were waived for the period of the evacuation. Evacuated babies slept in the basement of the house so that they did not have to be moved during air raids. My grandmother was able to visit my father at weekends and recalled that he was extremely happy during his stay at Munstead House. The present Lady Freyburg has also confirmed that other evacuees have contacted her over the years to say how much they enjoyed their stay at Munstead House. My father鈥檚 love of the countryside and gardening must have been nurtured during this period. He apparently made a great friend of the gardener, Ernest Sherlock, who he followed around the grounds as the gardener went about his daily tasks. The gardens had been designed by Gertrude Jekyll for her mother, who was the original owner of Munstead House.

By April 1941, however, my father had reached the age of five, and the matron of the nursery informed my grandmother that he would have to leave, as the nursery was under pressure for places, especially for smaller babies who were taking priority. My grandmother arranged to collect Edwin on 12th May 1941 and had no option but to bring him to London, where she had continued to live and work. However, on the night of 7th May, in one of the last major raids of the Blitz, my grandmother lost her top floor flat and the shop where she worked to incendiary bombs. She was now homeless and due to collect her son in a few days time. Her sister, Ada Field, offered her a temporary home to allow her to bring Edwin to London and shortly afterwards Alice found accommodation in Commercial Way. Edwin recalls watching an aerial 鈥榙og-fight鈥� during an air raid that summer when he had been caught in the toilet when the raid began and failed to get to the shelter in time.

Owing to the dangers in London, Alice鈥檚 sister, Eleanor Wheeler, who lived in Essex, agreed to give Edwin a home and he came to Broomfield, a village near Chelmsford, where he stayed for the next two years. He attended Broomfield Primary School and was by all accounts a bit of a handful, following his older cousins around and causing mayhem by over-feeding his uncle鈥檚 rabbits.

By 1942, my grandmother鈥檚 employer, Arthur Hankin had purchased the Mayfair Bakery in Curzon Street and offered Alice a flat to rent above the bakery. This allowed my grandmother to make arrangements to bring Edwin back to London and by 1943, the family was reunited and Edwin was enrolled at a new school, St George鈥檚 School in Hanover Square. The remaining war years would not be without incident as bombing continued and the 鈥榙oodlebugs鈥� began to appear in the skies from 1944. My father鈥檚 abiding memories of this time are of playing in the bombed out buildings in and around Mayfair and of the sweets he received from the American soldiers who were stationed in the Washington Club opposite the flat. On one occasion, Edwin was out in Green Park with the Americans when an air raid began and they all threw themselves to the ground while the doodlebugs passed overhead.

Although my family was from a working class background, my father was lucky enough to enjoy a rather privileged wartime evacuation at Munstead House. The encounter would also proved to be a formative one, because although his family was from London and had no links to rural life, Edwin鈥檚 evacuation experience of the countryside stayed with him and as soon as he left school he began work on a farm and his subsequent career and interests remained focused on conservation, wildlife and gardening.

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