大象传媒

This story was submitted to the Peoples War site by Eaine Everest and has been added to the website on behalf of Mrs Jean Ann Anderson with her permission. She fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

The year was 1940. At the age of two I remember being carried to Dartford Station, put on a train with my two sisters, Sheila who was four and Joan who was six. I was too young to know what was really happening, but I know the train wasnearly hit by a bomb. On we went for what seemed like a forever journey. Finally the train stopped, we were all herded off and taken to what must have been a school building. We all had to sleep on the floor.
Gradually over the days other children started disappearing. My sister Sheila and I were taken to two different houses along the same street. I didn't know what had happened to my sister Joan. When I was taken into the house I was staying in it was dark and smelly and felt very foreboding. I don't know how long I was there but I do know I met my sister Sheila who lived along the road. She didn't like her place either so we decided to run away, which we did. We were eventually found, I don't know where or how far we'd got but someone took us to a special place.
We waited some time and then were taken to a farmwhere my sister Joan was staying. She was waiting for a more permanent place to stay. Luck must have been smiling on us, the people who were going to take Joan heard there were two more sisters, so they took the three of us. They did not have any children of their own. they also were very well off. Their names were Mr and Mrs Llewelyn. He was an ex colonel in the army. He must have been in India as in the hallway were tiger heads above the doorways. He had his own print business, which we were allowed to go to sometimes. We also had a maid and a gardener. Our maid use to take us away some weekends to visit her relations on a farm, which was lovely playing with the animals.
In the house we stayed in there were back stairs which led to the kitchen below, it reminded me of Upstairs Downstairs the television series. My mum used to come up from Dartford every six months to stay. She was put up in the guest room which was rather grand, I never saw my father for six years until we came home as we stayed a bit longer after the war had ended. Mr and Mrs Llewelyn wanted to adopt us and take us to America but mum said No! So unfortunatley we had a sad leaving party with all our friends. Then we were put on a train heading for Dartford. There were lots of tears at the station when we left.
Every time I see fields of cows and buttercups it reminds me of the happy times in Yorkshire. As on our way to church on Sunday we used to walk through the fields of them. My sister Sheila has shoes boxes full of letters that we sent to Dartford during our stay in Yorkshire. The war changed many lives, ours was in a nice way.

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