大象传媒

An Evacuee鈥檚 Story - from Kent to North Wales

Towards the last year of the war when the US reinforcements started their march towards the Kent coast, it was decided by those in authority that children living in a very vulnerable part of the country that might soon be invaded by the Germans, should be evacuated. I was about 8 years old, living with my parents in Farnborough, Kent. We hadn鈥檛 seen much of the war there, only the occasional 鈥榙oodle bug鈥� flying over towards London and once or twice an aeroplane which we thought might be a German bomber. We had an Anderson shelter in the garden that I only slept in occasionally, we carried our gas masks around with us all the time but otherwise I didn鈥檛 really know what was going on. I suppose, by 1944, I was so used to there being a war on, that I didn鈥檛 know anything different. My brother had been lost at sea in 1941 鈥� the ship he was on had been torpedoed - and I had been in Belfast, Northern Ireland when I was about 5 and had seen the Belfast blitz.

Now, in 1944, I was being evacuated. It was a great adventure. All the children from Starts Hill School had to gather outside the school early one morning with our gas masks, name tags and small suitcases, not really understanding what was going to happen to us. We were not going to see our parents again for many months, but I don鈥檛 remember being at all upset about this. I vaguely remember the journey, especially being on a train with corridors, which was the first time for me. We played 鈥楨ye Spy鈥� for most of the journey. It was to be a long one, our destination 鈥揘evin, North Wales.

When we eventually arrived we were herded into a large hall where we were given sandwiches and drinks and told to sit and wait for somebody to come and take us home. I remember my mother telling me to smile when anybody came up to me but only if I thought they were nice, so when a lady stopped and asked my name I smiled and she chose me.

Mr and Mrs. Morgan lived in a little terrace house in Morfa Nefyn, a small village outside Nefyn, on the north coast of the Lleyn Peninsular, North West Wales. I remember the outside of the house quite clearly and actually went back there many years later, when my own children were in their teens, and the house was still the same but the Morgan鈥檚 had long since gone.

After I settled in with the Morgan鈥檚 I was sent to the local school which consisted of only 2 classrooms and where Welsh was spoken most of the time. I soon learnt to count up to 10 in Welsh and some words and phrases such as 鈥淏arada鈥� (Good Morning) and 鈥淣o Star鈥� (Good Night). I never learnt how to spell in Welsh, I鈥檓 afraid!

On Sundays we always went to Chapel. I joined in the singing of the hymns (in Welsh) and even went in for a singing competition in which I came 3rd and won sixpence. The Morgan鈥檚 had a wonderful old organ in their front room, and because I was learning to play the piano back home, they allowed me to practice on it. It was huge and I had a job to reach the pedals, but I did enjoy learning to play it.

Up the road from us lived William John Williams - he became my best friend, my first boyfriend, in fact. He was related to the Morgan鈥檚 somehow. Sometimes we鈥檇 go away to stay with a relation who had a farm, about 7 miles away. We had wonderful days there, playing in the haystacks and looking after the animals.

We lived quite close to the sea and sometimes we would walk over the golf links, high up on the cliffs, until we reached a small bay where the land jutted right out into the sea - Carreg Ddu. It was absolutely beautiful there, with rocks to climb over, shells to gather, and we were even allowed to row out to sea in little rowing boats, just a little way out and then back to the beach. It was a wonderfully free life, the war was never mentioned and although my mother managed to visit Morfa Nefyn whilst I was there, I never really missed her, I never felt homesick. I think I was one of the lucky ones, I hadn鈥檛 a care in the world.

When winter came it was extremely cold and I remember that there was a pond opposite our house which was completely iced over, so much so that we were able to skate on it. I also remember going to a big house high up on the cliffs where we made wax flowers. There were little lanes leading up to the top and we loved picking the wild violets which grew all along the sides. The Morgan鈥檚 were very kind to me and I鈥檓 thankful for that as I know many children were badly treated when they were evacuated.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.