大象传媒

Evacuees

Growing up in the country during the 2nd world war I鈥檓 sure was in preference to growing up in a large town or city such as London, on the other hand most of the children were evacuated out of more larger town and were brought to the country. Whether this was a good idea or not is a matter for debate and I鈥檓 sure there were a lot of evacuees had pretty awful memories of that time.
I was born and brought up in a small village in West Sussex called Fernhurst and like all small villages we had our share of evacuees, mostly from London but some from Portsmouth. Thinking about it no one was prepared for what was to come. Town was to meet country in a big way. Country people had no more idea about townies than the townies had about us Swede鈥檚. They could have come to a foreign country. Oh how I remember the billeting officer coming to our house with the last boy trying to find a home for him, now, one would feel so sorry for him you would take him in immediately. Not then, people seemed so much harder and mother only relented when the billeting officer assured her she could find no other family to take him and how grateful she would be if we would. So Freddie V------ became one of the family! No I don鈥檛 think so, thinking about it now he was a very sad case and to be quite honest I don鈥檛 think we as a family made his him very welcome. Was it his fault he wet and later messed the bed every night? No I don鈥檛 think so. But mother had to clear it up, so one could quite understand her point of view. Not the billeting officer, so we were stuck with him for what seemed months. I鈥檓 sure there were some children who had a better time of it but not Freddie.
The school at Fernhurst must have been at bursting point with all these evacuees, I remember they turned the entrance hall into a classroom and added more desks and chairs too all the other rooms. There was a teacher came with the Ropes gang and she took over the next to top class, she was quite used to the unruly mob and could be a little handy using the stick. [With some results I must say]
Among the evacuees were several families in Fernhurst, when I say families I mean mothers and children, the fathers were away in the forces. Some how they found houses for these people and one particular family I remember were the Blackabeys they lived in Ropes Cottages next door to Miss Maidment later to become Mrs Bacon, she was a school teacher. Later another family moved in with the Blackabeys. The Lowes. Doreen Lowe. I nearly blush to say. 鈥淒oreen was my sweetheart for a while鈥�
The names of very few evacuees come to mind but one in particular is forever implanted in my mind and that is of a lad called Jimmy C-----. Jimmy was a huge lad, I think his middle name was 鈥淭rouble鈥�. Everyone had to respect C----- and that to a certain extent included Mr Dumbrell the head master, but Jimmy was always in trouble, there hardly seemed a day go by that he was not chastised for something or other. Like some of today youths he gloried in trouble and today he would have been classed as a 鈥淵ob鈥�. I often wonder what happened to Jimmy.
Come the end of the war and I suppose they all returned home I can鈥檛 say I remember that day but I am sure there was great celebrations and I would think that would have included Mr Dumbrell.

This was compiled and written by George Larbey who was born in 1932 and live in the village until 1947.

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