大象传媒

In 1939 we were living in Cairo and my father, William Ernest Pile was a serving soldier in the Tank Corps where he was stationed, and where my mother and two younger sisters and myself were living in 'Married Quarters' when the second world war broke out, I was a seven year old.
But, instead of sending us home to England to the Blitz, we were all shipped off to Durban in South Africa, along with loads of other British soldiers families, and that's where we spent the next six years living in a Hotel on the Transvaal (about 12 miles from Durban) the name of the Hotel was The Crossways Hotel.
And it was some of the 'happiest years' of my life, we went to a South African School there, of course, and although it was a good School the name of it escapes me.
The servants at the Hotel that we lived in were all natives from the Zulu village, where I spent a lot of my time in their village, playing with their children, and learning different skills from them, for instance, I was taught how to make a guitar out of a piece of wood and a gallon can, with lengths of string.
In fact, I was taught quite a few things by those Zulu Warriors which I've never forgotten to this day.
My father, who by this time had been promoted to R.S.M. (Regimental Sergeant Major)used to come home on leave from time to time, and stay at the Hotel with us, and when it was time to return to his unit in the desert, we used to go to Durban with him to see him off on the ship.
When the war finally ended in 1944, I was nearly thirteen by then, and we returned to England on a boat, and until my father was demobbed from the Army, we lived in Aldershot in married quarters, then moved to Hayes in Middlesex in 1945, where there were still German P.O.W's working on the roads.
I know that this story isn't really the kind of thing that would sound very interesting to anyone that spent all those years here in Britain during the terrible 'air raids' but I just felt that I would like to 'contribute' my story to you in the hope that one of those other 'fortunate' evacuee's that shared that time at the Crossways Hotel on the Transvaal in South Africa might get in touch!
But, I've got a feeling that this won't be published, as it's not the kind of experiences that you want to hear about.
I thank you all the same for taking the trouble to read it.......
Yours,
Peter Pile

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