大象传媒

I was 5 when the war began.
I was living with my two older brothers and sister in London and had just started school.

Although an air-raid shelter was built in the field next to the school, at first nothing seemed to change. We only really began to notice the war when the bombing started, we were issued with gasmasks, blackout was fixed to the windows, and air raid sirens were always going off.
When that happened, we were led across the field into the shelter, where we would wait for our mums to collect us.

When the war escalated, my parents decided to send me (but not my brothers and sisters) to Canada, but I had measles and by the time I had recovered some of the ships, on their way to Canada, had been torpedoed.
My parents changed their mind, much to my relief.

Later, when I was about 9, I was sent to a relative who lived near Wakefield who had a daughter slightly older than me.
It wasn't a big house - two bedrooms I think and I had to share one with the daughter who used to kick me out of bed.
The father worked in the rhubarb sheds and the mother was a nurse.
One day she took me to see the hospital where she worked, which was used for war casualties.
I remember that all the men wore blue suits, white shirts and red ties.
Because she was so busy I was left in charge of Marjorie the daughter who I think resented me.
I didn't get on with her.

It was an unhappy time for me.
I was homesick the only contact I had with my parents was by letter, which wasn't very often. I was sent to the local school where there was only one other evacuee,
another Pat from London.
The local children bullied us both because of our 'funny accents'. The teachers didn't protect us; they didn't take much interest in evacuees.

Although we could listen to the wireless, we weren't really aware of what was happening in London, so we weren't worried about our families. There was no bombing anywhere near, although we still took precautions such as blacking out the windows and putting taped XXX's across them to prevent the glass shattering if there was an explosion.

It was a farming area and there was no shortage of food. One day the mother asked me if I liked fishcakes. I thought of the ones my mother made, and said yes.
When she put them on the table they were bright orange, not a colour I was used to. I took a bite and said I couldn't eat them.
"You will" she said and served them up again for the next 3 days.

I remember taking my 11-plus exams there with the other Pat, the 2 of us alone in a big room.
For some reason the teacher broke the seal of the envelope containing the exam papers and gave us each half.

At last VE day came and everyone on the estate turned on their lights and opened their curtains. We went outside and looked down the hill at the extraordinary sight of the whole town lit up for the first time in 6 years.
Soon after that I came home.

The school had an arrangement with a school in New Zealand and each child was given the name of a pupil there as a pen pal. I wrote to mine and she sent me a bar of Lux Toilet soap, which was a great luxury, she'd heard that we still had rationing.

Pam Green

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