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This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Elizabeth Perez of Stockport Libraries on behalf of Peter Heaton and has been added to the site with his permission. He fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

1939 had been a long hot summer - one of the best for years and one of the dryest on record. The summer came to an abrupt end when school summer holidays were curtailed due to the impending threat of war. We had been called back to school early to prepare for evacuation. We had three or four dummy runs, but were sent home each time until Friday morning 1st September.

In 1939 local cinemas showed twice nightly programmes. The programmes were changed twice weekly, therefore people went two or three times weekly and didn't mind queuing up. Some of the films shown included "Gone with the Wind", "Goodbye Mr Chips", "Wuthering Heights" and "Casablanca".

As television had not yet arrived, people had learned all about war when watching the pathe and movietone newsreels at the cinema with Lionel Gamlin reporting. They saw saturation bombing for the first time. They saw the harsh realities of war as German bombers destroyed a town named Guernica in the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

Plans to evacuate towns and cities were drawn up. In 1939 those plans were put into effect. In the early hours of Friday morning 1st September, aged five I was taken to school with my brother and two sisters. No doubt registers were called and a large group made teir way to the local railway station named Belle Vue in Gorton, Manchester. As the children boarded the steam train, heading to a secret safe destination away from Manchester, which we were told was going to be a very dangerous place with bombing etc., much advice was shouted to the children - such as "Stick together", "Look after your brother", "Look after your sister", "Remember to write".

Those evacuee children were part of the greatest movement of people that Britain has known; between 3-4 million people were on the move that weekend. For many of the children it could have been the first time away from home. Most of my friends had not enjoyed holidays away, perhaps a day out at Rhyl, New Brighton or Southport etc.

We towny child evacuees wore labels and were provided with sufficient food for 24 hours carried in a haversack, a carrier bag or a pillow case. The food included a tin of corned beef, a tin of condensed milk, biscuits, fruit; in addition we had a change of clothing and our gas mask.

We (my brother Robert, my two sisters and myself) travelled 15 miles from Manchester to Poynton, Cheshire. We congregated in a school hall for the "choosing", which turned out to be a most traumatic time awaiting selection by the local residents. Needless to say fair-haired pretty girls and robust boys aged 12-14 were the most sought-after.

My brother Robert and I were selected to stay with a middle-aged childless couple. We only stayed there one week, then moved on. I personally stayed a total of three years at a total of three homes.

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