大象传媒

Operation Pied Piper 1st September 1939. Evacuation Day. To me this was the beginning of a great adventure. I was five years old at the time, and had been at school for just a few months. Then one day my brother John aged nine said, 鈥渢here is going to be a war鈥�, and we're going to live in the country with lots of sheep, cows and fields to play in. I had no idea what he meant but it sounded great. I remember being fitted with a gas mask, but I hated it. I could not breathe and the nose was a flat thing that made a loud noise. By the summer of 1939 there were nine boys living in our house. My parents decided to evacuate the four youngest boys. Myself, brothers John 9, Stan 11 and Ted 13 who was to be my father for the next two years. Within the next three months my three eldest brothers joined the forces leaving my mum, dad and two teenage boys at home. The big day had arrived. The whole family were up by the crack of dawn then dressed in our Sunday best and the rest of our worldly goods in paper bags; we put our gas mask box over our shoulder then set off for the school. Everyone seemed to be there. Parents some crying, teachers some shouting. We were given labels to tie on our coats then e set off in the rain to walk three miles to Dagenham dock.
There was no way I could walk that far so my father had to carry me on his shoulders. We were joined by other groups on the way, all looking very miserable. Once there, dad reminded Ted once again to stay together and hold my hand. Then saying our good-byes we boarded out ship bound for Yarmouth and adventure. It seemed so exciting to me, we spent most of our time on deck looking for Germans. As the boat approached our destination all I could see was yellow sand, I had never seen a beach before, it was like magic. We sailed into the dock and moored next to the fishing boats. On leaving the ship we were gathered into our school groups then taken to a local school. By this time it was getting all too much for me; it had been a long day. When there, we were given something to eat, then we were given sacks and told to fill them with straw for out beds. Ted made mine, then set us all up in a corner for the night. Next morning we had breakfast, then a fleet of coaches began to arrive. We climbed aboard and set off for our final destination East Dereham It was sometime later when the coaches finally stopped at a school in the town that was to be my home for the next two and a half years.

We were taken onto the school stage where the good folk on Dereham were able to inspect us and so choose the children they wanted most. Unfortunately for us, no one wanted four boys aged from five to thirteen. Ted spent all his time insisting with the people in charge; my dad said we are to stay together and that is final. The result being after some hours we were the last ones on the stage. Ted was a thin lad and had spent some months in a hospital for sick children before we came away, but he took his charge seriously. Things were now getting desperate when the door opened and in walked a little lady in an apron. I will take them she said, but they have to sleep four to a bed. That will be ok said brother Stan, we sleep four t a bed at home.

So, that was it. Off we went to live with Mr and Mrs Norton and their son and daughter in their three bedroom house in Andy lane. Stan was the more outspoken of us so became our defender. Sandy Lane branched off the main Dereham road at the bottom of a hill on the edge of town. It separated a sand pit and golf course on one side and farm land on the other. Further down the lane were the woods. This was to be my world for the next eighteen months or so. The school I had to attend was at the other side of town, but was not able to take us all right away. So we attended school in the morning and went for country walks in the afternoon. The next week it was reversed. I think the first six moths ere the hardest. We had to get used to country life and the people had to get used to us. Winter was on the t way, so every day after school my brothers had to go with Mr Norton foraging the countryside for firewood, loading it on a barrow, then drag it home to the house and stack it in the wood store. At this time my biggest problem was my school cap, every time I met the local boys they stole it or threw it in a garden. Then at Christmas the army put on a concert for the children. As we went into the hall one of the soldiers asked to borrow my cap. When the show was over and we were on our way out, he said thank you and returned my hat and gave me his. When outside the local boys took them both. Needless to say I gave up wearing a cap. Winter arrived with vengeance. I had never known it to be so cold. We had no good winter clothing, so our Mum and sister Win were knitting jumpers like mad. When the snow arrived things really started to get worse. The drifts were twice as high as me, much to the joy of the local boys. Who spent most of their time dunking the little evacuees in them. Spring soon arrived, and I was slowly settling down. My sixth birthday had come and gone, but being away from home was having its effect like bad nights and bad nerves. Ted had got himself f a job helping the game keeper over the road who caught rabbits and other game from the wild for the government. He also had a chicken farm so Ted soon learnt to live off the land. For the rest of that year we roamed the fields and woods hunting for rabbits, eggs, or anything else we could get our hands on. There was a problem with this however. Food was short and the local farmers etc were doing the same thing. So we had to learn to be quick and crafty. Ted was able to chase a rabbit catching it on the run. He also taught us, that is Stan, John and me, how to trap and snare the game and wild fowl. Through his job, Ted found a place we called no-mans land. It was a low field with a stream flanked by marshy land. A safe haven, so we made this our camp. Anything we found of use was taken to our camp. Game caught that was not given to Mr Norton we cooked on an n open fire. One day my brothers made a boat from a tin bath. But it sunk and they got soaked. When chased, this was our refuge.

One day, while out hunting, we were chased by three men. We made for the bog but I could not make it. John stopped to help me but we got caught. So Ted, seeing this, hid behind a bush, then came charging to our rescue. John and I were freed. His best rabbit catch was at harvest time when we followed the tractor. One time he chased and caught seven rabbits but they were all taken by the farmer. At other times we would look for lost golf balls on the golf course, then sell them back to the golfers for pocket money. One day in 1940, we awoke to a lot of noise outside. Jumping up we looked out of the window and saw lots of army Lorries full of soldiers. They had stopped outside filling the lane with men and excitement. By the time I got home from school that night the field on the other side of them had marques and some tents built on them. John said the Germans were coming. But instead lots of excited girls turned up; Ted said they were not very nice. The soldiers were soon in the streets and the cemetery with bren guns at the ready. We went from school to see them, but they said we should go home before the German parachutist came, but I never thought they would. They used the sandpit up the lane for gun practice, so at weekends we went collecting shrapnel and spent bullets for our collection tins. There was another big camp in a field on the other side of town, and my friend and I were able to wonder around talking to the soldiers 鈥� no-one ever stopped us. Then on Sundays soldiers marched through the town on parade to the sound of the drums and bagpipes. It was great.

One day, my friend and I were at the bottom of the hill, when an army car came speeding up the road. As it passed us, a soldier stood up and started blowing a bugle. Within minutes more soldiers came running from all over the town and into sandy lane. By the time we got back the soldiers were in full kit sat in their Lorries. They were still there when I went off to school next morning, but when I came home they had gone, never to return again. Some months later, barricades were put across the road by the home guard, then the army had to attack. The excitement among the children was at fever pitch, but by the time we got up in the morning it was all over.

I t was sometime after this my school were going on a picnic; I can remember turning up at the school, but for some reason teacher said I could not go. All the other kids got on the bus and left except for two bigger boys who were standing close by and saw what happened. Don鈥檛 worry, they said, we know where they are going, we will take you. So off we went, walking for hours until we finally arrived at a big country house in a big field. We could see the coach and the children playing games, but by the time we reached them, they had started to eat. When the teachers saw me, I was told to go home so we left. We got back home at the same time as them, so no-one was any the wiser. To this day, I still do not know what it was I did that was so bad to warrant the harsh punishment.

Things became much quieter after that. I spent more time on my own during the day and my bad nights became sleep walking nightmares. I had to be locked in the bedroom at night for my own safety. Mother had only been able to see us once since our arrival because of the cost, and distance, but our eldest brighter Jeff who was in the navy came up to see us bringing his brand new wife with him. My other brother Alex who was in the air force was stationed at Swaffen so John and I decided to go and find him. We walked for miles until we came to a wood. Climbing over the parameter fence we found heaps of ammunition covered in sheets of green netting. There were boxes of it, but we saw no guards. So we had a good look round for a while, then decided as it was late to go home.

Time was drifting by. 1940 brought my seventh birthday and John鈥檚 eleventh followed by Christmas. Ted was now fourteen and working. Stand had taken over his job at Bats farm, and we had come to the end of another exciting but lonely year. Ted was not happy with our accommodation so he asked dad if we could move. He said yes, so he applied to the council. Later he and I got shifted to a new house. It was an old cottage in a dip, not far from the railway yard. I do not remember their names but there was a father, mother and grandmother. They had a son but he was away in the army. The man was very strict but we were still able to meet Stan and John at the weekends to go hunting together and be a family.

Our toilet in the new house was a potty inside and a bucket outside in the garden. We washed in a bowl with rain water and the light was by oil lamp. I suppose some would call it quaint, I thought it dark and frightening. My three brothers had had enough of evacuation and begged to come home. But dad said no, so Ted and John hiked home leaving Stan to look after me. Father went mad but he said Ted could stay, John was returned with. I was now on my own, so the gremlins came to visit every night. I spent most of my days in the railway depot or over the grass fields playing. This did not go down too well with my guardian or I suppose help my nerves either. At Christmas I got to play a pudding in the school play. I was elated, but on the day of the play I got involved in a game of soldiers on the way home from school arriving home late. My guardian went mad, I was scrubbed and sent to bed. Nothing I or the teachers from school could say made any difference, that was final. It was shortly after this I was moved to another house out of town.

House number three was one of about ten farm workers houses on a cross roads. Once again to my shame I do not remember their name. But it was just a short time stay. There was a school on the other side of the road, but I never found out where the other three roads went to the toilet was a bucket halfway down the long garden, but there was a cold water tap -on the back of the house and electric lights. Once a week the bin men came with a horse and cart to empty the toilet. That was a smelly day but I thought interesting. My guardians were a young couple with a small child, and for what I can remember very nice. The neighbours and the children were very friendly, we all played together out in the road after school. Up till now all the kids I had met were not very friendly. On Saturdays I walked or got a lift on a crossbar into town to see my two brothers. Stan and John. Stan used to give me money for sweets or the pictures, then after spending the day with them, I would walk home. If my luck was in I got a crossbar home.

One day, when getting a ride back my lift and I were riding down the road between the army camp and the woods, when someone fired a 22 slug gun, hitting me in the side. The impact was hard but it did not bleed to the boy thought it best we said nothing. My nightmares were as bad as ever, but no-one seemed to make any fuss. Sometimes the neighbours would be talking over the fence, then they would look at me, and smile knowingly. Life in some ways was better here but I was still very much a loner. Things in sandy lane were not very good. John had decided to hitch hike home again leaving Stan and me behind. I remember one day when getting a crossbar home the boy I was with said to this other boy, there is a fight outside school tonight between Stan Spires and a local boy. I was concerned and asked why. He said it was because Stan never backed off, so all the local boys were after him. John took the Norwich root home taken by him and Ted the last time. That was to walk to the station, through the army guards and onto a London train. They never stopped children or asked for his ticket. When he got home dad decided he had better stay. A little while after Stan followed but this time he was sent back. Mr Banks, knowing Stan was homesick wrote to dad asking if he could adopt him, saying he had no children, so Stan would inherit the farm. Dad thought this was a great opportunity for him and said yes. Unfortunately, no-one asked Stan. The defender of the four who had stayed by me thought that his father was giving him away. When he got back to Durham, Mr Banks was so angered at being turned down he withdrew his offer and also sacked him. All this of course was going on without my knowledge being out of town. Stan pleaded one more time with dad to let us go home, this time he said yes. After two and a half years it was all over. The emptiness, homesickness, the fields the country, the feeling of being an outsider. Evacuation had changed my life completely, and now at eight years of age I was going home. Home to air raids, shelters and a different exciting world. But most of all my family, a family I could barely remember.

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