大象传媒

The first time I remember that there was going to be a war, was a conversation my Mother and Father had. All of London's children were to eb evacuated. When we went out shopping hundreds of children were getting on double decker buses with gas masks and labels. My Mother thought this was not for my two sisters and I.
My Mother came from Cornwall, she got in touch with a relative who lived there and asked her to look after us during the War. We did not know this woman, but my Mother said she was her Stepfather's second wife, after her Mother had died.
We called her 'Gran coe' and she was in her early 70's. My eldest sister was 6, I was 5 and my youngest sister was 3 1/2. Gran Coe had not had any children and I wonder looking back what her thoughts were.
Mum packed our suitcases and we got on the coach, called the Royal Blue and headed for Grampound which is near St Austall and Truro. The journey took 12 hours and our Mother came with us to stay for a few days and settle us in. Then she returned to Hammersmith were we had lived.
Years later I asked her why she didn't stay with us and she said as my father was billitted on the coast in charge of search lighhts she felt her place was at home if he got the chance of 48 hours leave.
When later in life I had 3 children myself I knew I could never leave them, it must have been a hard choice to make.
When Mum went home I remember the 3 of us in tears when we went to bed.
We were there for 3 1/2 years, Mum came to see us every 6 months Dad coming with her when he could. One day Mum was due to arrive at tea-time and she did not come, we were so upset I thought she did not want to see us, but what we did not know was there was a raid in Plymouth and the train could not move. Mum spent the night in the train with bombs dropping all around her. She arrived the next day thank goodness. No-one had telephones in those days!
So there we were, the schoolwas across the road with a park next to it. It had swings, a bowling green andd a river that ran through the bottom of the hill in Grampound. The water was white because it ran through clay workings in St Austell. To this day the school and park are still there but the river runs clear now.
My memories of Grampound are taking a china jug to the farm for milk and cream. The village hall at the top of the hill made Cornish Pasties every Friday and they tasted lovely.
There were a lot of evacuees in Grampound and we made a lot of friends. There were not many signs of war, just every so often lorries of men in army uniform going through the village, to where, we didn't know!
What we did not know was the blitz of London was going on and people were being killed every night. Buildings and houses brought to rubble, it must have been frightening for the people who stayed in London.
Mum had an incendary bomb in the family home, thank God she ws out when it came down, because those bombs set fire to everything around.
The Blitz of London came to an end and things went quiett for a little while, Mum was given another home nd she thought we would be safe to come home.
How wrong she was we came home to air raids mostly during the night. A lorry would drive around the streetswith a large gun on the back trying to bring enemy planes down. I don't know if it was effective but it made a lot of noise.
Then came the Doodlebugs, a rocket with an engine. When the engine cut out, it came down blowing everything up in it's wake.
It was then that Mum got us a Morrison Shelter. This was a solid iron table, it filled the whole kitchen, it was so big. The four sides had a wire covering that you pulle down to protect you from falling walls and rumble.
We had a mattress and bedding and the 4 of us slept there every night.
Between my school and home there was a chocolate factory with a large air raid shelter. So if there was a raid on the way home, instead of running home, I could go to the shelter and be safe. People were very nice in those days

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.