大象传媒

This story has been added to the People's War website by 大象传媒 Leeds on behalf of the contributor with his permission. I have clear recollections of standing at the top of Oak Tree drive, near the 'Fairway' pub, dressed in a grey suit and carrying a cardboard box containing a gas mask. The date was the 1st of September 1939 and I was totally convinced that my older sister and I were going on a trip to the seaside with the rest of the crowd who had gathered there. I was 6 years old and my sister was much older- she was 9.
We had experienced some disruption throughout the previous three years because our mother had died in January 1938, aged 27. The cause of her death was tubercolosis, which was widespread at that time, and because of her long illness we had spent some time in various homes and with quite a few of our family.
We got on the bus, helped by one of our aunts- Mary- who was aged 13. The bus ride was quite enjoyable, until it hit a huge tree branch as we approached Sherburn- in -Elmet- fortunately nobody was injured.
My sister and I got of the bus with a few remaining passengers at a school building and I was totally unimpressed with this seaside village and it turned out to be the village school at Church Fenton!!! People started to arrive to collect the other children and my sister and I were then stood on our own thinking that nobody wanted us. Then a lady came running into the playground to collect us- she was upset that she had been delayed.
She (who became Aunt Lucy- and is still remembered by that name)- took us to her house which was one of the railway cottages within the railway junctions of lines from Selby to York and Leeds to York. We settled in very quickly- and we were thrilled at being able to stand and watch the very low flying planes as they flew in and out of the Church Fenton aerodrome. Someone had obviously put a lot of thought into finding safety for the evacuees. There were several incidents involving the German airforce and our own aircraft and during the year we spent there we witnessed several crashes and dropping of explosives. Because of this we were moved a mile up the road to Barkston Ash where we lived with the Simpson family at a farm called Ivy House for approximately 3 years. It was the first bit of stability we had enjoyed for quite some time and although we sadly missed Aunt Lucy and Uncle Cliff we managed to settle down. We have always kept in touch with both families and we even went there on holiday from school after we had been returned to Leeds at the end of the war.
Some of the basic routines of our life prior to evacuation were subject to dramatic change and the learning curve was quite long and interesting. For instance: one of my first visits to the outside toilet at Church Fenton wa rather alarming when a small door at the rear end of the toilet opened and someone took away the large container from under me!! I found later that it was part of the local service for the council employees to empty the loos. I could now stop looking for the flushing system!!
When we moved on to Barkston Ash we did not have to suffer this embarrassment because the council did not provide this service- the residents of the village had to dispose of their own toilet waste each week by digging a hole in the garden and tipping waste into the hole. One of the major skills in this task was to be able to remember where you had burried last weeks excrement and not dig it up. Another part of the routine was to learn how to remove the ink stains left of your posterior whilst using the newspaper instead of modern day toilet roll. There was no electricity in the village so we had to stand at the gate and wait for a man to bring a recharged battery to use in the radio and the lighting was all provided by use of parrafin lamps. Fortunately we were able to watch the constant flights of aircraft to and from the Church Fenton airfield and we became pre-occupied which finding out which of us could recognise and name the most planes. We received a lot of help in this pursuit from the large number of airforce personnel lodging at nearby private houses within the village- because the airfield could not house them all. We could also pursue this new interest whilst we followed the daily routine of going around the farm area and collecting the hens eggs and also 'mucking out' the pig styes. We also spent some of our time following the seasonal work opportunities of 'pea-pulling' and 'spud picking.' Pea-pulling earned 6 pence a peck (old money) but I can't remember being paid anything for spud picking.
One other difference in daily life was to remember that milk was not delivered in bottles to the houses each day- I had to go the the farm at the bottom of the main street with a large, heavy six pint metal jug and carry the milk back up the street. I was somewhat surprised that the lady of the house could tell that I had been drinking from the jug! Perhaps it was because of the white bow shaped marks on my face- but at least it made the jug easier to carry!

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