world war 2 in tredegar part 2 evacuation
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World War 2 in Tredegar Part 2 Evacuation Tredegar, 20th century, World War II, Evacuation, Second World War, Home Front, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. www.access2heritagebg.co.ukTRANSCRIPT
8
The Home Front in Tredegar
during the Second World War
A Key Stage 2
Educational Resource Pack
Part 2—Evacuation
9
Evacuation
Who? When? Why?
10
11
As trouble grew in Europe, the Govern-
ment wrote to all local councils in Britain
in January 1939 about their plans to move
children away from cities, which were at
great risk from enemy bombing.
The city children were to be sent away to
live in villages and small towns during the
war where they would be much safer.
This was called the ‘evacuation scheme’
and the children who were sent away
were known as ‘evacuees’.
The Government called the
plan ‘Operation Pied Piper’
- can you guess why it was
given this name?
12
Everyone expected the bombing
of cities and towns to begin as
soon as the war started.
In March 1939, the Government
advised the council in Tredegar
that it could expect about 3,000
people to be evacuated here.
Councils were expected to make
arrangements to find suitable
places for the children to stay
whilst they were evacuated.
Right: Ministry of Health advice
on the Government’s evacuation
scheme for January 1939
13
As war was being
declared, the
evacuation from
cities began.
In just four days in
September, about
1,250,000 people
were moved!
The evacuees were
sent to places such
as Tredegar that
were less likely to
be bombed.
14
What advice was given to parents?
15
Most children travelled with their schools and teachers. Mothers with
children under 5 years of age were evacuated as well.
16
Advice given to parents
17
18
Advice given to parents
19
20
Advice given to parents
21
What did evacuees take away with them?
All evacuees were
meant to take:
Gas mask
Pyjamas
Comb
Towel
Soap
Face cloth
Handkerchiefs
Toothbrush
Boots
Coat
Identity Card
Ration Book
A label
Girls were also
supposed to take:
Cardigan
Knickers
Bodice
Petticoat
Stockings
Boys were also
supposed to take:
Shirt
Trousers
Pullover
Underpants
Socks
22
What would you take if you were evacuated from home? In the space below, make a list of 18 things that you would need to take
with you if you were evacuated. You will have to take a gas mask, ration
book, identity card and a label so you only have a choice of 14 things.
1. __________________________
2. __________________________
3. __________________________
4. __________________________
5. __________________________
6. __________________________
7. __________________________
8. __________________________
9. __________________________
10. __________________________
11. __________________________
12. __________________________
13. __________________________
14. __________________________
15. __________________________
16. __________________________
17. __________________________
18. __________________________
23
All evacuees had labels tied around their necks whilst travelling. These
labels contained important information about each child, but it did make
them look like parcels! How would you have felt about wearing a label?
Written on each label was:
Child’s name
Name of school
Date of travel
Whilst most children would have travelled with their class, they didn’t know
when they would see their families again. They would also be separated from
their class friends once they arrived as they would be sent to stay with different
people. How would you feel about leaving your family for a long time and not
knowing with whom you were going to stay?
24
Left: Photo of an evacuee with his label visible
on the outside of his coat.
Below: Photo of evacuees arriving after a long
train journey on their way to their new homes.
Look carefully for their labels and the carrying
cases for their gas masks. What would you be
thinking about if you were one of the children?
25
Mysterious codes hidden on your label!
All children were examined by doctors before they were evacuated to
identify any diseases which could spread to other people. A child with a
disease or infection would have travelled in separate carriages and was
usually sent to stay in a hostel rather than placed with a family, until
they were better.
The Minister for Health in charge of evacuation wanted to make sure
that this information was always kept with the child but also to ensure
that it could be read quickly by doctors and health officers who would
have been the first people to see the children at the end of their journey.
In order to do this, the Government devised a system of simple codes
and symbols that were written on the labels which the children always
carried with them.
26
Each child had one of the following symbols written on their label:
= Medically inspected (in other words, no problems!)
= Hostel (has a more serious infectious disease or problem)
= Special consideration (a less serious infection or problem)
Those children who had a circle or square on their labels had been
identified by doctors before they were evacuated as having a disease or
health condition.
27
On the back of the label, a letter code identified exactly what the health
problem was.
A = Impetigo— infectious skin sores—always sent to hostel
B = Scabies—infectious itchy skin—always sent to hostel
C = Vermin—body lice—always sent to hostel
D = Nits — special consideration
E = Enuresis—Bedwetting—special consideration
F = Infectious disease contact—special consideration
G = Other—special consideration
28
Make your own label
You will need:
String
Scissors
Pencil or pen
Red crayon or pencil
Template for label (on next page)
Print off the template on the next page on stiff white card. Cut out the label. Make the hole carefully with a pencil and thread string through it. Write your name, the name of your school, and the date of travel.
With a red crayon or pencil, mark the label with a cross, circle or square symbol. Remember that if you use a circle or square you will have to add a letter on the back of the label to explain exactly what kind of health problem you have! Don’t forget to take the label to the museum!
29
Label template
30
On 15th February 1940, the
Government’s health minister
made a radio broadcast. On
the right is copy of the first
part of his speech.
At this stage in the war, not
much fighting had taken place,
at least little in comparison
with what was to come!
This early stage of the Second
World War was called the
“Phoney War” and few bombs
were dropped on Britain. Many
evacuees’ families decided
that it was safe enough for
them to return to their homes
in the cities.
31
32
In 1940, the Government once
again drew up plans to evacuate
children from major cities such as
London and Birmingham just in
case the war situation in Europe
turned against Britain and our
wartime ally at that time, France.
The evacuees came in with their own teachers who acted as social workers because not all houses were ideal.
These teachers not only taught but looked after the kids, looked after their social well-being as well. They made sure that they behaved themselves and that the families were looking after them properly.
They were in a sense the first social workers, you may say. Leslie (an evacuee) speaks very highly of all the teachers who went out with him.
Peter M. Jones
33
34
In April 1940, 1067 evacuees
arrived at Tredegar by train from
London. When they arrived, every
evacuee was given emergency
rations—a tin of canned meat and
a tin of condensed milk!
Volunteers including the Tredegar
branch of the Women’s Voluntary
Service (WVS) supported the
medical staff (doctors, health
visitors and nurses) in welcoming
the evacuees, feeding them and
organising the transfer of the
evacuees to local people with
whom they would stay (known as
‘billets’ at the time) during the
evacuation.
35
Emergency rations
At the beginning of the war, evacuees
were given emergency rations to take
with them to their ‘new’ home.
For evacuee, Leslie Churchill, this was a
bar of chocolate and a tin of corned beef.
For others, it would have been a tin of
condensed milk and canned meat.
Emergency rations were stopped in June
1940 because the Government thought
that ‘receiving areas’ had enough food.
Find out what types of canned meat were
available during the war.
36
Feeding the evacuees
Arrangements needed to be
made to feed the evacuees
as well as finding places for
them to stay.
Councils had to make sure
that extra supplies of food
were available.
The letter opposite lists the
range of food and drinks
that were given to evacuees.
What things on this list do
you eat and drink regularly?
37
Jewish evacuees
There had been a small Jewish
community in Tredegar since the
19th century.
Jewish children from London
were evacuated to Tredegar in
the war.
A Jewish committee in London
was concerned to make sure that
all evacuated Jewish children
received religious education in
the Jewish faith.
38
We knew that the Jews were being badly treated. We knew that, but there was no knowledge of concentration and extermination camps. It was only after the war, with the liberation of Belsen that this information, the horrors of the Nazi extermination camps, came to the public’s attention.
In this town there were anti-Jewish riots in 1911 and yet this town became a refuge for many Jewish people. Many came out of London to this area and stayed with the Jewish community. The irony was that the place in which the Jews came to seek refuge during the war was one that had been anti-Jewish in 1911. But there’s always been a strong sense of community here and people have always been welcome. Peter M. Jones
Left: Reply from Tredegar
council to the Jewish com-
mittee in London, promising
to make contact and offer to
help the local Rabbi.
39
Newspaper advert to persuade people
to look after evacuees, March 1940.
40
41
People were encouraged
by the council in Tredegar
to agree to provide homes
for evacuees during the
war.
On the right is a form that
would have been complet-
ed by a visiting officer
usually from the WVS who
would find out if the
house was suitable, how
many children could stay
and how much additional
bedding was needed.
42
43
44
On 10 May 1940, German
armed forces using new tactics
launched a number of attacks
upon Holland, Belgium, Luxem-
bourg and France. Britain and
her allies could not match
these ‘blitzkrieg’ attacks.
In just six weeks, all 4 countries
had been defeated and the
British army only just avoided
being trapped in northern
France.
Before the German army
captured the port of Dunkirk on
4th June, 338,000 British and
French troops were rescued
and returned to Britain.
45
As the news of the
fighting in Europe grew
worse, arrangements
were made to evacuate
children from towns on
the south-east coast of
England to South Wales.
On 19th May 1940,
Tredegar received news
that at 10.28am, a train
had left Folkestone and
were heading their way!
Many of these evacuees
had been evacuated from
London only a few weeks
earlier!
46
Message from the town of Folkestone to Tredegar on 19 May 1940
47
On 22 May 1940, Tredegar Council
received a letter from a parent,
Henry Brazier, who was concerned
about 2 of his children, Kathleen and
Eric, who had just been evacuated to
Tredegar from Folkestone.
48
The Braziers were a small family who lived in Catford, South London.
Henry Brazier married Florence Finch in 1928. In 1929, their first child,
Kathleen was born. In 1933, their first son Eric was born and in summer
1939, their second son Edward was born. In Spring 1940, the children
and their mother were evacuated to Folkestone.
However by May 1940,
as the war situation
grew worse, it was
decided to move
London evacuees
from Folkestone to
Tredegar.
Unfortunately the
children were moved
whilst their mother,
was in London with
baby Edward.
Catford, London
Folkestone
Dunkirk
France
England
49
Henry Brazier wrote to Tredegar Council on 21 May 1940 to find a room
in which the children’s mother could stay at Tredegar so as to be close
to all her 3 children. The Council’s reply is shown below; from this letter
it appears that Eric and Kathleen were staying in separate houses.
We don’t know if the
children’s mother,
Florence, came to
Tredegar to live.
However by 1943,
we know that the
family had returned
to London.
This decision would
have terrible
consequences—see
next page.
50
On 20 January 1943, a German plane
dropped a massive bomb on Sandhurst Road
School in Catford, London. The explosion
killed 32 children and 6 teachers. 60 were
injured with many buried for hours under the
rubble. Six children died later in hospital
including Kathleen Brazier, aged 13, who had
been evacuated to Tredegar in May 1940.
51
In summer 1940, as the war situation
grew worse, a second wave of evacuees
arrived at Tredegar from London.
Right: Report from 22 June 1940 about
the London evacuees’ arrival.
52
At the peak period, 11 empty
business premises were also
opened up to house evacu-
ees including mothers with
young children.
By summer 1940, there were
1,998 evacuees ‘on the books’
in Tredegar. This didn’t include
a few hundred ‘unofficial’
evacuees as well! Two hostels
were also opened up including
one for ‘difficult’ boys!
53
One of the emergency hostels for evacuees may have looked like this.
54
After the surrender of
France, from 25 June
1940, Britain fought on
alone against Germany.
An invasion of Britain
by the Germans was
thought very likely to
happen. However the
German air force failed
to defeat the British air
force during the
summer of 1940—this
was called the ‘Battle
of Britain’.
By September 1940, the German air force decided to switch tactics and
turned its attention to bombing British cities, especially London.
British fighter planes called ‘spitfires’ fought
the German air force in the Battle of Britain
55 In September 1940, the German air force
began bombing London—the ‘Blitz’.
56
The London blitz or bombing raids lasted for 8 months and caused the
deaths of 43,000 people. Many more people were made homeless and
another ‘wave’ of evacuees left London and other major cities.
57
58
By August 1941, the number
of evacuees and other people
staying in Tredegar because
of the war amounted to 2,160.
By this time, German attention
in the war had turned to the
east when it attacked Russia.
By December 1941, the U.S.A.
joined the war on the side of
Britain and her allies against
Germany and the axis forces.
The allies experienced more
disappointments in 1942, but
by 1943 the tide of the war
had turned decisively in
favour of Britain and her
allies.
59
In 1944, Russian armed forces scored massive victories against the
Germans. On 6 June 1944, British, American, Canadian and Free
French troops began the invasion of France with the ‘D-day’ landings on
the beaches of Normandy. At last it finally seemed that it was safe for
the evacuees to return to their homes.
However, in revenge for the D-day landings, the Germans began firing
long-range flying bombs at London and towns in the south-east of
England. These bombs
were called “doodle-
bugs” after the noise
they made whilst flying
overhead.
More advanced and
faster, V-2 rockets
were also fired at
London in the last year
of the war.
60
Below: Photographs from Watford, London showing the damage caused
by a single V-1 flying bomb attack. These attacks caused another ‘wave’
of evacuations.
Doodle-bug (V-1) and V-2 rocket attacks continued until the end of
March 1945. The war in Europe ended in May 1945. At long last, it was
safe for all evacuees to return to their homes in the cities.
61
Evacuation timeline
3 September 1939: War is declared. Trains start to bring evacuees from
cities to Tredegar. They are welcomed by ‘billeting officers’ and placed
in the care of local people.
September 1939 to April 1940: The “Phony War” - hardly any bombs
were dropped on Britain. Lots of evacuees went back home.
June 1940: “Battle of Britain” between the British and German air forc-
es. People fear invasion by German land forces.
September 1940: Heavy bombing raids of London by German planes
known as the ‘Blitz’ begins. The raids killed 43,000 civilians and lasted
for eight months. Lots of evacuees who had gone home earlier in the
war are evacuated once more to escape the bombing.
June 1944: German flying bombs called “doodle-bugs” and later, V-2
rockets, are fired on London and the south-east of England. Attacks
continue until the end of March 1945.
62
Memories of an evacuee by Leslie Churchill Leslie was evacuated to Tredegar in 1940. After the war he decided that
he wanted to stay in Tredegar so he was adopted by his foster family.
Leslie’s story at Tredegar is to be found at the end of this section.
They got us out of London the day that war
broke out. They sent my school to Folkestone,
near to the enemy as possible! It was very dis-
organised there. Then we came to Tredegar.
We did a play as evacuees in Saint
James’ Hall. It was to raise money
for the troops, and they sent up to
London to get the costumes.
I’d be up at four in the morning to help
Walter Grey the milkman. He was our
milkman. I would get up and get myself
dressed, sit at the top of the road. Wal-
ter would come up and he’d pick me
up. I’d go around the farms and pick
apples and then come back and deliver
the milk. People would come out with
jugs, and he knew everyone’s names.
I wasn’t used to having a room to myself or a
bed to myself. I’d grown up two or three in a bed
and I’d never had a bedroom to myself so it was
a big step up for me.
I had never been in a car in my life. I was put
with another boy and taken to Harford Street.
I knew nothing about my brothers and sister,
and we never met up after that.
63 Boys from Tredegar County School in 1946
64
It was in 1940 when my
brother came to live with us
in Tredegar.
Les had been evacuated with
some of his school and they all
attended classes held in the
Scout Hut in Scrwfa. It was
about a mile away and he walked
there and back four times a day,
because there were no school
dinners.
The evacuees fitted in remarkably well.
They were always known as ‘cockneys’.
They weren’t really cockneys as such but
nevertheless they were always known by
that name.
Leslie was 7 years old. I remember him arriving
– not very well dressed and carrying a brown
paper bag containing a bar of chocolate and a
tin of corned beef, which was a gift given to all
foster parents.
At that time I was keeping a diary, and I
looked at it the other day, and I said. ‘Our
evacuee came today. His name is Leslie
Churchill. He cried tonight.’
Memories of Leslie’s ‘new’ brother by Peter M. Jones
65
Some of them were real characters. In the street where I now live, one of the evacuees was, he was always “Dolly Dates”. And Dolly Dates lived with a collier, and in the collier’s shed in the bottom of the garden, Dolly found 4 cast iron wheels. He made a trolley, so he became Dolly with his Trolley.
And every Saturday you’d hear Dolly, 8 o’clock in the morning, that trolley rattling, all the way down the street as he pulled it down the street over to where Sirhowy Ironworks used to be, where there was Rickard’s Level. People would wait there till Dolly arrived, buy their coal, and then he would put it on his trolley and he would pull it back, whatever it was, he was a strong lad. And Dolly and his trolley became a very important part of the environment as it were.
It must have been about 1943-44. There was a new evacuation that came into
town, and that was a girls’ school; a private or a very upmarket girls school,
‘Honor Oak’. And if you can imagine a school which is designed perhaps for
about 120 pupils; suddenly it had to take something like 200 pupils. It was some-
what chaotic until the threat of the V-2s and the Doodlebugs, the V-1s against
London really ended and then they went back.
Memories of Tredegar’s evacuees by Peter M. Jones
66
During the war years, we only
heard about the bombing of
London and other cities from
the news programmes on the
wireless or in the daily papers.
As far as we children were
concerned we just carried on
with our way of life, except in
1939 we were all kitted out
with gas masks, in cardboard
boxes, from behind the
Georgetown police station.
We had to carry them with us
all the time.
Memories of evacuees
by Bryan Rendall
Below: Young children
were given ‘Mickey Mouse’
gas masks to wear
67
I think it was in 1940 that a train came into Tredegar station with human
cargo. The train was crammed full with young children from the east
end of London. The Salvation Army and other organisations knocked on
every door in Tredegar, asking how many bedrooms there were and how
many people were living in the house.
We lived at No. 49
Kimberley Terrace.
You couldn’t refuse
to take a child and
my parents had to
take in two girls.
I had to sleep in the
same bedroom as
my parents to
accommodate our
new visitors.
68
Each child had a name tag and a gas mask along with their little case.
Many held their most prized possessions—often a teddy bear—that they
cuddled. They had been on the train for hours and were tired, hungry
and exhausted, but after lots of drinks and a good meal they started to
feel much better and perhaps, less homesick.
69
The first job that my mother did was to bathe the girls and burn their clothes.
The poor children must have come from very poor homes but my mother felt
they should now be clean and flea free. She then cut up some of her dresses
and other clothes to fit the girls.
We now learned the true
story of what was
happening in London:
The night attacks on the
east end of London by
the Luftwaffe [German
air force] which killed
and injured thousands
of people in their homes
and workplaces.
70
The people most at risk – school children were evacuated to what the Govern-
ment thought would be areas that wouldn’t be bombed by the Germans. The
Welsh valleys was such an area. My area of Georgetown had a number of evac-
uees and after a few weeks we all seemed to get on well together. We played
our various games and became good friends. We attended the same schools
and competitions in games was great for us. It was like a rugby international,
Wales v England!
71
The young evacuees taught us so much – how to smoke! They were more
sociable and daring than we, valley boys. We learned a lot from them and I
hope that we passed onto them some of our culture. We told them that milk
didn’t come from churns but from cows, and meat came from various animals.
The girls stayed with us for 2 years. When they returned to London after the
blitz, my mother wrote a few letters to them, but never received any replies.
72
A Tredegar Evacuee - Leslie Churchill’s full story
I was nearly 7 years old on 3 September 1939 when I walked to Grove
Park Station in south-east London with the rest of my London primary
school, all of us wearing a luggage label bearing our names. I recall my
mother coming out of our council house to kiss my brother, sister, step-
brother, and myself the youngest, as we passed by. It was feared that
London would soon suffer German bombing and children were being
sent to places of safety.
Amazingly our destination was Folkestone, which was about as near as
possible to the advancing German Army just across the Channel in
France. Upon arriving there, the whole school was marched in groups
from door to door to be selected by rather apprehensive residents.
After a short stay at what seemed a very posh house or B&B overlook-
ing the sea, we were soon transferred to an OAPs very basic home that
had neither gas nor electricity. I was frightened of the dark for the rest
of our stay in Folkestone.
73
We were taught in local schools in the morning, and went for long walks
in the afternoon; our wonderful teachers were lifesavers at the time. I
still have a letter that old couple sent to me in Tredegar expressing fear
of the shelling from France— “You hear the bombers coming, not the
shells.” Tragically later, they would both be killed by a German shell.
In May 1940, before Dunkirk, there was a rumour that we were to be
sent on a big ship to Canada but, in the event it proved to be a long train
journey to Tredegar, Monmouthshire!
Here I recall a warm welcome at the Scwrfa Drill hall— gentle, kind voic-
es and well-planned organisation. Then two of us, each given a brown
carrier bag containing a big bar of Cadbury's chocolate and a tin of
corned beef, were ushered into the back seat of a car. Very exciting
since I had never been in a car before. We stopped in Harford Street,
Sirhowy and being cheeky Cockney kids both jumped out.
“Not you,” said the driver to me, “you jump back in.” Something that
proved a pivotal moment in my life.
74
Being a fellow evacuee in the same street, the other boy became a very
good friend whom I met by chance in London after the war when he was
driving a baker's horse and cart. We recognized each other at once.
I was taken a short distance up the street to the house of Clarry and
Phyl Jones and their son Peter. I was soon to learn that when asked,
with friendly interest, “Who are you, then?” Answering simply, “Clarry
Jones' evacuee” was passport to local integration.
My own children often recall Mrs Morgan of the paper shop in Church
Street telling everyone in the shop: “This is Clarry Jones' evacuee.” And
that was 30 years after the war had ended!
Young as I was, I noticed the great change from a very basic Folkestone
house to this bright, spacious home with its French windows, flowers in
the hall, upstairs bathroom and a garden.
At first the family couldn't understand my Cockney speech and were
worried whether they ever would?
75
Suddenly I was upset, missing my protecting brothers and sister. We
had all come to Tredegar together so why had we been separated?
Peter produced his toys, train set and a yacht, to divert me. In this new
house, not only did I have a bed to myself but a whole bedroom.
Peter, I am told, had excitedly awaited this new playmate all day but
couldn't have been much impressed by my undernourished, skinny-self,
3 years his junior. Because of that time all my family still have close
contacts with Wales. My Welsh accent returning, so they tell me, as
soon as we cross the Welsh border.
During the following three years, I adjusted to my new life in a valleys’
schoolteacher's home, in a street where soon I knew everyone by name
and became part of my new, wider family.
I had my first-ever box of chocolates at Christmas, all for myself, and
went to Carmel Chapel because my Welsh best friend went there.
76
We spent many a long summer’s day on the tips, quite grassy then, our
games playing at being British soldiers attacking the Germans, being in-
terrupted only by having to go home for dinner – wonderful times.
For me, the war was Mr Jones in his Home Guard uniform complete with
revolver. Sometimes I was allowed to watch him instructing on machine
guns at the Scout Hut.
We would sit at the top of Harford Street watching convoys of American
lorries pass by; the Yanks throwing out sweets and speaking just like
they did in cowboy films.
We had an evacuee classroom at Sirhowy School and Mr Scholar, our
teacher of fond memory, ended each day reading to us from Treasure
Island. I don't recall much tension between us and the local children but
having at hand a Welsh "big brother" probably helped me.
I experienced for the first time, black-faced miners rushing out from the
colliers' train at Sirhowy station, the pits themselves, real mountains
and ponies and sheep.
77
I found Tredegar winters very cold compared with a milder London, the
snow deeper and longer lasting, but sledging down the tips and even
Sirhowy Hill was a new excitement.
We played games too, in streets with little traffic and were given wild
rides on Samuel's milk float - no “Health and Safety” rules then!
Sunday School meant Whitsun parades with banners, Mr Evans, Carmel
Chapel striding out front, races in the vicarage field and chapel slab
cake to eat.
Peter's cousin John Lawrence (on embarkation leave to the Far East)
brought home his rifle, and his brother Alf when also home on leave,
told of life on a corvette escorting Atlantic convoys.
I recall my own mother travelling from London on an organized trip to
visit us. She told me of the London air raids, but even in Tredegar bomb-
ing was familiar to me as often we watched the night time glow of
Swansea burning from our bedroom windows.
78
We were taught by evacuee teachers, Mrs Gilham and Miss Upson. In
1943 before my 11th birthday, I won a London scholarship to a Bluecoat
school. Partly because the idea of my wearing a blue coat and buckled
shoes didn't arouse much encouragement from my valleys’ friends, I
declined but unfortunately was granted another scholarship, at Bromley
Grammar School, Kent.
London was then considered safer from air attack but I could not under-
stand why I had to go to this school rather than Tredegar Grammar?
Years later I met Mrs Gilham and Miss Upson during one of their regular
visits to their wartime billet in Railway View, Tredegar. They told me that
they had been unhappy about me going to Bromley Grammar School
since it aped public schools and was rather posh and snooty.
Returning to London in the summer of 1943, my mother took me to be
sized-up by the headmaster whose first words were, “You will have to
learn to speak properly if you are to progress here” - I didn't realise I
had acquired a Welsh accent. When answering in class sometimes I
was told not to speak in that silly way.
79
When the music master made each boy sing a solo to assess our voices,
I sang “All Through The Night” in English, to which he replied, “Quite
good but rather miserable—but then the Welsh are a miserable lot.”
I was puzzled.
The bombing of London hadn't ceased and since we were only 10 miles
south east (of the centre), it meant taking off only our shoes every night
to go to bed, and being roused around midnight by the sirens and famil-
iar sound of German bombers.
We would see the whole estate ablaze from incendiaries, hear the near-
by anti-aircraft guns opening up furiously as German planes passed
over; there was even a mobile ‘Bofors’ gun outside the house.
We gave names to our local barrage balloons and noted those missing
each morning if shrapnel had brought them down.
One morning going to school by bus I saw Bromley High Street devas-
tated, and even my school had a near miss.
80
In 1944 came the Doodle Bugs (V-1) and later V-2 rockets, far more
deadly because they struck without warning.
We slept in our Anderson air raid shelter—a sort of underground, metal
box in the garden, which was not very pleasant. The many bomb hits all
around made red bricked and tiled houses as grey as valleys slate roofs
from the dust of the massive explosions—even the bodies of those
killed by blast and strewn around were like grey statues. When I
returned to Tredegar in 1944, the sound of a throaty motorbike exhaust
(much like a V-1) had me diving for cover by the nearest wall.
In the spring of 1944, my elder brother, on leave from the army in the
run up to D-Day, met me off the bus from school. “Must make a phone
call, come with me!” Then I heard, “Message for adjutant—request
extension of leave—Mother died.” Then he said, “That's how it is Les.”
Blunt, but that was London and the war. She had been ill with cancer for
some time.
So it was decided to return me to Tredegar and my Welsh family.
81
As I climbed out of the fug of our Anderson shelter for the last time to
travel by train and bus to Paddington Station, a doodlebug came in over
our flats at chimney height but flew on. What a goodbye!
Later nearing Paddington, the bus lifted slightly as a V2 exploded be-
hind us and the conductress smiled at me reassuringly.
I remember, too, the lovely sound, Welsh sound, of “Newport, Newport,”
as the guard directed me to the Sirhowy train.
I was sent to see Mr Saunders, headmaster of Tredegar Grammar
School. It all seemed so easy. “Yes, no bother. I know who you are—
Clarry Jones' evacuee”. By the end of my first day, I seemed to know
everyone. When I left Bromley Grammar School, I could name very few
as friends and there was no farewell. But at Tredegar Grammar School,
I was welcomed and very happy.
Then came VE day and all evacuees returned to London. I still have the
letter of farewell written by Mr Griffiths (geography and form teacher)
signed by all the class who had made a collection for me.
82
So I had VJ day in London. However, with no mother and a disintegrat-
ing family, my loving stepsister (who looked after me 1943-4) wrote to
the Jones family to say that I was unhappy and would they consider
having me back.
Peter recalls that his father said to him, “It is your choice. If you say
‘yes’ it means for life.” His “yes” and his parents' loving welcome back
into their home will seem incredible to many, but was most typical of
their great generosity of spirit. Such warmth and friendliness I associ-
ate always with the people of Tredegar and the Valleys as a whole.
So Clarry and Phyl Jones became Mam and Dad, and Peter my brother.
I still have the telegram, “Leslie arriving Newport …” that Mam had kept
safely.
My only hesitation over returning to Tredegar was embarrassment at
meeting Mr Griffiths and the class who had collected to give me a
leaving present. Should I offer to return it? Of course nothing was ever
said, and yet again I was given a very warm welcome.
83
Books and TV series about wartime evacuees often emphasize traumat-
ic experiences such as being placed with stern, inflexible, uncompre-
hending foster parents.
Certainly my Folkestone OAPs were very poor, but did their best and
were kind. Their only son was called up while we were there and the old
lady had me hold her hand while shopping to stop her crying at his
departure.
I remember how her son made me wooden models of the German Graf
Spee battleship and the Royal Navy’s Exeter, Ajax and Achilles that
fought her to a standstill at the River Plate. That was real kindness, as
was that I received at Tredegar where I was completely kitted-out in
new clothes amongst which was a superb new overcoat, my first-ever,
of which I have happy memories. I have since been told that the case
with which I arrived and its contents were discreetly burnt.
84
Obviously evacuation was a hard experience for some but I was very
fortunate. Bedwetting affected many of us but there was no fuss and it
disappeared.
My step brother recently visited Tredegar with his wife and was excited
to trace the family with whom he had stayed.
My sister kept in touch with her Tredegar foster mother for many years.
Tredegar and the valleys helped mould me. What did Dad say to Peter in
1944?
“If you say yes to Leslie coming back here, it will be for life.” He was a
knowledgeable man indeed.
Leslie Churchill, 2007
85
Sylvia Bloomfield’s memories as an evacuee in Tredegar
My family - mother, father, 4 sisters and 3 brothers - lived
in a flat in Hackney, London. My father worked in the Post
Office and my mother, when she had the time, worked in
service.
I was evacuated from the London area at the outbreak of war in 1939
with three of my siblings. Eve and I are twins and were five years old at
the time. Dolly was 4 years older than us, and Stanley was 2 years older.
The government, fearful of the catastrophic effects that an aerial attack
would have upon the children living in large, populated areas of
England, had devised a method that they felt would save the younger
children from bombing raids in the event of war.
I later learned that the process was called Operation Pied Piper.
Hindsight revealed later that the evacuation was not necessary but who
would have known at the time?
86
We were first sent to Folkestone, Kent, where the Government had
listings of volunteer families who lived throughout England and other
countries that would accept and care for the children who were being
evacuated from London.
From Folkestone, we were allocated (yes, that is the word used) to
certain towns and villages where we would have a better chance of
surviving the war.
There were four of us, from the Bloomfield family, who fitted the age
profile and the Government did the proper thing by sending all of us to
the same town, Tredegar in South Wales.
There were no families who would accept 4 young children but there
was one who would take two of us, Mr and Mrs Went of Walter Street,
Tredegar. They had no children of their own and this situation might
have been a godsend for them. Then again, maybe not!
87
Mr Went must have been a coal miner because he came home each day
covered with black soot. Evelyn and I were to live with them until condi-
tions or the status of the war changed in our favour and danger had
passed, thus permitting us to return to our family.
Stanley was to live with Mr and Mrs Williams of 101 Charles Street who
had children of their own but, would accept another child.
Dolly went to live with a Mrs Whitchurch, a schoolteacher. She must
have been a good teacher because Dolly came home with much more
knowledge than the rest of us.
Eve and Stan revisit the Williams’
house in Charles Street (left) and the
Wents’ house in Walter Street (right)
88
Eve and I shared a bedroom of our own in the Went household.
I remember vividly that the house was on a corner and that, by going out
the front door and turning left, I could see a field with grazing sheep.
I remember that the town, and all about it, was so clean and pretty,
rolling green hills around, and so peaceful.
Mrs Went would bundle Eve and I up well and we would be sent outside
to play and would have to remain outside until they decided that it was
time to come inside.
I also remember snow, a lot of snow; Eve and I would look into the
windows of other homes and wish that we could go inside like the other
children. That is not to say that the family was unkind but that they had
some strange ideas of how children should be treated.
We were required to have a cup of hot chocolate each evening before
bedtime. I didn't like it then and I still don't like hot chocolate. While in
Tredegar we did occasionally see Stan and Dolly but not often nor for a
very long period of time.
89
In 1942, we were informed that our Mum would be coming to get us and
take us home. Actually, Eve and I had no memory of our Mum, only that
we had been told by the Wents that we had one and that she would be
coming for us.
We remember a short little lady walking toward us on the pavement, as
we were outside the house at the time. When she got to us, she said
simply, “I'm your Mum and I've come to take you home!”
We have no knowledge of the procedure that she went through with the
Went Family. We were soon on a train headed back to London.
The new home was as strange to us as was the home that we went to in
Tredegar, with one huge difference - all our brothers and sisters wel-
comed us back with lots of hugs. After a few days had passed, it was as
though we had never been gone.
Sylvia Byrd (nee Bloomfield), 2007