This is an interview with Shirley Hughes, 74, evacuated during the war and sent to Norfolk (at the age of 11) with her 8 month baby sister Pat.
"When we were evaucated, I was 11 years old. I had to be a mother to my sister as my mum was not around anymore. It was frightening and we didn't know what to expect. We were sent to Western Favell, Northamptonshire, where two doctors looked after us. They had three girls and they were very unkind to us. They were jealous of us and particularly my sister who got a lot of attention as she was so young. I was so happy to go home, but when we got back to London the war carried on. I remember we had to wash very quickly in a tin-tub in front of the fire. When the air-raid warning went off it was like a nightmare running to the air raid shelter - absolutely terrifying. The rationing of food meant we seemed to eat boiled potatoes all the time - and surprisingly I still like potatoes although nowadays I prefer them chipped or fried! |
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Lilian Evans, aged six, from Liverpool, had her hair done in pretty ringlets for her evacuation. Together with another girl, she was marched by a burly Welsh farmer to his cottage, where they were ordered to strip off their clothes and get into a bath of green disinfectant.
The farmer’s wife dried them and then the farmer shaved the girls’ heads to prevent lice, applying gentian violet where he cut them, leaving Lilian with purple dots on her skull. She was sent to the local school that way. For five years Lilian was starved and humiliated on a regular basis. It ruined her later life; emotionally deprived, she never raised a family of her own. |