Second World War

The date we were evacuated was the first day of the Autumn term September 1940 during the Battle of Britain.. My sister Mickie went with the school that day and I travelled the following day with my four year old brother and my mother who needed me to look after her with her heart condition and the promise that we would meet up with my school and sister. The train left the station at 9.15am for an unknown destination, the place where we had been standing was bombed shortly after wards, the line we were on was bombed during our journey and we had to be diverted. The train was not a corridor train and children were being held out of the windows for their toileting needs. We stopped once to queue for a toilet, needing to cross railway lines to reach it.

We reached Oxford station in the evening and were taken by coach to Thame where we sat in a huge circle on the wooden floor of a wooden building to be chosen by people walking round looking at us, I remember thinking that this must been how the slaves felt when they were being chosen. My mother was given a wooden chair and we were offered sandwiches and drinks,

A lady put her arms round us begging for us to stay with her, she lived on a farm and said that we would love it there but she was not allowed to have us because she was just out of the area. We were the last people to be allocated and were taken to an elderly childless couple who owned a hardware shop on the corner of the main street opposite the Butter market, by now it was very late and dark and we were exhausted but. Mr and Mrs Lewis were extremely kind and showed us to our really lovely bedrooms next to each other. They gave us one cooked meal a day and sufficient rations for me to organise breakfast and lunch in our part of the beautiful Georgian house. We were in the servants quarters and could use our basic living room upstairs next to our bedrooms during the day. We had to struggle up a narrow circular staircase with a loose hessian carpet which I had to keep knocking tacks into to make it reasonably safe. Our kitchen was downstairs, although we didn`t cook, but made sandwiches to take out every day in the country with my lively little well behaved brother. On one of our walks we saw two adders entwined along the top of a chestnut paling fence, their brilliant colouring enhanced by the sun, they must have been well over a metre long.

Distraught tired and anxious we could get no news from Ashford and no money furthermore the schools were full and could not take my brother who was due to start school in November when he would be five.years old or myself aged 16 years of age. We had a wind up gramophone and one record in our sitting room, I soon learnt `Serenade in the Night `neath a Fair Lady`s Window` by heart.. Downstairs in the beautiful Georgian panelled dining room with its Georgian corner fireplace where we shared the evening meal with Mr and Mrs Lewis was an electric Gramophone with records of all the works of Elgar, my mother`s favourite composer. Mrs Lewis said we could play the records any time but we were too shy to use it. They had a huge kitchen garden where Mr Lewis his hands crippled with arthritis enjoyed showing me the fruit trees and produce, this was where I groomed their lovely golden cocker spaniel, my very favourite dog, not realising that ten years later newly married, my sister would give me a golden cocker puppy promised to her by one of her patients as a wedding gift for me.. These were grim devastating days,

Every day I went to the Town Hall to try and find news of my father and sister, not knowing whether they were dead or alive and with the anxiety of no money. We were bombed twice, one fell on the cricket ground half a mile away. The air raid siren was fixed at the top of my bed room window, an ear shattering grim sound.

One day we saw an advert for a ward maid in the requisitioned Rycote Manor containing the entire children`s wards of the Radcliffe Infirmary.. My mother agreed that I should go and have an interview. I had always wanted to be a nurse and had been awarded an Exhibition scholarship by my school for a two year prenursing course the first to be awarded in Kent.

I caught the bus and walked over two fields to reach the beautiful ancient Manor House and was accepted as a ward maid. I had to wear a pink dress and overall, with an old fashioned mop cap - a starched circle of material which had a tape near the perimeter to draw up into this huge mop cap. My first instruction was to clean all the lockers. I had to carry them downstairs to the coutyard, one at a time, taking it outside and scrub it out leaving it to dry in the warm sun shine. I was so slow I was quickly made dining room maid.

To be a dining room maid I had to wear a black dress, white lace cap and apron and cuffs. , I had to borrow the other dining room maid`s clothes because I could not spare clothing coupons and of course had little money. I also had to learn to serve the food using two dessertspoons in one hand and holding the dish with the other, ever scared of dropping the food into the Sisters and Doctors laps. I had to make sure the dining table and cutlery was pristine and laid correctly for twelve or more, I had my own parlour where I kept my `joy of joy`s an electric polisher. I was also allowed to help with the children and feed the babies, sitting with them under sunlamps both wearing goggles. I constantly asked if I could join the nurses lectures and the Matron was going to interview me but I decided to return home before seeing her.

Every morning I was in the kitchen for half an hour preparing breakfast on a huge black tray for the day sisters` breakfast which I had to carry up the very wide stair case to her room. Tentatively knocking on the door I entered when she said `enter` putting the tray down in the dark and walked over to the massive velvet curtains covering two beautiful windows and opened them to allow the bright sunshine pour into this huge room, displaying the day sister resplendent in her curlers sitting up in the four poster bed. I placed the bed tray over her before balancing the heavy black tray on it and went down stairs to the kitchen. For this half hour every morning my duties overlapped with those of the night nurse clearing up before she went off duty, and during this brief time we chatted, never dreaming that we would meet again five years later, and still the greatest of friends in our eighty`s! It was this night nurse Olive that I met again after becoming an SRN whilst doing my compulsory first part midwifery course at St Heliers Hospital Carshalton, chosen because it was the most modern in the country. One day we wondered where we had met before, yes it was at Rycote Manor!

While at Rycote I used to explore the vast grounds and lake where there was a rowing boat. The owner saw me one day and said the family had moved to a smaller house on the estate for the duration and he gave me permission to use the boat whenever I wished. One day I struggled through the dense overgrown under growth

to reach a tower that I could see in the distance, It turned out to be an old church, I struggled to reach a door in this gloomy dark area and managed to push it open as it eerily creaked, I had to really feel my way over the uneven paving through into the church and was momentorily blinded and utterly amazed at the beautiful sight of the bright sun pouring through beautiful stained glass windows in the distance. I paused hardly daring to move at this unexpected sight, and eventually made my way to the altar pausing to gaze at what seemed an elevated throne half way up the church. I was to learn thirty years later whilst obtaining my BA, Hons degree with the Open University, that this was indeed a Throne, used by King Charles 1st whilst staying at Rycote Manor.

Sometimes when the day sister had her day off, we took turns to have a bath in the most gorgeous completely marbled bathroom I have ever seen. Exquisite sparkling gold taps adorned this massive bath. We forgot that water was rationed, there was no six inch high tube to prevent the water becoming deeper than 6 inches, compulsory through the country..

Unbeknown to me my poor mother was taken ill again and efforts to locate my father resulted in him travelling to Thame to take her home, amazingly he was on the very same bus as me when I was going to Thame to see her,. She had left Mr and Mrs Lewis and was staying with Mrs Quanting meanwhile my bicycle had arrived so that I could cycle to and from Thame, but I gave in my month`s notice having been working for a few months and went home to Ashford and returned to school where I was made head of my House Becket.. This meant going straight down into the zig zag underground shelters on the front lawn of the school. At each corner of the zig zag was a dim oil lamp, our cold feet in their Wellington boots rested on duck boards with a feeble attempt to keep them out of the water. We leant against the freezing damp concrete walls trying to hear what was being said by the poor teacher standing in the corner of the zig zag..

I shall never forget the excited happy feeling I had cycling at 6am in the morning to catch my train home to my family. The sun was jusr rising in front of me, a most glorious colourful sunrise that I was cycling straight into all the way to Oxford with carefully packed provisions given me by the generous concerned cook. I knew also that my sister was alive and well. A few months later notices all over Ashford instructed us to be evacuated again. I wrote in my diary in capital letters - I REFUSE TO BE EVACUATED AGAIN.

I corresponded with my lovely little dining room maid friend whom I had shared a bed room with, and who took me to dances, teaching me how to get rid of over friendly men. I also wrote to Mr and Mrs Lewis for very many years. And as I have already mentioned I had the unexpected pleasure of renewing my friendship with my life long friend Olive when I was twenty one. Evacuation was an experience with its compensations. .

By 1942 when the bombing of Germany started in earnest, Germany had invaded and devastated parts of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium Greece, Yugoslavia and Russia all without any provocation. She had bombed Warsaw Rotterdam Belgrade Moscow and dozens of other towns. She had bombed in Britain London for a whole winter and many British Towns. She had killed millions of civilians.

Britain was not out for revenge, but felt that the lives of German civilians should not prevent it helping Russia. In 1942 Russia was on the point of collapse, Germany had destroyed its air force and thousands of its guns and tanks and had conquered a large part of its territory including its industrial heartland and its best agricultural land and had killed or taken prisoner millions of its soldiers. Without Russia the war could not be won, and both Britain and Germany thought that Russia was finished.

The only way it could help Russia in 1942 was to bomb the industrial towns of the enemy. As well as reducing industrial production, it had a great effect on the morale of the Russian people. The first 1000 bomber raid was the only topic of conversation in Russia. Hundreds of fighter planes, 88m antiaircraft guns, searchlights and smaller guns, together with thousands of army personal had to be transferred to Fight the bombers. Speer, the German Minister of Production said it was a Second Front.

By 1945 London had once more been devastated by the Flying bombs and the V2 Rockets which were still exploding. Russia was on the point of capturing Berlin and winning this terrible war which every one wanted to finish. The British people felt a bit guilty as Russia had suffered the most and had done most to beat Hitler. How could we help her? The only way was to use its bombing force.

Dresden was an obvious choice, it was an important Railway Junction and had factories which were repairing war equipment including tanks. The occupied peoples of Europe who had suffered 5 yrs of oppression & hunger cheered as the bombers went over; POWs in nearby prison camps cheered as they heard the bombs falling. I do not think many people on the Allied side would not have sent the bombers. Would they have altered their minds if they had known it was full of refugees and had remembered about its historic buildings. It is doubtful. But it must be said that after Dresden Churchill stopped all mass bombings.

The verdict on Dresden must not be left to those who lived after. It must be made by those who lived through the devastating bombings in 1940/41 who saw the great fire of London from a hundred miles away in December 1940, who lived through the flying bombs, and who remembered the near victory of Hitler over Russia in 1942; for without Russia fighting three quarters of the German army in 1944 there would have been no D Day.

In June 1940 after the fall of France we in Britain could not imagine that the war would be lost. Our history showed otherwise. All our recent conflicts; the Napolionic wars, The Crimean, The Indian Mutany of 1857,The Boer War and the Great War had all started badly but finished with a British victory. We felt that the fall of France was just one more obstacle to overcome.

How wrong we were. Rather than a defiant Churchill we should have appointed Hallifax to negotiate the best peace possible. Hitler had offered terms and we still had some bargaining strength.

I know there are strong arguments against. It would mean that Hitler could impose the Nazi doctrines all over Europe. But Germany had the most part of Western Europe to manufacture its weapons and to supply the raw materials. It had a triumphant battle tested army and it would be only a matter of time before it manufactured hundreds of submarines to close the sea lanes and bombers to devastate our cities. We in Britain had no army weapons, after Dunkirk they were now in Hitler’s hands We would starve on the food we could grow ouselves. We could not manufacture the tools of war and produce exports to pay for the raw materials and the food needed even if we could transport them across the submarine invested seas. Our foreign money reserves would disappear in next to no time.

America was in no mood to help. She still felt aggrieved about the slow repayment of the loans made in the Great War, a large amount of which was still outstanding in 1939.. In the 1920’s also, books had been written by British diplomats explaining in great detail how America had been manoeuvered into war. There was a great feeling that they had been tricked into a war that really did not concern them. That is why they decided that this wouild not happen again and passed the Cash and Carry Act which stated that all exports to Britain had to be paid for in cash and carried in British Ships. In any case in the remote possibility that she did enter the war it would be impossible to land in Europe in the face of a large triumphant German army. (It was touch and go in 1944 even when the main part of the army was in Russia.)

The only hope lay in Russia. But she had signed a pact with Germany and was determined not to offend her. Up to the last she supplied Germany with the raw materials promised under the pact. In any case Russia had made very heavy weather with the war against her small neighbour Finland. A large number of her senior officers had been murdered by Stalin. Her weapons seemed primative compared to Germany’s It didn’t seem that she could do much damage to the German army.

But as we now know miracles do happen. The Blitz on London changed American attitudes and they realised they could not afford to let Britain go. This led to Lease Lend. Hitler thinking that Russia was easy game invaded her in June 1941; and in December seized the opportunity of Pearl Harbour to declare war on the USA. One can understand this to some extent. America at this stage was supplying weapons and other goods to both Britaain and Russia She was fighting German submarines in the Atlantic. He thought the Russian war was about over, as the German army had swept all before it and was at the gates of Moscow. Two miscalculations by Hitler and two immense strokes of luck for us.

In 1940 the British were not heros but blind.

The purpose of this weblog is to discuss the Second World War. The principal writer is John East. He is an English man who was 19 when the war broke out. Some articles are also contribute by other people including Roselea East, his wife, who was a few years younger. She was evacuated at the beginning of the war, and then became a nurse.