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Audrey White nee Barber. september 1939. years old. Living in Gibraltar, with dad, regular army officer, mum and brother Peter, aged years.
May 1940. Evacuated with mum and Peter,- taken out of school and on 'stand by' for several days, waiting for boat (strathaird) to take us home (U.K). Sea sick for 3 days of the 5 day journey. Zig zag course in an attempt to avoid possible torpedoes from the V-boats known to be shadowing us,
Raids on Liverpool so hustled off boat at night into train. Our destination- relitives in Birmingham. Because of the air raids on Birmingham other relitives considered we would be safer with them, in Blackheath, London. Big mistake, the Blity started as we stepped off the train. The fire along the Thames was a frightening sight. Going to bed was a waste of time, we gave up trying and went down into the 'auderson' each night- just as well- a fire bomb came through our bedroom, into the living room below, under the dining table and through the floor boards. The brilliant light of the fire was terrifying. Families put out their own fires, the fire brigades were to busy elsewhere.
Remember going to the butchers with mum and Peter, for the meat ration. The siren sounded before we got home, as we ran mum dropped the package in the road, she scooped up the precious meat whilest Peter added to his collection os shrapnel as it fell around us.
Having a barrage ballon in the field at the side of our road was of no comfort to us just a target for enemy aircraft, like the railway line not far from the next place we moved to in Leicester. Even more unnerving was the fact that my aunt and uncle didnt have and auderson shelter, but we were only the for a couple of weeks.
If you had spare rooms you had to take in the homeless, if you were homeless, like we were, you had to take what you could get. After sharing homes, for a couple of months, with two different families, mum was able to find top and basement falts in a three storey Victorian house, then, mum had to take in an elderly evacuee from London, because we had a spare beddroom.
Dad was missing for 6 weeks, we were fearing the worst when we recieved news from him to say he was in hospital, in Scotland, where had had been taken for an operation.
We moved on, yet again, to another part of Leicester, a house and garden, just to ourselves.
Our time spent in Leicester concided with the bombing of the coventry. The siren sounded twise nightly as the raiders went to and returned from coventry, dropping the bombs they had left! A bit unnerving, to say the least, having a search light in the field at the bottom of our garden, machine gun fire took care of that. The next move was to Bletchley for twelve months. The best part about that stay was the two cinemas, the programmes changed twice a week and again on sundays.
No fear of us gathering any moss, October 1943 we were thankfully reunited with dad, in Shefford Beds, where we had been posted, to 27 A.S.D. ( ammunition supply deport) and changed our address twice before celebrating V.E day in May 1945. The news we had been waiting for for days came to us on the B.B.C on the evening of May 7th. We knew we didnt have to go to school next day. Our great joy and relief was dampened by the fact that the far east fighting was still goin on. We danced in the High street for several nights and on Saturday all under the age of 15 years ( i was 15 June 20th) went to a concert in the school hall. In the evening dad organised a fireworks display on the school playing field.
V.J, was the named by the way it ended atom bombs). We did celebrate ina simular fastion but the memories are less vivid. Thank god we came through the war unscared, so, too, the dear man, of the forgotten army, later to be my husband, but the memories and uncertainty, of those 6 long years live on in our minds.

Mrs. Audrey White
30. Great Hill,
shefford
Beds
SG17 5EA

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