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I was about 12 when I was sent away from Maidstone in Kent to S wales as an evaccuee.It was nearing the end of the war abut still a great deal of bombing. My step brothers were already away, though taken into care as far as I can remember. We were a poor family, having been bombed out once and living in a lodging house in Dartford before moving onto Maidstone. I did not know anyone in the group being sent to Wales as we had only just moved to Maidstone. We made our way to the Station with our gasmasks , and one small case. I can't remember anything of the journey, just arriving at the end of the day and being bustled into a large hall. after being given something to eat were were ushered into various coaches and taken on the last leg of our great adventure. I was taken to a house in Abertridwr. We knocked on the door but there was no answer. Panic. tried next door. A lady, who I learnt later was my Hosts sister, answered and I was taken in to await my fate. Darkness was falling when a knock came at the door. Mrs Edmunds stood on the doorstep comimg to collect her evaccuee. She had been at the pictures, not expecting me untill later in the evening. I was taken into the next house and introduced to the other two members of the household. There was Louis Edmunds her husband and her Old Father Mr Capp. I was instructed to call them Aunty Bron, Uncle Lou and Grandad. After a meal I was shown up to my bedroom, a large double one. Luxury after the cramped homes I had lived in before. There was also a bath, and inside toilet. I was used to outside toilets and council run bathhouses. A few days later when I had settled in I was sent to the local school, a few yards down the road. There I was introduced to another evaccuee from the same school in Maidstone. Her name was Sadie Tuffield. She was living almost next to the school. Her billet was with an elderly lady and she hated it. I think she came from a close knit family and found it very lonely. Next thing I knew she had gone home. I was lucky with my new family. They had no children of thier own but had taken in evaccuees before and were used to them. I got on well with their nephews and neices, and became part of the family. Uncle Lou was an electrician and taught me how to mend fuses and and wire up plugs, and aaaaaI would spend hours helping him mend radios, Grandad taught me how to play cards and do jigsaw puzzles, things I had never done before. I had never been to the seaside before either. It was a great treat to go on the train to Barry Island and we all enjoyed sandy sandwiches and getting sunburnt. I did not go home straight away when the war was over. No room at home for me. But I did go eventually when I was 16. I often think Aunty Bron and Uncle Lou helped shape my life more than anyone else

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