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For some of us schoolchildren this was a great adventure.When we arrived in the Gloucestershire countryside we were put
on buses and dropped off at various villages.
I was taken with another boy to the home of
a couple who seemed quite elderly.My house
was opposite a field with an old barn,and just down the road was a recreation centre
with an open air swimming pool.
It seemed great after living in Birmingham.
It was even better when we went to the local
Grammar school and found that it was next
door to the girls "High School".
It didn't seem to dawn on us at first that
our Mums and Dads were going through a terrible time with air raids,until we went
home for holidays and found we inevitably
arrived just in time for a big air raid.
I spent most of my time in the City in an
air raid shelter.
When we got back we always listened to the news to see whether Birmingham had been
raided.
My separation from my Family didn't end
with the war.
On returning home and finishing school,I
had hardly started a job when Conscription
came along and away I went again,this time
to Germany with the Army.
My parents were without me for six or seven years,and my older Brother and Sister saw
very little of me until I left the Forces.
I was very fotunate as there were many
children who lost their Parents in air raids
whilst they were away,and others who were ill used by the people they were unfortunate
enough to be billeted with,because people
were obliged to take a child in if they had
a spare room,and they resented it.

Richard Quance

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