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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Morwenna Nadar of CSV/ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ LONDON on behalf of Mr. Raymond John Richardson and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was 3 at the beginning of the war and lived just outside London in West Wickham When I was 5 years of age, I was evacuated to Yorkshire where I stayed with a lovely family. The sons of the family were miners and because of this, they were not called up.

During my time there I was taken ill with appendicitis and was taken to a hospital in Doncaster. I nearly died there as the appendicitis turned into peritonitis. I remember being given the choice of seeing my parents or having a cake (a treat in war-time). I chose my parents.

My parents stayed up in Yorkshire for a while after I left hospital. We moved to another family with whom we stayed for a short time before we all returned home. The doodlebugs were coming over at that time and the first time I saw one, I thought it was a bird flying through the sky.

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