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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Pennie Hedge, a volunteer for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London, on behalf of Iris Wilby, and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Wilby fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

When the bombing broke out, my sister and I were evacuated. I was 9 and she was 6, and we were evacuated to Devon. And we were there nearly four years.

The first family we went to in Devon didn’t treat us very well. She never used to feed us properly and she would lock us out. And it wasn’t very nice at all, it was awful. But one day there was bombing raid in Plymouth and we went under the stairs, and the door got jammed and we were locked in under the stairs. So she tried to get us out, and banged her elbow, broke her arm. So they had to move us to another family.

This other family had 9 evacuees. We were happier, but we all had our jobs to do. I made the porridge every morning. A great big bowl of porridge. My sister used to have to dust the stairs. We were quite happy, but always working.

But as I was getting near to the age of 14, my Mum wanted me to come home so that I could go out to work, and earn some money. Because you went out to work when you were 14.

While we were away my mother had my brother. We didn’t see her for four years really. She never got the chance to come and see us. So as our brother grew up he didn’t realise that he’d got two older sisters.

We came home, but I had to go to school for a little while, until I was actually 14. I went to Catford Central School, and my mum had to get me a uniform and everything. And I was only there for a fortnight before a bomb fell on the school when I was in it. How I escaped I don’t know. I jumped out of a window. It was a terrible shock. When I got out it was all rubble. 38 children and 6 teachers were killed.

They sent us away for convalescence, actually. The children that had survived. They sent us up North, Cheshire I think it was. And it was one of these big country homes that the American Red Cross had taken over for the wounded soldiers. And we stayed there for three weeks to get over it.

I wasn’t injured physically, but it has left a few mental scars. I’ve had a lot of trouble with my nerves since. But I’m fine now. My mother could never forgive herself for bringing us back from where we were safe and then that happened.

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