Guernsey Evacuees
Sir: Re “Guernsey Evacuation” (“Post Box”, Autumn 2016), evacuees came from St. Peter Port to my home town near Manchester. I was nine years old and was excited at the
prospect as they came to stay in our Sunday School. Our Chapel was not attached to the Sunday School building. We had a large hall, which we called the “big school”, and a small indoor passage which took us to the “primary school”.
When the children arrived with the headmaster and teachers there were mattresses on the floor of the big school and on the stage. The primary school was used as the dining room with trestle tables along three sides. At the end of the primary school was the kitchen, perfectly adequate in those days but I don’t know what health and safety would say today! All the ladies of the church had a rota and meals were cooked and served from this kitchen.
After about three weeks the subject was brought up about the children being billeted. Our family of four were allocated one of the young teachers. Whilst they were all still in the Sunday school and before the Germans invaded the island, the parents of the children were sending over baskets of tomatoes which were grown in their glasshouses. We were inundated with tomatoes!
Suddenly the government decided that it was too dangerous for the children to remain in our area and it was arranged that they would be moved to the Wirral which was just across the River Mersey from Liverpool, which everyone thought was madness.
We were never evacuated because it was said we were not in a dangerous area although we were about a mile from the Manchester Ship Canal and the largest industrial estate in the country. — ELSE ANDREW, ALTON,
HAMPSHIRE.