REUNION AND BIG TRIP TO CITY
Joy wrote a memoir called My Gentle War about being an evacuee.
The eldest of three kids, her dad was in the RAF. She recalls: “When peace was finally declared, Dad was still serving, Mum was working as a welder and we children were evacuated to our third place. I had another brother, named Royce, as Dad was stationed nearer to home.
“We were overjoyed to be reunited as a whole family, while mourning the loss of Dad’s youngest brother Bernard.
“I can recall the feeling of euphoria which swept the country when the war ended.
“Our parents took us on the train to London. There were bonfires, like beacons of hope, blazing in back gardens and flags waving everywhere. We watched, entranced, a huge firework display from Westminster Bridge, and giggled as sailors climbed lampposts and kissed as many girls as they could catch!
“Goodness knows what time we arrived home, tired but so happy.”
Joy before WWII and, inset, now