Anne’s story

‘I vividly remember the third of September,1939 - the day that war broke out. 

I was playing with my friend Margaret in our back garden when, all of a sudden, the sound of screeching sirens filled the sunny Sunday morning. Margaret’s father soon arrived to take her home. I joined my parents who were listening to the wireless and the terrifying announcement that we were at war with Germany. 

Later, while we were having lunch, I remember asking whether the war would be over by my Birthday on the third of October!

My father joined up immediately and Mummy started to look for a job. Plans were made for me to live with complete strangers. They were a mature couple called Mr and Mrs Pixton, who ran a guest house at a seaside resort called Grange- over Sands, in Lancashire. I was to be a private evacuee and my parents paid seven shillings and sixpence a week for my board and lodging.

I was enrolled at the village primary school together with the government evacuees. We had a tough time as the village children didn't really like us. 

I remember the school was just one large room divided by curtains to make four classrooms. Mr Berry, our headmaster was an unpleasant man who used the cane rather a lot. 

He seemed to particularly dislike two brothers who were often late for school and seemed to receive a lot of punishment. 

I did not manage to escape the cane.  One day I was prancing around the playground with my hands in the heart shaped pockets of my (hand-me-down) dress, when Mr Berry spotted me and told me to stop showing off. Being young, I ignored his warning and was called into his study to receive two strokes of the cane on my hands. 

When Manchester experienced heavy bombing raids more government evacuees arrived from Salford. A young girl called Audrey joined me at the Pixton’s. We used to help at the guest house with washing up, making beds and shopping during the summer holidays. I remember that some of their guests were girls(ladies) from the cotton mills and they used to stay every year.

Audrey and I settled down into a steady routine.  On a Sunday. We would attend Morning Prayers (Matins) at our village Church of England. Then it was home to write weekly letters to our parents, followed by lunch. We then went to Sunday School and after tea, it was back to church with Mr and Mrs Pixton for Evensong!! 

One evening when we were in bed, we were woken by the siren and were instructed "come on girls - bring your hymn books". Down we all went to sit under the stairs. Soon we started our sing-song. The idea was that our singing would help cheer up our seventy year old neighbours Mr and Mrs Nesbitt who were also sitting under the stairs next door to us. I can’t remember how long the raid lasted or how many bombs fell, but our bonus was a day off from school the next day. We later found out that the enemy had mistaken the flat roof of our swimming pool for the Aircraft Carrier that was being built in Barrow in Furness.

My stay at Grange-over-Sands lasted two and a half years. We were looked after very well, even though we had to sleep in the attic during the holiday season, when the guests needed our bedrooms.’