Guest Blog Post! Gillian Mawson
HULL'S
SECOND WORLD WAR EVACUEES
In the early hours of 1 September 1939, the British Government's plans for evacuation swung into operation and millions of school children, teachers, mothers and infants were moved before war was declared on 3 September. On 31st of August, the citizens of Hull encountered this stark statement in their newspapers:
“Evacuation of schoolchildren and other priority classes from all towns included in the Government's evacuation scheme is to begin tomorrow. Mothers and disabled to be evacuated Saturday … 50,000 Hull children will go to safe places. Once organised evacuation starts, people who are not in the organised scheme may have difficulty in leaving and if they wish to go they should do so without delay.”
Gordon McDonald remembers the day that the evacuation of children and teachers began in Hull:
“I was 4 and a half and my brother Albert was 6, when we were taken to Paragon Station to catch the train which would take us into the country. There were lots of other children and their mums and dads in the station, parents looking worried and the kids looking at the trains thinking it was a great adventure. Our Mam came with us on the train to a village called Carlton, near Goole. We were put into the temporary care of an old lady called Mrs Smith, Mam returned home, but was so worried about us she came back without our father's knowledge to see us a few days later. Hiding behind the outbuildings, she peeped at us through the kitchen window. Mrs Smith, as previously arranged, held us up to look at the trees after we had been bathed. We never knew Mam was there, she didn't want to upset us. It must have been very hard for her to go back to Hull alone.”
In the early hours of 1 September 1939, the British Government's plans for evacuation swung into operation and millions of school children, teachers, mothers and infants were moved before war was declared on 3 September. On 31st of August, the citizens of Hull encountered this stark statement in their newspapers:
“Evacuation of schoolchildren and other priority classes from all towns included in the Government's evacuation scheme is to begin tomorrow. Mothers and disabled to be evacuated Saturday … 50,000 Hull children will go to safe places. Once organised evacuation starts, people who are not in the organised scheme may have difficulty in leaving and if they wish to go they should do so without delay.”
Gordon McDonald remembers the day that the evacuation of children and teachers began in Hull:
“I was 4 and a half and my brother Albert was 6, when we were taken to Paragon Station to catch the train which would take us into the country. There were lots of other children and their mums and dads in the station, parents looking worried and the kids looking at the trains thinking it was a great adventure. Our Mam came with us on the train to a village called Carlton, near Goole. We were put into the temporary care of an old lady called Mrs Smith, Mam returned home, but was so worried about us she came back without our father's knowledge to see us a few days later. Hiding behind the outbuildings, she peeped at us through the kitchen window. Mrs Smith, as previously arranged, held us up to look at the trees after we had been bathed. We never knew Mam was there, she didn't want to upset us. It must have been very hard for her to go back to Hull alone.”
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| Hull Evacuess |
Adelaide Harris was 5 years old when she was evacuated to
Billingborough:
“We went into the school hall, people came to look at us, then picked us. Me and two other girls were chosen by a butcher, the family were very good to us and bought us new coats, but we weren't there very long. I was moved to the home of Mr and Mrs Wright and their daughter Renee, they had a little cottage and I was there until the end of the war. They were a lovely family to be with and I called Mrs Wright 'Mum'. I got on really well with Renee, who was older then me, she really looked after me, and I felt like I was their own daughter. Mrs Wright used to have lovely dresses made for me. The people in the village were very friendly to us evacuees, as was everyone at the local school. I really loved the country air, and we were never short of fruit and veg. There was an American air force base nearby and they used to organise Christmas parties for us. During this time, my Dad joined the Navy on a minesweeper, and Mum came to visit me several times. Mr Wright worked on the railways and unfortunately he was killed whilst at work. Mrs Wright was pregnant at the time with her son Arthur, and she still kept me, despite losing her husband. I really took to Arthur when he was born.”
Of course, evacuation was no guarantee of safety and many British child evacuees died soon after their arrival in their new 'safe' homes. On 8 November 1941, the Hull Daily Mail reported the tragic death of a Hull evacuee which occurred within hours of the youngster’s arrival in Driffield, Yorkshire:
“Alfred George Parsons, aged 4, and his brother were evacuated to Driffield and sent to the sick bay at Filey for treatment. A nurse said that she found Alfred with his nightclothes on fire in the corridor. From another child she learned that he had pulled aside the fireguard, placed paper on the fire and his clothing become ignited. Recording a verdict of death from shock following extensive burns the Coroner said, ‘I do not think it can be reasonably suggested that there was any negligence – however it is recommended that in places and institutions where there are children, fixed fireguard should be in place.”
Many evacuees returned home before the end of war, as Gordon McDonald explains:
“Later in the war my brother and I were moved to a family called Sykes. We were not looked after as far as personal hygiene was concerned. I remember Mam coming to visit and taking us for a walk so she could clean us up using her hanky (spitting on it to rub our faces clean) and cutting our finger nails, combing our hair etc. Our parents decided then to take us back to Hull.”
The raids on Hull were very bad at that time, as shown in this report from the Hull Daily Mail, of 9th May 1941: “Hundreds killed and a city devastated after two nights of intense German bombing. They will be listed in wartime records simply as Raids 45 and 46. But the devastation inflicted on Hull and its people these past two nights will live forever in the memories of those who endured the bombing and its aftermath. This morning families are coming to terms with the deaths of 434 loved ones, from newborn babies to those aged 90.”
As a result, Gordon and his brother were re-evacuated, this time to the village of South Dalton near Beverley:
“We lived with Mr and Mrs Boddy, he was a joiner for the Hotham Estate. These were happy years, even though at night you could hear the bombs and see the fires in Hull from our bedroom window. The Colonel was a hunting man and we were taught to carry game and be of use when he went shooting with his two black labradors. I was so small the game bag trailed along the floor when I carried it. Sometimes our parents would come up to visit and take home a rabbit or we would send one on the bus wrapped in news paper, this was a great treat as meat was in very short supply.”
Adelaide Harris remained in Lincolnshire until the end of the war in May 1945. She was deeply upset by having to leave her beloved wartime 'foster family' to return to Hull, “I really loved living with Mrs Wright and her daughter Renee. When our school was sent back to Hull, I didn’t want to go. I was so used to living with Mrs Wright. When I returned home, I cried for days which wasn’t nice at all for my poor parents.”
“We went into the school hall, people came to look at us, then picked us. Me and two other girls were chosen by a butcher, the family were very good to us and bought us new coats, but we weren't there very long. I was moved to the home of Mr and Mrs Wright and their daughter Renee, they had a little cottage and I was there until the end of the war. They were a lovely family to be with and I called Mrs Wright 'Mum'. I got on really well with Renee, who was older then me, she really looked after me, and I felt like I was their own daughter. Mrs Wright used to have lovely dresses made for me. The people in the village were very friendly to us evacuees, as was everyone at the local school. I really loved the country air, and we were never short of fruit and veg. There was an American air force base nearby and they used to organise Christmas parties for us. During this time, my Dad joined the Navy on a minesweeper, and Mum came to visit me several times. Mr Wright worked on the railways and unfortunately he was killed whilst at work. Mrs Wright was pregnant at the time with her son Arthur, and she still kept me, despite losing her husband. I really took to Arthur when he was born.”
Of course, evacuation was no guarantee of safety and many British child evacuees died soon after their arrival in their new 'safe' homes. On 8 November 1941, the Hull Daily Mail reported the tragic death of a Hull evacuee which occurred within hours of the youngster’s arrival in Driffield, Yorkshire:
“Alfred George Parsons, aged 4, and his brother were evacuated to Driffield and sent to the sick bay at Filey for treatment. A nurse said that she found Alfred with his nightclothes on fire in the corridor. From another child she learned that he had pulled aside the fireguard, placed paper on the fire and his clothing become ignited. Recording a verdict of death from shock following extensive burns the Coroner said, ‘I do not think it can be reasonably suggested that there was any negligence – however it is recommended that in places and institutions where there are children, fixed fireguard should be in place.”
Many evacuees returned home before the end of war, as Gordon McDonald explains:
“Later in the war my brother and I were moved to a family called Sykes. We were not looked after as far as personal hygiene was concerned. I remember Mam coming to visit and taking us for a walk so she could clean us up using her hanky (spitting on it to rub our faces clean) and cutting our finger nails, combing our hair etc. Our parents decided then to take us back to Hull.”
The raids on Hull were very bad at that time, as shown in this report from the Hull Daily Mail, of 9th May 1941: “Hundreds killed and a city devastated after two nights of intense German bombing. They will be listed in wartime records simply as Raids 45 and 46. But the devastation inflicted on Hull and its people these past two nights will live forever in the memories of those who endured the bombing and its aftermath. This morning families are coming to terms with the deaths of 434 loved ones, from newborn babies to those aged 90.”
As a result, Gordon and his brother were re-evacuated, this time to the village of South Dalton near Beverley:
“We lived with Mr and Mrs Boddy, he was a joiner for the Hotham Estate. These were happy years, even though at night you could hear the bombs and see the fires in Hull from our bedroom window. The Colonel was a hunting man and we were taught to carry game and be of use when he went shooting with his two black labradors. I was so small the game bag trailed along the floor when I carried it. Sometimes our parents would come up to visit and take home a rabbit or we would send one on the bus wrapped in news paper, this was a great treat as meat was in very short supply.”
Adelaide Harris remained in Lincolnshire until the end of the war in May 1945. She was deeply upset by having to leave her beloved wartime 'foster family' to return to Hull, “I really loved living with Mrs Wright and her daughter Renee. When our school was sent back to Hull, I didn’t want to go. I was so used to living with Mrs Wright. When I returned home, I cried for days which wasn’t nice at all for my poor parents.”
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| Adelaide Harris wearing one of many dresses Mrs Wright made for her |
Gordon McDonald described his return to Hull just before the end of the war:
“Hull was a mess, the centre very badly damaged, street after street of bombed out houses. My own parents were bombed out of two houses and with the little they had were now trying to make a new home for us in Laburnam Avenue, Garden Village. Luckily, Mam always had things organised so a suitcase of food and clothes always went with her into the air-raid shelter, when they were bombed they at least had those things left! I can remember the first Bonfire Night after it was over, no shortage of material for the fire, We played on those bomb-sites for years before they were eventually cleared and new buildings put up. It was a sad time, a hard time, but I remember how fortunate I was to live in Dalton and be brought up for about four years in such a happy place, and to come home to my Mam and Dad. I often go back to the village with my wife and show her where we played footie and where we threw coloured flares into the village pond and turned the ducks pink!”
Words and pictures (c) Gillian Mawson 2017
Gillian (@Guernseyevacuee) has written books on the subject of the evacuation in WWII, and are available on Amazon.co.uk and other book sellers.
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