Don McDouall was evacuated from London during World War II when he was five years old. He was sent to the small country village of East Hanney to live with Grans and Grampy at a house called Tamarisk. When the war ended nobody came to take him home and he was sent to a children's home. When the children's home closed he was given the choice of returning to Tamarisk or to live in another home, he chose Tamarisk. He now lives in Australia.

It was the early springtime of 1951 and somehow we knew that girls were using the canal bridge as a meeting place. The canal bridge was the old stone road bridge that crossed the canal about one and a half miles out of East Hanney.

The girls who gathered at the bridge came from just up the road from the ex-government stores complex, situated about half a mile up the road towards Steventon.

This compound was known as The Depot during the war years. Many men and women from both East and West Hanney had worked there during the war years. But from 1947 the place had been completely taken over by the squatters. These homeless people were what adults in the village of East Hanney often called DP's, which stood for displaced people.

The Depot consisted of perhaps twenty or more large Nissen type huts. These were made from curved corrugated iron or perhaps asbestos sheeting. Each hut was divided into two houses joined back to back.

Two of the huts had been converted into public washhouses one had been made into a village hall or clubhouse. There were other concrete or brick buildings on the site as well all in varying stages of falling down but they were great places to hold hands with your girl friend.

Each house was divided into three rooms. The main room had a coal fired cooking range. This was situated more or less in the middle of the house. The floor was of concrete. There was no ceiling as such but the inside was painted. Most of these dwellings had extended families living within them.

I cannot recall how we found out that the canal bridge had become a place to hang out for these young teenage girls but I can remember a gang of us going up there to see for ourselves.

One of the girls was called Marion, she would have been sixteen at the time and very nice looking! I was very interested in Marion right from that first day but at the time she only had eyes for Lipton, one of my friends.

Before I knew it, it was late spring, my last in England. I joined the local social club at the Depot so did Reg (nicknamed hedgehog). Reg and I started to knock about together along with his brother Wilf. Being a club member gave me access to playing darts and billiards. Bingo was also on every week and Saturday night dances were frequent.

Pete, Marion's brother, should have been still going to school when I first met him but he wasn't. His upbringing left a lot to be desired. He reminded me a lot of myself! He had a mum and a dad but none of them saw their dad much.

Marion's mum was a nice friendly woman but sadly like so many others of that time she had been cursed with a very hard life. Marion's mum had evidently done the right thing by her kids as they had her love and they really loved her back.

It was sometime early in that year that Pete first came with me ferreting. I hadn't really started to go out with Marion at the time, but I was trying hard to win her approval. We fared pretty well that first day and we had caught four rabbits by two o'clock that Sunday afternoon.

Pete was overjoyed as I gave him the half a crown that I usually got for a rabbit and I gave him another rabbit to take home to eat. When we returned to his home he gleefully gave the rabbit to his mum and from that day on Mum, if not Marion, welcomed me to their house.

Marion's family at that time was the nearest thing I had ever had to a family. I have cherished the memory of those friendly people all my life.

During the week I very often went to the club and got to know quite a few of the members, playing darts and drinking. Marion by now was not so cool towards me and would on the odd occasion let me walk her home. But I would be very lucky to even get a quick peck of a kiss.

Slowly I got to know Marion and she got to know me. I can well remember cycling every evening after work, to see her. I spent most Sundays with her and by the time winter had come around I had become extremely fond of Marion. My wanting to emigrate to Australia was based on wanting a better life for us both.

That ten months of having Marion's friendship plus the welcome her family and other members of that Depot community extended to me was without a doubt the most enjoyable part of my young life.

By the time I left the UK I knew I loved Mrs Harding's eldest daughter very much !

Don McDouall, Australia, 2001