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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. He now lives in Australia.
Roy and I were never allowed to stay in Grans house after we had done our days work. On weekends or holidays we could not go home again until it was five pm. We always knew the hour because everybody went home from work at around that time.
In the winter it was dark before five o'clock! This meant we would just hang around shivering and would huddle together for warmth, waiting for Grampy to come home. It was then with him we could go in and get out of the cold. Deep wintertime was pretty grim for Roy and I.
Opposite the The Black Horse was a very ancient thatched roofed barn. This was where old man Herman often kept hay for his milking cows. The old barn was minus its door but was my only refuge from the elements on those cold winter days.
Into this old ramshackle of a shed Roy and me would take our raw vegetables and any other scrounged food scraps that we had come by and after snuggling down into the hay to keep warm we would then eat what we had foraged! That was after we had shared it out of course.
Sometimes when it was really cold the pubs owners, the Walters family, would let us into their warm front room to be with their kids. My best friend at that time was Heather Walters. Alan was Heather's twin brother, they were two days younger then me. This little girl looked after me like a little mother.
I use to really like being allowed in her house. To be warm and play with her and her brothers toys. Heather and Alan had a Rupert book, like a hard bound comic. I spent many happy hours reading this book and looking at the pictures.
Mrs Booker, Tony and Dawns mother, was another lady who sometimes allowed us in her house to keep warm with her children. Usually it was the shed we played in. Mrs Bookers two kids were lucky as they had their own playhouse full of toys and a beautiful rocking horse with a real hair mane and tail. I just loved that rocking horse!
They also had a big box of comics and I would spend all day reading about the exploits of 'Desperate Dan' and the 'Indian rubber man' and the like.
Then there was old Mrs Prior who lived on her own in her bungalow. This kind old lady would come out of her house on those real bleak days and walk down to Hermans barn with a parcel of bread and jam that was always wrapped up in newspaper. Sometimes the jam was spread all over the newspaper and both of us hungry kids would eat the newspaper too!
I was very jealous at times of Roy. He seemed to be much luckier than ever I was. Aunt Doss liked him a lot more then me and Grans seemed to tolerate him. His mum wrote to him maybe once a fortnight and there was always a postal note inside. Grans always confiscated such monies, so Roy never saw anything for his mum's generosity.
Roy's dad was in the army. He used to come and see him in East Hanney when he was home on leave. Roy's dad was always in his army uniform. On such occasions he wore a smart looking cap much like a captains cap but he was only a corporal. Mr Kemp had a Lee Enfield rifle with him on such visits and a helmet on top of his backpack.
He very often came to see Roy during school-time. Then Roy would go out with him for the rest of the day and I would cry tears of jealousy for hours and hours afterwards.
One day, about 1941, I was put on a train by Miss Smith the school teacher. I went to Swindon, which was eighteen miles down the railway track. My big sister Esther met me, but I didn't know her anymore. I had forgotten all about her!
Esther worked in what I thought to be a theatre. My sister dressed up and danced with a lot of other grown up girls. She had beautiful golden hair and was always smiling. Esther lived with a Mrs Miller. Mrs Miller was a kind lady and was very nice to me for all of my stay. I remember being so contented there, I guess I was there for a school holiday period.
I can remember the air-aid siren wailing close by, hurrying to the air raid shelter, the ground shaking with deafening noises! I remember being very frightened. Then one night I went to sleep with some other kids in the Morrison shelter on a mattress.
The shelter in question was used as the kitchen table. I work up later and a lady with a hat on with a big feather in it picked me up and started to kiss me all over making me feel embarrassed. It was my mum! But I had forgotten what my mother looked like! Then she was gone.
Sometime a little later they put me on the train and I cried and cried. The guard read my label and put me off at Wantage Road Station and I walked back to my life with Grans.
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