Home Front: Overseas Evacuation of Children

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Our parents were concerned for our safety and as the Overseas Evacuation Scheme was advertised in the local paper, they applied for the four older children to join. Only children aged 5-16 were eligible, Heather was too young. At the time I was nine, Noelle was eleven, Felicity thirteen and Michael fifteen. We were given a list of required clothing. This list seems to require very few clothes by today's standards but we still had to have some new things. Everything had to have our family evacuation code number on, A14389.  We used up an awful lot of marking ink and stitching on the tapes was very boring. Interestingly, there were no boy’s underpants listed, they were considered to be an unnecessary luxury. I remember showing off at school telling my friends that I was going to South Africa, and at the time I thought it was quite exciting. We were not allowed to tell anyone when we would be going, and no-one had any idea of the port of embarkation. Remember, Walls have Ears said the posters."

"We were all ready to go on 11th September, 1940 (our parents had been given four days notice of this), when they received a letter that morning, telling them that we would after all be departing on 14th and that they would be told which station, and at what time later. … Somehow they were told to get us to the LMS station for 8.45am, on 14th September 1940, duly labelled with a tie-on label attached to each one of us. The final sentence of the letter states IT IS VERY UNDERSIRABLE TO TALK ABOUT THESE DETAILED ARRANGEMENTS IN PUBLIC.”

"We were handed over to our escort at the station with the other Sheffield children. There were only eight of us altogether. We said goodbye to our parents and to Heather, and the train steamed out of the station. At the time neither we nor our parents knew where we were going. It turned out we were heading for Glasgow. That was the moment when I got worried. It had been fun up till then, now it was for real that we were leaving behind everything we knew and loved, our parents, our baby sister, our home, our school, our friends. We were off to South Africa not just over the Pennines to visit relatives. I can remember thinking “If we are going away to prevent us being killed, what would happen to us if our parents and Heather were killed? Would we ever come back to England? And who would look after us then?"

"We were ten days in Glasgow camping in a school, before we boarded the ship, the SS Llandaff Castle. For two days, to our surprise, we were still in harbour. We had Lifeboat drill again, and explored the ship again, finding a minute swimming pool, which was completely dry, and a play room. Our cabin steward made our beds and brought us clean towels. This was indeed a new experience. On the third day we were assembled in the ballroom to be addressed by a man from London. I believe it was Mr. Geoffrey Shakespeare. He told us that the government had decided that no more children were to be sent overseas and that we were to return home. We were not told that only that week a ship of evacuees going to Canada had been sunk. I believe our parents heard on the radio that a ship with evacuees had been sunk, but it did not give the destination of that ship. They had no idea that we were still in Glasgow.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“I don’t think the fear of air raids was the deciding factor for my parents.  Mother had been a nurse in London during the First World War, and had nursed the French and Belgian female refugees who had been brutally assaulted by German soldiers.  She was determined that this wouldn’t happen to her daughters.”

 “Never a dull moment … We had frequent concerts, the chief ‘act’ being songs by The Lancashire Lasses who gave us renderings of ‘On Ilkely Moor Ba Tat’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.’”

“We were served stewed guavas for supper on one occasion.  We looked at them askance until the bravest tried them, after which they met with enthusiastic approval.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

"At Brentwood school notice was given of an overseas evacuation scheme for children of 15 years and under. My immediate thoughts were "Johnny boy, this is your overseas trip." To me, being an immature schoolboy, this was to be a 6 months jolly. Which turned out to be 10 years before I returned to England."

"With the papers in hand I approached my parents who were a little doubtful at the idea, but as my father had been a teacher in Durban (South Africa) before the First World War and had joined the South African Army on the outbreak of war I was determined to see what South Africa was all about. Eventually the documents were signed and notice came to leave the country in 8 days, in 5 days we were on the water to South Africa."

"It was emotional for the family but I was too excited to feel it."

“After 3 days woke up to find ourselves alone, not a pleasant thought as our old tub was only making 9 knots and 84 kids were drowned on the way to Canada. Submarines could make 9 knots under water.”

“The South African government offered me a passage back to England but as my parents by then had split up and I was now familiar with the South African scene, plus having made many friends, I decided to remain in South Africa.  The years between 14 and 20 are very impressive in a man’s life and this may have influenced my decision …”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

"At Brentwood school notice was given of an overseas evacuation scheme for children of 15 years and under. My immediate thoughts were "Johnny boy, this is your overseas trip." To me, being an immature schoolboy, this was to be a 6 months jolly. Which turned out to be 10 years before I returned to England."

"With the papers in hand I approached my parents who were a little doubtful at the idea, but as my father had been a teacher in Durban (South Africa) before the First World War and had joined the South African Army on the outbreak of war I was determined to see what South Africa was all about. Eventually the documents were signed and notice came to leave the country in 8 days, in 5 days we were on the water to South Africa."

"It was emotional for the family but I was too excited to feel it."

“After 3 days woke up to find ourselves alone, not a pleasant thought as our old tub was only making 9 knots and 84 kids were drowned on the way to Canada. Submarines could make 9 knots under water.”

“The South African government offered me a passage back to England but as my parents by then had split up and I was now familiar with the South African scene, plus having made many friends, I decided to remain in South Africa.  The years between 14 and 20 are very impressive in a man’s life and this may have influenced my decision …”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“I don’t think the fear of air raids was the deciding factor for my parents.  Mother had been a nurse in London during the First World War, and had nursed the French and Belgian female refugees who had been brutally assaulted by German soldiers.  She was determined that this wouldn’t happen to her daughters.”

 “Never a dull moment … We had frequent concerts, the chief ‘act’ being songs by The Lancashire Lasses who gave us renderings of ‘On Ilkely Moor Ba Tat’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.’”

“We were served stewed guavas for supper on one occasion.  We looked at them askance until the bravest tried them, after which they met with enthusiastic approval.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

"At Brentwood school notice was given of an overseas evacuation scheme for children of 15 years and under. My immediate thoughts were "Johnny boy, this is your overseas trip." To me, being an immature schoolboy, this was to be a 6 months jolly. Which turned out to be 10 years before I returned to England."

"With the papers in hand I approached my parents who were a little doubtful at the idea, but as my father had been a teacher in Durban (South Africa) before the First World War and had joined the South African Army on the outbreak of war I was determined to see what South Africa was all about. Eventually the documents were signed and notice came to leave the country in 8 days, in 5 days we were on the water to South Africa."

"It was emotional for the family but I was too excited to feel it."

“After 3 days woke up to find ourselves alone, not a pleasant thought as our old tub was only making 9 knots and 84 kids were drowned on the way to Canada. Submarines could make 9 knots under water.”

“The South African government offered me a passage back to England but as my parents by then had split up and I was now familiar with the South African scene, plus having made many friends, I decided to remain in South Africa.  The years between 14 and 20 are very impressive in a man’s life and this may have influenced my decision …”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“Our parents were concerned for our safety and as the Overseas Evacuation Scheme was advertised in the local paper, they applied for the four older children to join. Only children aged 5-16 were eligible, Heather was too young. At the time I was nine, Noelle was eleven, Felicity thirteen and Michael fifteen. We were given a list of required clothing. This list seems to require very few clothes by today's standards but we still had to have some new things. Everything had to have our family evacuation code number on, A14389.  We used up an awful lot of marking ink and stitching on the tapes was very boring. Interestingly, there were no boy’s underpants listed, they were considered to be an unnecessary luxury. I remember showing off at school telling my friends that I was going to South Africa, and at the time I thought it was quite exciting. We were not allowed to tell anyone when we would be going, and no-one had any idea of the port of embarkation. Remember, Walls have Ears said the posters."

"We were all ready to go on 11th September, 1940 (our parents had been given four days notice of this), when they received a letter that morning, telling them that we would after all be departing on 14th and that they would be told which station, and at what time later. … Somehow they were told to get us to the LMS station for 8.45am, on 14th September 1940, duly labelled with a tie-on label attached to each one of us. The final sentence of the letter states IT IS VERY UNDERSIRABLE TO TALK ABOUT THESE DETAILED ARRANGEMENTS IN PUBLIC.”

"We were handed over to our escort at the station with the other Sheffield children. There were only eight of us altogether. We said goodbye to our parents and to Heather, and the train steamed out of the station. At the time neither we nor our parents knew where we were going. It turned out we were heading for Glasgow. That was the moment when I got worried. It had been fun up till then, now it was for real that we were leaving behind everything we knew and loved, our parents, our baby sister, our home, our school, our friends. We were off to South Africa not just over the Pennines to visit relatives. I can remember thinking “If we are going away to prevent us being killed, what would happen to us if our parents and Heather were killed? Would we ever come back to England? And who would look after us then?"

"We were ten days in Glasgow camping in a school, before we boarded the ship, the SS Llandaff Castle. For two days, to our surprise, we were still in harbour. We had Lifeboat drill again, and explored the ship again, finding a minute swimming pool, which was completely dry, and a play room. Our cabin steward made our beds and brought us clean towels. This was indeed a new experience. On the third day we were assembled in the ballroom to be addressed by a man from London. I believe it was Mr. Geoffrey Shakespeare. He told us that the government had decided that no more children were to be sent overseas and that we were to return home. We were not told that only that week a ship of evacuees going to Canada had been sunk. I believe our parents heard on the radio that a ship with evacuees had been sunk, but it did not give the destination of that ship. They had no idea that we were still in Glasgow.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“I don’t think the fear of air raids was the deciding factor for my parents.  Mother had been a nurse in London during the First World War, and had nursed the French and Belgian female refugees who had been brutally assaulted by German soldiers.  She was determined that this wouldn’t happen to her daughters.”

 “Never a dull moment … We had frequent concerts, the chief ‘act’ being songs by The Lancashire Lasses who gave us renderings of ‘On Ilkely Moor Ba Tat’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.’”

“We were served stewed guavas for supper on one occasion.  We looked at them askance until the bravest tried them, after which they met with enthusiastic approval.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“I don’t think the fear of air raids was the deciding factor for my parents.  Mother had been a nurse in London during the First World War, and had nursed the French and Belgian female refugees who had been brutally assaulted by German soldiers.  She was determined that this wouldn’t happen to her daughters.”

 “Never a dull moment … We had frequent concerts, the chief ‘act’ being songs by The Lancashire Lasses who gave us renderings of ‘On Ilkely Moor Ba Tat’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.’”

“We were served stewed guavas for supper on one occasion.  We looked at them askance until the bravest tried them, after which they met with enthusiastic approval.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

We had a lot of air raid shelters then.  There was one near London Bridge and that was bombed and there were a lot of people killed there … When I took those children out to South Africa … I was half in favour of them doing it and half thinking that it was a very silly thing to do. The children were away 5 years.  They never saw their parents.  They came back different children ...  Although I would have preferred them going somewhere in the British Isles.  Where at least the parents could keep in touch with them."

"The four Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) had asked our Royal Family and Government to send them any of our children, who lived in vulnerable places, to be taken care of by them for the duration, in safety.  In two weeks over 21,000 had applied. It must have been a nightmare who or who should not go. Schools had to be notified."

"The buses and coaches came from all directions, disgorging children clutching suitcases, gas masks, a special toy with the little ones, odd parcels, and all the smaller ones looking a bit bewildered. The older ones trying to look confident.  I was allocated 14 boys aged 5 to 14, and we all got to our respective places in the dormitory. I had to check they'd brought all the necessary items. Anything omitted I rushed out the next day to purchase."

[On sailing to South Africa on the Llanstephan Castle]  "We started to go up through Greenland to get us out of the way of the U boats and then we started to go over to Canada and of course we zigzagged, which the boys all came rushing in and asked me why we were zigzagging and I didn't want to worry them.  I made up the most ridiculous stories about why we were zigzagging and they looked at me rather pitifully.  As though they knew I was pulling their leg."

"Anyway, we were in the mid-Atlantic when the Captain called all the escorts to his cabin and he said, “I have got some very serious news for you.  We are surrounded by U boats and ‘The City of Benares’ has just been sunk off Canada with the loss of so many children and so many escorts."

"He [the Captain] said the children must know and he said we have got to put them in life jackets all day and we are going to have lifeboat drill every morning.  We had to get them into the lifeboats and we were allocated a member of the crew and an officer to each boat and we managed it in the end in 3 minutes and we did it for quite a while.  The children thought it was wonderful but it was a very awesome thought."

"We arrived in Cape Town to a magnificent welcome.  People were all shouting and lining the docks and all the ships were tooting … we were taken to the Town Hall and had a speech by the mayor and so on.  All the dignitaries and the children were allowed to go and pick some fruit in the garden which the children thought was absolutely marvellous. They hadn't seen fruit like this all the war. It was wonderful for them and then some of them were taken to a Jewish orphanage but there were quite a few who didn't know to whom they were going and this bothered me dreadfully."

“I remember taking a few children for a walk on the beach whilst they were waiting allocation, and to their joy a penguin came out of the sea, and waddled up the beach. They were thrilled, as I was, and held its flippers.”

“I don’t think the fear of air raids was the deciding factor for my parents.  Mother had been a nurse in London during the First World War, and had nursed the French and Belgian female refugees who had been brutally assaulted by German soldiers.  She was determined that this wouldn’t happen to her daughters.”

 “Never a dull moment … We had frequent concerts, the chief ‘act’ being songs by The Lancashire Lasses who gave us renderings of ‘On Ilkely Moor Ba Tat’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.’”

“We were served stewed guavas for supper on one occasion.  We looked at them askance until the bravest tried them, after which they met with enthusiastic approval.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

“Before long we heard of a scheme to send children from Britain to the Dominions and the USA. After much heart-searching our parents decided to let us go though none of us thought for a moment that we would be chosen. When we heard that we were our parents had second thoughts but my sister and I persuaded them to let us go. I had always longed to travel far afield and was very excited at the thought of going to South Africa. Now, I feel slightly shocked that I felt that way and I am very much aware of parents’ feelings. I think it would have broken my heart to have let my own children go, yet the feeling of adventure and excitement was quite common among evacuees so I was by no means alone in feeling the way I did.”

“We had a wonderful time on the ‘Llanstephan Castle’. There were parties and concerts and all the fun of ‘crossing the line.’ We even had a few lessons and were taught some Afrikaans words … My happiest memories are of the peaceful hours sitting at the stern of the ship talking and watching the water.  I have only to shut my eyes to feel I am there all over again. I found my first boy friend on the ‘Llanstephan’ though I felt slightly guilty as my grandmother in her last letter before I left had told me to be a good girl and not go out with boys!”

“My group was taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage where we were given a very kind and warm welcome. I remember the wonderful party at Westbrooke and being taken on drives to see the sights of Cape Town and the surrounding countryside. We were interviewed by the press and our photographs appeared in local papers. We felt like celebrities.”

“Unfortunately we did not settle well with the family chosen to take us in. Eventually we were moved, much to our relief, and no doubt the relief of our foster parents. We went to live with Marty and Pop Wills and they gave us the security we needed, treating us as their own children. They lived in a lovely large old fashioned house surrounded by gardens and a tennis court.

In some ways it was an unconventional background. Life was never dull or humdrum. Though I was to experience periods of stress, I feel I owe that family a good deal and my guardians in particular had a lasting influence on my life. We kept in touch until they died some years back.”

“My time as an evacuee had changed my life completely.  Such was the impression it created I might have been in South Africa for much longer than the six years I was there.”

"At Brentwood school notice was given of an overseas evacuation scheme for children of 15 years and under. My immediate thoughts were "Johnny boy, this is your overseas trip." To me, being an immature schoolboy, this was to be a 6 months jolly. Which turned out to be 10 years before I returned to England."

"With the papers in hand I approached my parents who were a little doubtful at the idea, but as my father had been a teacher in Durban (South Africa) before the First World War and had joined the South African Army on the outbreak of war I was determined to see what South Africa was all about. Eventually the documents were signed and notice came to leave the country in 8 days, in 5 days we were on the water to South Africa."

"It was emotional for the family but I was too excited to feel it."

“After 3 days woke up to find ourselves alone, not a pleasant thought as our old tub was only making 9 knots and 84 kids were drowned on the way to Canada. Submarines could make 9 knots under water.”

“The South African government offered me a passage back to England but as my parents by then had split up and I was now familiar with the South African scene, plus having made many friends, I decided to remain in South Africa.  The years between 14 and 20 are very impressive in a man’s life and this may have influenced my decision …”