A family change their minds about evacuating

Liz Barrett interviewed by Becky Kendall at the Guille-Alles Library 5/2/2005. Recording transcribed by John David. Liz Barret was seven when the Island was occupied.

So then the Germans arrived, and then we just seemed to carry on as usual, I was too young to be bothered about it too much, so we were going at the Capelles School, and one day the Germans came to the Capelles School.
I………. So you stayed here, you weren’t evacuated with the other school children?
No, We stayed here
I………. Why?
Well we lived very near the School. And Mum said she would go, and look after two other children, and us three, and she would be in charge of that quota. And Dad said “I’m not going, I’m going to stay at home”. So he stayed at home. We had to wear double clothes, “Now put on double of everything — two vests, two pants, because you weren’t allowed to take things with you, apparently, and it was very hot that day, in June, And mum came back, when she heard that we weren’t going on the boat then, she came back, and she talked to dad, and that sort of thing, and then we went back again, and waited until, I’ve got a feeling, about four o’clock or five o’clock, and she came back, and there was the table was all full of dirty dishes, and odds and ends of food, and amongst it all there was dad, in a little corner, and he was having tomatoes cut up, and cheese, and a bit of bread, and mum just looked around, and she said, “I’m not going” She didn’t make decisions, my father made them all. She made that decision, "I’m not going, if we go , we all go, or we all stay". And she said "go and take your clothes off, go and put your play clothes on", so we took off all our clothes, put on our ordinary clothes for summer, and we stayed.

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