After Dunkirk

I was living in Southend and security was pretty tight as we were near Shoeburyness where they did a lot of testing of shells, etc. and we were often stopped for identity cards. We had seen all the children who were evacuated off at the station: they mainly went to the Midlands, around Mansfield.

I was working in a store in the High Street and we watched with shock as the troops came back from Dunkirk. They had come up from the pier and were bussed to the now-empty schools in the Borough to recuperate.
We lived opposite a school in Wentworth Road, where troops were soon installed. They were all rested, new kit issued, then they went home for a brief leave. They usually stayed for a month at a time at the school and then back to France.
They came from all over the country: Durham Light, Sherwood Foresters, KOYLs (Yorks), Lancs, Worcesters, Devon and Dorset all stayed at the school. Then the Highland Light Infantry came: they were a holding company and stayed quite a while. They were very friendly and used to come over and talk to my Mum, who was only too pleased to see them as 2 of my brothers were in the army. They enjoyed the homely atmosphere and usually called my Mum "Ma". They often stayed to supper, which was mostly bread, with perhaps some cheese and lots of cups of tea!
One night there were so many of them we ran out of crockery: next morning early when Mum took in the milk there was part of a tea service, scrounged from the Officers' Mess, a huge lump of cheese and some butter! It was their way of saying thanks for the good company the night before.
Every morning the bagpipes sounded and they paraded up and down the road - good job we had to get up early for work!
Most appreciated what Mum and Dad did for them and we used to get letters from their mothers in Glasgow. As my parents said, kindness was the least you could do, especially with my 2 brothers serving somewhere away from home.

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