Evacuation

It was the doodlebugs that did it; Adolph's hideous flying bomb that droned low overhead followed by an eerie silence before a crashing explosion.
Within days a massive evacuation scheme was mobilised and East London's children were sent away to a safe place.
My brother, sister and I were bussed to Paddington station complete with our gas masks and cardboard suit cases and a luggage label tied to our collars with our names and address.
Nobody knew where we were going for 'walls have ears' and 'careless talk costs lives'. The steam train pulled out of the station and headed west.It was crammed full of laughing,crying, singing, sighing children.
With the night came utter darkness for blackout on the train, the passing stations and towns was complete.
Around midnight we arrived and were herded into a church hall for milk and a bun. It was a place called Wrexham though that meant nothing to us.The householders were obliged by law to take evacuees into their homes if they had the space. This was their contribution to the war effort. We were the last to be selected as nobody wanted three children and we refused to be parted.
Eventually my sister was prised away and my brother and I were marched off by a maiden lady who didn't know what to do with us.

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