When the Second World War broke out in 1939 I was living in Leigh-On-Sea alongside the River Thames in Essex. On June 2nd 1940 (I was 10 years old) all of the children in that area were evacuated. When we waved goodbye to our parents outside our school we had no idea when we would see them again or where we were going.
We were only allowed to take a change of clothes, our gas masks and sandwiches – no drinks. We also had a label round our necks with our name on.
My brother and I were very fortunate with our foster parents. We lived next door to each other in cottages in Bradbourne, Derbyshire. I can remember the German bombers going over Leigh-On-Sea to bomb London.
Yvonne Grimbly (L’enfant)
