‘MY NEW BOOK’ BLOG

Welcome to my new blog which reflects my thoughts whilst I am writing my book
‘Guernsey Evacuees: The Forgotten Evacuees of the Second World War’

Monday 16 Jan. 2012
Today I am reading newsletters written by Channel Island people who had emigrated to Canada before WW2. During WW2 they raised funds for the Guernsey evacuees in England. They worked so very hard to send money and clothes to the evacuee children and later to the Guernsey people who were deported to Germany. Very inspiring!

Wednesday 18 January 2012
For the past two days I have been reading diaries written by Guernsey teachers who led their evacuated schools over to England. The dedication that they showed to their pupils was amazing. The teachers who re established their schools in England not only taught the children but took responsibility for their accommodation, health and welfare, and their careers when they left school at the age of 14. They could not contact the children’s parents who were trapped in occupied Guernsey, so had many decisions to make on behalf of the children. May have to dedicate a whole chapter of my book to one of these schools as that particular diary is so detailed!

Friday 20 January 2012
For the next 3 days I am reading archive material about an elderly Manchester gentleman who raised thousands of pounds in order that 300 of the Channel Island children could have a Christmas parcel each year. He was 72 when he began his fundraising, and for 5 years he obtained donations from all over the world! I managed to locate his grandson and we had a lovely meeting. My aim is to tie his memories of his Grandfather to the archive documents, to obtain the full story of Mr Fletcher’s remarkable achievements, for my book and for the local press.

Monday 23 January 2012
Have been reading personal stories today from evacuees whose pets were put to sleep just prior to the evacuation. Very upsetting but it will have to be included in my book. Some husbands decided not to evacuate, partly to look after their property but also to avoid having to have their working horses put to sleep. Back to writing my book now whilst I am feeling inspired! More in a day or two.

Wednesday 25 January 2012
This week I have begun to read the unpublished personal diary of a Guernsey Mother who was evacuated to Cheshire. She also pasted lots of other items into her diary during the war; handmade Christmas cards that she received, cinema tickets, poems, sketches, theatre brochures and photographs. It really gives an insight into her life as an evacuee during the war. She also includes a number of newspaper cuttings about the progress of the war. What a treasure trove this is!

Saturday 28 January 2012
Just trascribed the most amazing interview with a Guernsey lady. She left the island at the age of 16, and whilst she was in England, she built Wellington bombers, became one of the first female engine fitters in the WAAF, then undertook Top Secret work on ‘Operation Overlord’ on the lead up to D Day. What a lady! This is definitely going into my book in the ‘British War work’ section!

Tuesday 31 January 2012
Have spent the last day or so reading wartime diaries/letters of Guernsey women who were offered houses, shops and flats in England that were unfit for human habitation. They also were sexually discriminated against – local officials wouldnt allow them, as women with husbands trapped in Guernsey, to rent properties. Only women whose husbands were in the Forces could rent property. How they coped for 5 years in England, I will never know. I have met several of them recently, they are all in their mid to late 90s, and they are wonderful ladies!! It will be an honour to record their words in my book.

Thursday 2 February 2012
Just re reading my interview with a family that evacuated from Guernsey to Lancashire in 1940. The husband and wife were given a house that was in a terrible state. During air raids, they would go into the cellar where they both stood, knee deep in water, for hours on end, passing their baby to and from each other to keep her dry.

4 February 2012
I have been looking through the Red Cross letters that were sent between England and Guernsey during the war. They were the evacuees’ only form of contact with their families in German occupied Guernsey for five years. The letters were censored by German authorities in Europe during transit. The first letters, sent from England in November 1940, could only contain 10 words, but this was increased later to 25 words. It was so hard for people to put their thoughts and feelings into such a short message to their family.

7 February 2012
I have just discovered a Manchester press cutting dated March 1941 which explains the delight of the Guernsey evacuees in the Manchester area as replies began to arrive to the messages they had sent to Guernsey in November 1940. One lady who was evacuated to Stockport told me that she remembers crying as she opened the envelope, to discover that her husband and son were fine and well, but that her aunt had passed away.

9 February 2012
Harry Kinley was Second Officer on the SS Vking which carried thousands of Guernsey evacuee children to England, and I have been in touch with his daughter, Audrey Mansell, many times. She has written in the Dorset Echo about her father’s journey that day: do let me know if you recognise any of the children in the photograph!
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/features/lookingback/8231804.Wartime_evacuation_to_Weymouth_for_Guernsey_children/

13 February 2012
I worked with a Guernsey evacuee, John Searson, to rediscover lost footage of Channel Islanders taken by Pathe News in England during the war – at Belle Vue, Manchester, in 1945. We broke the story to BBC Channel Islands television and a feature appeared on the local news, together with the lost footage. The news clip can be watched here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-15960347

16 February 2012
Today I have been reading and writing about Guernsey’s Forest School which evacuated to Stockport, then to Cheadle Hulme. The school was re established there for 5 years until the end of the war. The evacuees arrived at Stockport railway station at 5am on a wet morning, and were taken to the Masonic Guildhall where they remtained for around two weeks. A surviving Headmaster’s diary says that his staff and pupils were very well cared for by the ladies of the WRVS and the other volunteeers. He also mentions that the people of Stockort sent gifts of books and toys to the evacuee children. (Guildhall photograph to follow soon)

20 and 21 February 2011
I spoke to an evacuee the other day whose family left London in February 1940 in order to escape the war; the father set up a farm in Guernsey and things seemed to be going really well. Then in June 1940, as the threat of German invasion grew, the family had to evacuate back to England once more.

I read a sad entry in Guernsey Headmaster Mr Martel’s diary today, which he wrote a few months after his Guernsey school was re established in Cheshire. Photographers were touring around all the schools offering to take photographs of evacuated children, probably quite a lucrative business in late 1940.

A photographer came to Mr Martel’s school offering ‘To take photos of your pupils, to give the mums and dads a look at how their kiddies are doing’. Of course this photographer did not realise that the children had come from Guernsey and that most of them could not communicate with their families there. He was soon advised of their unique situation. Mr Martel sadly wrote in his diary that evening, “What would our children give to be able to send their photographs to Mother and Father?’

24 February 2012
I had a meeting yesterday with 12 of my evacuees and we had a great time. I listened to them share their wartime memories, and during this time, some discovered that they had distant relatives, or were reminded of things that they had forgotten. I also discovered today that our group has been shortlisted for a Community Award through the Manchester Histories Festival, for the event that we held in Stockport in October last year. This is a real honour. You can watch a BBC News report about our Stockport event at this link to see what we all got up to on the day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-15536660

You can find out more about the wonderful Manchester Histories Festival at: (We are there on Sat 3 March, 1-2pm in the Town Hall)
http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/getinvolved/community-history-awards

27 February 2012
Have spent the day reading through stories of Guernsey people who undertook war work, they joined the forces, the Home Guard, the ARP, made ammunition in factories, and joined the Fire Brigade, the list is endless. Children played their part too, packing Red Cross parcels and collecting salvage. One Guernsey school grew 6 pounds of tomatoes and contributed them as a raffle prize for War Weapons Week! This subject needs a chapter of its own in my book, but I can only spare it a few pages. Today I also chose the image for the front cover of my book, and a draft title – I will see a mock up of the cover in a few days time, very very exciting!

4 March 2012
I have spent most of the past few days involved in the Manchester Histories Festival. On Friday our Guernsey Evacuee group was awarded a Highly Commenced Community Award – we are all so very pleased (more information in my 24 Feb entry above). On Saturday, myself and two Guernsey evacuee sisters Hazel and Mavis met visitors at Manchester Town Hall. I have also just received the design for the front page of my book, and here it is:

12 March 2010
I have spent the last week or so sifting through the poems, letters and songs that were written by Guernsey evacuees in England during the war. Several will appear in my book and I thought I would show you this one which was written by a Guernsey girl called Barbara Ozanne. I want to draw your attention to the words of the person running the competition:-
‘I am afraid, children, that very few of you are poets judging by the entries you sent in’
I feel sure that, today, such a comment would not be directed at children.

16 March 2012
I have been reading accounts of mothers who were evacuated on separate ships to their children, and spent weeks trying to find each other in England. One five year old boy was seriously ill in hospital and the press launched a campaign to find out if his Mother had managed to get to England from Guernsey. She was in Southampton and read the newspaper report, the newspaper paid for her train fare and she was once again reunited with her son, who recovered from his illness. There will be more about this in my book.

4 April 2012
There is a huge time gap in this blog as I had to complete my book chapters and submit them to The History Press by 31 March. Then I took a day or two to wind down! I really hope people like the book, I was quite emotional writing it, as the stories of the 200 or so people who shared their experiences with me, are extraordinry and often very emotional. The stories of the mothers who left Guernsey with their babies, leaving their husbands behind, are amazing, and I am so lucky to have been able to meet them, as they are in their mid nineties. They have amazing memories of the war years though and some fabulous photographs which I have included in my book (102 images in total). I have used the evacuees’ own words throughout the book which I hope will connect with people and bring the whole story to life. will continue to write this blog up to 1 November when the book is released, as I am sure there will be some changes to the text between now and then.

10 April 2012
During my research for this book I discovered that during the war, one of the Guernsey schools which was re-established in England – La Chaumiere School in Cheshire – was sponsored by the Foster Parent Plan organisation. I find this sponsorship story fascinating and have written part of a chapter about it in my book. The main focus is on Eleanor Roosevelt’s sponsorship of a Guernsey girl in the school, but other pupils were sponsored by American Senators, High Schools and naval officers. They were all so thankful to receive letters from people, as communication between Guernsey and England during the war was practically non existent but for rare 25 word Red Cross letters. Some children also received gift parcels from America.
I was also fortunate enough to contact the daughter of Eric Muggeridge – Eric and a friend set up the Foster Parent Plan scheme which supported La Chaumiere – and I was given access to Muggeridge family documents. This gave me a real insight into the idea behind the Foster Parent Plan’s inception and aims. My book comes out in November but I now understand a few copies have already been ordered via Amazon.co.uk which is good news! (I understand it will be avaialble via Amazon.com in October)

15 April 2012
The story of Mr John Fletcher, the Bury man who raised funds for Christmas gifts for the Channel Island evacuee children, is still turning up new information. I recently discovered that Henry J Allen, an ex-Governor of Kansas, USA, raised money and send it to Mr Fletcher to help the Guernsey evacuee children in England. I have now written a piece for the Kansas Historical Society’s website which can be viewed here: http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/henry-j-allen-guernsey-evacuees/17600

18 April 2012
I have been re reading the evacuee children’s first impressions of England in June 1940. They were amazed by the difference between their rural island and the industrial appearance of English towns: the wide roads, buses and trams, steam trains and viaducts, and many were shocked by the soot coating the buildings. One boy recalls his first sight of Stockport – see picture below.

1 May 2012
I have been thinking over the past week or two about the information that I will NOT be able to include in my book. Having interviewed nearly 200 evacuees who have shared their memories, personal documents and photographs with me, I have so much information that it simply will not fit into a book of 60,000 words. It has been extremely difficult to choose the memories that are going into this book, and to leave so many out. I will ensure that all the stories given to me are shared with the public through this blog, school talks, magazine articles and our community events so that the stories given to me will not remain untold. Some of the evacuees who shared their wartime stories with me have since passed away and, during our interviews, they really wanted their stories to be heard. I will not let them down.

7 May 2012
On May 9 1945, the Channel Islands were liberated and the evacuees could at last prepare for the return home to their own island. I have been to Guernsey several times to celebrate Liberation Day there. However, it is always a joy to know that St Marys Church in Disley, Cheshire, flies the Guernsey flag for a week around Liberation Day every year, in memory of the many Guernsey evacuees who lived in the village betweeen 1940 and 1945. After the war, the villagers were presented with a large copper Guernsey milk can which sits in pride of place in the Church to this day. Here is a photograph of the Guernsey can inside St Marys – the inscription reads ‘To The People of Disley – from the Guernsey Evacuees, 1940-1945′

10 May 2012
Yesterday was Guernsey’s Liberation Day, and I celebrated the event by visiting a Guernsey friend during the afternoon. As I entered her home, waving my Guernsey flag, I was confronted by a huge but rather threadbare Union Jack which she had placed over an internal door. The flag has a story!
On 30 June 1940, when the Germans invaded Guernsey, her family hid the flag and for five years it was kept out of sight. On 9 May 1945, the day that British forces arrived to liberate the island, the flag was brought out, unfurled and hung out to greet the British forces. Since then, and despite the poor condition of the flag, it is brought out for just one day each year, 9th May, to mark Liberation Day. Although it is full of holes and very fragile, it stands testament to a turbulent time in the history of Guernsey. I felt that I had to photograph the flag as best I could, so here it is:

16 May 2012
Recently I have been reading a number of letters and postcards that were sent by Guernsey parents to their children in England in May 1945. Special Liberation Postcards and letterheads were designed and many still survive to this day. I thought I would also show you this postcard that was printed just after Liberation, which shows the Nazis being kicked out of Guernsey by a Donkey. This is because born and bred Guernsey men are generally refered to as ‘Donkeys’ – for an explanation as to why, click on http://www.thisisguernsey.com/community/history-heritage/guernsey-donkeys/

When the evacuees had settled a little in England and Scotland, they formed around 90 ‘Channel Island Societies’ where they could meet up, talk about their families, and help each other during their five year exile from the Channel Islands. There is more about the work of these societies in my book, but here is a photograph of the Bury Channel Island Society Committee – which was based in Lancashire, England.

23 May 2012
The photograph below shows Brian with his teddy bear – he was only 6 months old when his Mother brought him to England on the evacuation ship from Guernsey. Brian’s father joined the British Forces. Brian no memory of the evacuation, but his Mum, Violet, has shared the family story with me. She is the oldest evacuee that I have interviewed so far – being 99 years old. It was a fascinating interview for me and segments of her story feature in my book.
Brian married a local girl and lives in England. He is a member of my Guernsey Evacuee Community Group, and takes part in our various events.

Brian with his teddy bear

To Pre order my book via Amazon.co.uk,
‘Guernsey Evacuees: The Forgotten Evacuees of the Second World War’, click here:
http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=FFFFFF&IS1=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=guerevacoralh-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=tf_til&asins=0752470191