1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,880
They told us Britain
had declared war on Germany.

2
00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:06,920
I used to go home
looking up to the sky,

3
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,320
hoping that
I would see a dog fight.

4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,360
It was like one big adventure.

5
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,760
'That's me, Isabel.

6
00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,520
'And that's my granddad, Alan.
He's 82.

7
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,520
'At the start of World War Two, he
was nine years old, just like me.'

8
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,640
'During the war, Granddad lived
at the top of this hill.

9
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,320
'From here, he'd often see
British war planes

10
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,520
'going off to fight enemy planes
attacking London.'

11
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,960
Sometimes I go to school by car,

12
00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,200
but mostly I go to school by
walking. How did you get to school?

13
00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,240
Well, I used to go to school
on my roller skates.

14
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,240
But of course, as you can see,

15
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,120
this hill is quite steep.

16
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,480
But there was no danger
because there was no traffic.

17
00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,240
'The mile-long journey
had taken 20 minutes to walk,

18
00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,480
'or less than ten
on his roller skates.'

19
00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,320
'This is his school -
Preston Park in Wembley.

20
00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:30,760
'It's still here today.'

21
00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,720
Is this your classroom?

22
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:45,640
Yes. I was last here in about 1940.

23
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,560
'Granddad's classroom would have
looked something like this one.'

24
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:56,360
The different things about that time
was, our teachers don't wear suits.

25
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:57,560
No.

26
00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,520
And we don't have blackboards.

27
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,000
Yes.

28
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,040
We don't have individual desks
either.

29
00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:04,280
Yes.

30
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,920
AIR RAID SIREN BLARES

31
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,400
'Sometimes,
when Granddad was at school,

32
00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:11,880
'they'd hear an air raid siren,

33
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,160
'which meant that enemy planes
were in the area

34
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:15,880
'and might be dropping bombs.'

35
00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,840
What happened if an air raid
went off when you were in school?

36
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,840
It really was disruptive
and the headmistress here

37
00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,880
has written about the daily effect
this had on the school.

38
00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,160
So here you see September 6th,
for example.

39
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,040
"School began at 10.30
this morning

40
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,720
"and at 2.15 this afternoon,
following air raid warnings".

41
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,640
September 14th. "School opened
at 10.50 following the all-clear,

42
00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:48,360
"but children went to the shelters
at 11 and remained till 11.40."

43
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,960
If the air raids happened
during school,

44
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,280
then I think I would feel
a tiny bit scared.

45
00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,560
'But Granddad wasn't scared.'

46
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,840
I used to go home sometimes hoping,
looking up to the sky,

47
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,640
and hoping that I would see
a dogfight with the Hurricanes

48
00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,120
and Spitfires attacking the bombers

49
00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,560
and all the white lines
and tracks left in the sky.

50
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,480
Because, for a young lad,
believe me, that was very exciting.

51
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:26,520
'During the war, 9,000 bombs fell
in the area where Granddad lived.

52
00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,960
'Because of the bombing,
many children were evacuated

53
00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,280
'to safer parts of Britain
or even to other countries.

54
00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:38,240
'Some of Granddad's school friends
were sent to Canada on this boat.'

55
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:43,200
Here, on September 23rd,
is a very sad entry.

56
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,080
"The whole school was shocked today

57
00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,520
"when we received the news that
seven children

58
00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,160
"lost their lives when the ship

59
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,040
"in which they were being
evacuated to Canada was torpedoed.

60
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,720
That would be a bit sad
if two of my friends got torpedoed.

61
00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:00,880
Hmm.

62
00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,400
AIR RAID SIRENS BLARE

63
00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,800
This is an air raid shelter
that was used during the war.

64
00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,480
'If a bombing raid happened
when Granddad was at school

65
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,560
'the whole class was sent
to an air raid shelter.

66
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,760
'There's one like it in the
school today. It's now a museum.'

67
00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:20,760
A lot of old stuff from the war.

68
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,240
Oh, yes, yes.

69
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,920
Did you rush to get out of school
and into the air raid shelter,

70
00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,920
or did you all have to line up
sensibly?

71
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,040
Ah! We filed out and no-one was
allowed to run from the classroom.

72
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,880
So we came out
in an orderly fashion.

73
00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:40,880
Then the teacher checked

74
00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,080
that everyone was out of the
classroom and we'd be counted in.

75
00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:46,160
It was like a fire drill.

76
00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,240
Were you allowed to talk?

77
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,280
Oh, yes. Oh, yes,
you could talk and carry on.

78
00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:55,120
We used to take some exercise
books in and try to work.

79
00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,800
But if anything's going on outside,
it is a big distraction.

80
00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,720
You can't concentrate, really,
can you?

81
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,040
I used to like to sit near the door

82
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,040
because I liked to hear
what was going on.

83
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,160
It's quite similar to this

84
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,240
because there's wooden benches
going opposite each other

85
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,400
and they're doing their schoolwork
which they would be doing.

86
00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,520
This is a purpose-built
solid brick air raid shelter

87
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,600
with a reinforced roof,
as you can see.

88
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,840
How did you feel
in the air raid shelter

89
00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:28,040
when there were bombs going off
around you?

90
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,960
We weren't really scared, no,
not at all.

91
00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,920
But the uncertainty of the rockets
was the worst thing

92
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,040
because the V1s, you could hear.

93
00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,440
And if the engine stopped,
you knew there was imminent danger.

94
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,560
How did you know
when the air raid had finished?

95
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:50,200
Well, the siren would go up high

96
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:55,760
and then stay on high
for a steady pitch.

97
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,280
ALL-CLEAR SOUNDS

98
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:02,880
When the all-clear siren sounded,

99
00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,480
Granddad and his friends collected
pieces of metal called shrapnel

100
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,800
from the recently exploded bombs.

101
00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,080
Here's two examples of shrapnel.

102
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,080
And they really are thick,
jagged steel.

103
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,640
Here, just hold a piece
and see what you think of it.

104
00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,480
It's very sharp and heavy.

105
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,320
Hmm. Yes.

106
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:27,360
It would hurt if you threw it
at someone.

107
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,960
It would hurt a lot.
Oh, yes, oh, yes.

108
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,000
And it's very, very strong.

109
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,520
'Granddad lived in this house
with his mum, dad and brother.'

110
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,920
Is that your mum?

111
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,080
Yes, that's my mother.

112
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,120
That's my brother Robin
and my mother...

113
00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:52,520
Elsie Francis.

114
00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:57,080
And that's me as a young lad.

115
00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,280
My brother was not pleased
that I hadn't smiled.

116
00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:05,360
Did you have a bomb shelter
at your house?

117
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,360
No, we didn't have anything
like that here.

118
00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,800
My mother and father went to sleep

119
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,640
underneath the table
in the front room.

120
00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,720
So if the ceiling came down,
the table would protect them.

121
00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,160
My brother, Robin,
was behind a bookcase

122
00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:20,960
with a cover over the top

123
00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,440
and he slept in the corner there.

124
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,800
'Granddad slept on the sofa
under an ironing board.'

125
00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,040
Now, this ironing board

126
00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,960
was put across the back of the bed
like this.

127
00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,520
And then put on the back of a chair

128
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,480
and the seat of the chair
was level with my bed.

129
00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,360
It feels weird because you can see,

130
00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,640
like, the ironing board
in front of you

131
00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,080
instead of the top of your ceiling.

132
00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,920
But, of course,
when all the lights went out

133
00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,520
you could forget about it,
couldn't you?

134
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,120
I would have felt a bit scared.

135
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:08,320
One night, when everyone was asleep,
a bomb fell on the house next door.

136
00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:13,600
How did you feel in the morning

137
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,240
when you woke up and you realised
a bomb had hit the house?

138
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,680
I realised something
very serious had happened.

139
00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,520
And I could hear a lot of shouting.

140
00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:27,680
And, er...then I was picked up
by a police inspector.

141
00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,520
And my brother, Robin,
was picked up by a fireman

142
00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,120
and we were carried
out of the house.

143
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:37,560
The people next door,

144
00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:41,280
where six people had been killed,
had stood no chance.

145
00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:45,040
So the emphasis on the rescue
was to try to get my mother out.

146
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,760
And the worry was, would the house
collapse while they were doing it?

147
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:57,440
So my grandfather said,
"Well, I'm going in anyway."

148
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:05,000
So the rescuers went in,
they followed him in,

149
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,440
and, er...but it was too late.

150
00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:14,440
My mother had been killed
and we were all in a state of shock.

151
00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,200
Granddad's mum, my great-grandma,

152
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,000
was one of the 60,000 people
that died in Britain

153
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,880
during the bombing raids
of World War Two.

154
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,760
'Granddad's told me lots of stories

155
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,640
'about his life growing up
as a child in World War Two.

156
00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,960
'But my favourite was that
he slept under an ironing board

157
00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:50,480
'and it saved his life.'

158
00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,520
That's your great-granddad.

159
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,240
And we called him Our Butcher

160
00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,280
because that's where we used to get
all our meat.

161
00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:12,680
Yes.

162
00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,800
'That's me, Anesha. I'm 11.

163
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,200
'And this is Mrs Campbell. She's 78.

164
00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,920
'She's been a family friend
for many years.'

165
00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,600
Do you remember Nanna Lily? Yeah.

166
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,440
You must take after her, Anesha.
Yes.

167
00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,480
Mrs Campbell was five
at the start of World War Two

168
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,400
and lived with her mum and dad.

169
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,400
This was my dad.
And his name was Simon.

170
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,560
And he was born in Jamaica.
He came over into the country.

171
00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,120
He was in the Merchant Navy.

172
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:50,400
'Mrs Campbell's dad would go away on
ships for up to two years at a time.

173
00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:55,040
'They carried goods like food,
coal and oil.

174
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,400
'His job became even more
important during the war,

175
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,480
'as Britain relied on these things
to survive.'

176
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,240
The family lived in Bute Town, close
to Cardiff Docks in South Wales.

177
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,720
The docks were targeted,
along with many big cities,

178
00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:15,800
by enemy bombing raids.

179
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,040
Over 2,000 bombs fell on Cardiff
during the war

180
00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,280
and hundreds of buildings
were destroyed.

181
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,120
It was quite a dangerous
place to be in

182
00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:31,160
and that's why some parents wanted
their children to be evacuated.

183
00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,440
Being evacuated meant
leaving your home

184
00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,720
and going to live in smaller towns
and villages outside the cities,

185
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,200
which were less likely to be bombed.

186
00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,000
'Three million people were
evacuated during the war.'

187
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:47,680
Mrs Campbell was one of them.

188
00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:50,720
She was sent with her classmates
from St Mary's,

189
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,160
the same school I am at now.

190
00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,800
Right, Anesha.
Now you're going to be an evacuee.

191
00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,640
There's your suitcase.

192
00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,320
There's your gas mask,
which is very, very important.

193
00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,800
And there's your label.

194
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,400
'Labels were important
in case children got lost.'

195
00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,120
And everyone had a gas mask,

196
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:20,160
just in case poisonous gas bombs
were dropped during air raids.

197
00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,760
Mrs Campbell and I are going
on the same journey

198
00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,800
that she took as an evacuee
when she was seven.

199
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,000
We didn't go on trains very often.

200
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,720
I don't think I'd ever travelled
from this station before.

201
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,880
So although we were a bit unhappy,

202
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,360
we were also very excited.

203
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,560
Children from cities
all over the country

204
00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:50,600
were evacuated on trains
like this one.

205
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,480
Some of our little cases.
I had a small case.

206
00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:58,400
That's a gas mask.

207
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,840
They all look happy, don't they?
Yes.

208
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,560
Because, to all of us,
it was like one big adventure.

209
00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,400
We're going to Aberdare,
which is 25 miles from Cardiff,

210
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,640
to where Mrs Campbell and her
school friends were evacuated.

211
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:25,120
Do you remember what you saw
when you were on the train?

212
00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,200
Actually, it's 70 years since
I was evacuated.

213
00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,880
So my memory's not all that good.

214
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,000
But one thing I do remember
is seeing so much green.

215
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,720
Because where we lived in the docks,

216
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,360
we didn't have a lot of greenery.

217
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:46,120
Did you know how long you were going
to be in Aberdare for?

218
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,360
No, we didn't.
We didn't have any idea.

219
00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,000
All we knew was,
we were going to be evacuated

220
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,920
and we were supposed to be staying
there until the end of the war.

221
00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,200
And I remember some of us
were looking at our gas masks

222
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,000
and wondering if we'd ever need
to use the gas masks.

223
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,720
I think we just, for the most part,
enjoyed the journey.

224
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,520
Although we did have some children
who were a little bit upset.

225
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,160
But you made the most of it?
Oh, we made the most of it.

226
00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,200
Those are very good words.
We made the most of it. We had to.

227
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,440
Yes.

228
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,320
'When Mrs Campbell arrived
in Aberdare,

229
00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,720
'she got off the train, just like me,

230
00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,520
'with her suitcase,
gas mask and label.'

231
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,240
We all had to walk down
to the school.

232
00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,640
I wanted to go and remember saying,
"I want to go home to my mother."

233
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:44,560
This is where the Aman Junior School
was when I came here.

234
00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,880
It was really very, very different

235
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:54,360
but it's the stonework
that I remember most of all.

236
00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,400
The stones and the mountains
and the green trees.

237
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,240
They remind me of
when I was here all those years ago.

238
00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:08,600
We all stood in the big hall
and people would come in.

239
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,440
And they would say, "Oh,
I'll have these children",

240
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,240
or "I'll have those children".

241
00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:17,120
And I remember that my friend,
Betty Neale and I,

242
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,080
we were about the last two
to be chosen

243
00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,080
because we wanted to stay together.

244
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,640
And I wondered if anyone
was going to come and take us,

245
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,120
or if we'd have to get on the train
and go back home.

246
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,640
So then we were feeling a little
bit apprehensive, as you know,

247
00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,560
why hasn't anyone come along
and taken us?

248
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,960
But a nice couple,
Mr and Mrs Challenger,

249
00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,480
they said that they wanted us
to go and stay with them.

250
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,600
Mrs Campbell and her friend Betty
walked a short distance

251
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,760
to this house,
where Mr and Mrs Challenger lived

252
00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,800
with their daughter Hazel.

253
00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,280
We came into the house

254
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,360
and Mrs Challenger
had a meal arranged for us.

255
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,000
It was placed in front of myself
and Betty Neale.

256
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,760
And I think it was then
that it dawned on us

257
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,920
that we were away from home.
And we just sat there.

258
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,120
We didn't pick up the knife
or the fork.

259
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,160
We just sat looking at each other.

260
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,640
And then Mrs Challenger said to us,

261
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,800
"If you don't know how to use
a knife and fork,

262
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:22,600
"bach, use your fingers."

263
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,960
She just thought that because we
didn't pick up a knife and fork

264
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,640
that we didn't know how to use them.

265
00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:31,880
How would you have felt
if you were in my shoes?

266
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,800
That you were coming out,
leaving your mum and dad

267
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,800
and coming up here

268
00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:38,320
to live with strange people?

269
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,400
I think I might have felt left out.

270
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,880
Because they would have had
a daughter that would know them

271
00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:51,920
and they might treat me differently
than they treated her.

272
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,000
I don't think we ever felt left out.

273
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,560
But now and again, Hazel and I
would have an argument.

274
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,760
But the thing is, I could say,

275
00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:05,400
how did she feel that here were her
parents taking in two other girls?

276
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,800
Yes. And previous to that, she'd been
the only child in the house.

277
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,040
Did your parents ever come to visit?

278
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,640
My hair was really, really bushy
and my mother used to plait it.

279
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:22,240
But I'm afraid Mrs Challenger
didn't know how to plait my hair.

280
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,360
So my mother would come up
on a weekend.

281
00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:28,960
She would plait my hair tightly
and then all during the week,

282
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,320
I'd just go like that with a brush,

283
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,400
so that was nice and flat.

284
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,960
And my plaits stayed in place.

285
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,280
And also my dad, who was a seaman,
was going away to sea

286
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,520
and my mother brought him up
to see me.

287
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,040
He brought me a handbag,

288
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,320
a little leather handbag that he'd
brought from another country.

289
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,880
And I remember it had
Red Riding Hood on it.

290
00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,920
Why did you go back home to Cardiff?

291
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,400
I went back earlier
than I was expected to

292
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,880
because my dad was killed
in September 1942.

293
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,680
His ship was torpedoed
by a German submarine.

294
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:14,840
And I think my mother
was a bit upset about that.

295
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:20,320
And she just felt quite alone
with me being in Aberdare

296
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,880
and my dad not coming home any more.
What she said to me was,

297
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:28,000
"I'm taking you home
because if we're going to die,

298
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,640
"we'll die together."

299
00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,920
I went home, but unfortunately
I left the beautiful handbag

300
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,600
with Red Riding Hood on.

301
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,120
I've always regretted that

302
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,200
because that was the last thing
that my father ever bought me.

303
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,560
After the war, Mrs Campbell
went back to St Mary's School

304
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,720
and later became a teacher there.

305
00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,600
But she never forgot her experiences
during the war.

306
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:06,000
The fact that you were, you know,
taken from your house, your home.

307
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,640
Put on a train, met new people.

308
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:09,880
It almost...

309
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,040
To me it was almost like an
adventure from an Enid Blyton book.

310
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,360
Hi, Tyler.

311
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:35,840
Oh, that's lovely.

312
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:37,600
How are you? All right? Yeah.

313
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,160
'That's me, Tyler.
I'm nine and that's Sarah.

314
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,000
'She's a friend of my Nanna.'

315
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,200
I've started rugby at school.

316
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:48,360
Have you? Great.

317
00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:53,160
'Sarah's 83, but at the start of
World War Two she was 11.'

318
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,240
During the war, Britain's cities
were attacked by enemy aeroplanes.

319
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,960
Bolton in north-west England,
where Sarah lived,

320
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:06,040
wasn't as badly bombed
as other places.

321
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,800
But the war had a big impact
on Sarah and her family.

322
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,280
She was in this church when she
first heard that war had broken out.

323
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:21,800
The priest was serving Mass

324
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:27,640
and then he told us that Britain
had declared war on Germany.

325
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,880
I was very frightened.

326
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,360
And I ran all the way home,

327
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,440
thinking that on my way home,

328
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:41,040
there'd be Germans coming round
any corner at any minute.

329
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,840
That was just being silly, wasn't it?
But that's how I was.

330
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,400
Did you know anybody
who was in the war?

331
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,640
My father was in the war
from the beginning.

332
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:56,000
Well, my mother wasn't very pleased
because he'd joined up.

333
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,320
In joining up, her dad volunteered
to be in the armed forces

334
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,240
and fight for his country.

335
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:02,600
As war went on,

336
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,840
all fit young men had to join up.

337
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,520
What did you feel like
when your dad went to war?

338
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,760
There were things that you used
to be a bit frightened of,

339
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,040
as you always relied on
your father.

340
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,120
And it made it worse
because they couldn't write to you.

341
00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:25,120
Just now and again
you'd get a little card

342
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,080
and it had been censored
with the officers.

343
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,080
They couldn't tell you much.

344
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,680
"Censored" meant the soldiers'
letters would be checked

345
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,760
to make sure they didn't give away
any secrets.

346
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,200
Sarah's dad was away
for long periods

347
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,040
but was given permission
to visit her in hospital

348
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,360
when she became sick
with diphtheria -

349
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:46,200
a very infectious illness.

350
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,920
Sarah was kept away
from all visitors for six weeks.

351
00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:51,240
If your mum came to see you,

352
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,800
they had to look through a window
outside at you.

353
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,600
They couldn't come in.

354
00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,160
And, in my case,
they got my father home on leave.

355
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,840
He was stationed in England
at the time

356
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,920
but he could only speak to me
through the window,

357
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,640
which upset me a great lot.

358
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,240
Who looked after you
when your dad went to war?

359
00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:16,960
Well, my mother had to work.

360
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,160
I was the one that did
a lot of things.

361
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,400
I had a little sister to look after.

362
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,040
She was seven years younger than me.

363
00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,520
During the 1930s,
most women stayed at home

364
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,800
to look after their families.

365
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,120
But during the war,
women did traditional male jobs

366
00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:36,000
whilst the men were away fighting.

367
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,800
If I had to look after my sister,

368
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,720
it would be happy
because I'd be with her,

369
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,200
but sad because my mum would be
at the mill

370
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,760
and my dad would be at war.

371
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,520
I used to cook a meal for when
my mother came home from the mill.

372
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,960
I was only 12.
You know what I used to make?

373
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,360
What? Corned beef hash.

374
00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,560
Because it was easy.

375
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,720
During the war, there was far less
food to go around.

376
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:10,000
Rationing was brought in all over
the country

377
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000
to ensure that everyone got an
equal share and had enough to eat.

378
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:15,880
What did you eat during the war?

379
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,720
Well, would you like to see?
Yes, please.

380
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,200
Ready? Um-hm.

381
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,320
That's quite a lot.
Per person.

382
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,240
Oh.

383
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:30,920
For a week.

384
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,120
'The sorts of food that
were rationed were jam, sugar,

385
00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,040
'butter, cheese,

386
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,200
'meat, eggs

387
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,400
'and even sweets.'

388
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,240
If that had to last me one week,
I'd never feel full!

389
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,440
And it would be hard.

390
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,840
Did you, when you were little,
sometimes go

391
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,400
and sneak into the kitchen
and take some? Oh, yeah.

392
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,600
You couldn't get tinned fruit at all.

393
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,960
But now and again, you'd get word
that there was some somewhere.

394
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,000
My mum, she got this tin anyway,
pineapple chunks,

395
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,440
and put it away
for a special occasion.

396
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,280
And I just don't know what come
over me, but I just got it down,

397
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:10,880
right off the top shelf.

398
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:16,000
And I made a little hole in the top,
poured all the juice out.

399
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,680
I drank the juice. Oh, it was good!

400
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,360
I hadn't had any for a long time.

401
00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:25,160
When my mum come to use it,
quite a long time after,

402
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,480
it was all furred up inside.

403
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,440
Gone bad.

404
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,640
Where did you get your bread from?

405
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,120
They used to deliver that
by horse and cart.

406
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:38,720
And my mother used to say,
before she went to work,

407
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,160
"Now, we only need a loaf today."

408
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,240
But sometimes I was a bit naughty.

409
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,480
And it was too much for me
and I'd get a doughnut.

410
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,440
And when my mother came to pay
the bill on a Friday,

411
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,880
she wasn't pleased with me at all

412
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,200
because I'd had a few extra things.

413
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,920
But when I used to see them
on the tray, I couldn't resist it.

414
00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:03,000
There were no supermarkets then,
so Sarah's mum had to visit

415
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,920
different shops to buy her meat,

416
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,080
cheese and vegetables.

417
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,000
The shops,
there weren't a long way in between.

418
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,280
You'd get them on every corner.

419
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,360
I'd feel exhausted
if I was going to every shop.

420
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,000
And then coming back
with everything ready

421
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,120
and then maybe have to go again.

422
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,000
Many people added to
their food rations

423
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,520
by growing their own fruit
and vegetables in gardens

424
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,040
and on any spare land.

425
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,040
The government started
the Women's Land Army

426
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,240
to increase the amount of food
grown in Britain.

427
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,240
Over 80,000 women worked
on local farms.

428
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,680
And Sarah wanted to be one of them.

429
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,320
'I wanted to join the Land Army
but I was only 14.'

430
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,840
I was going to be naughty
because I was a big girl,

431
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:52,960
and say I was older than I was.

432
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,320
Just to join the Land Army.

433
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,800
But the sister at our school...
I was ready for leaving school then.

434
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,240
She said, "Well, if you're that keen

435
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,800
"and you know you can't
go in the Land Army

436
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,240
"because of your age,

437
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,920
"I can find you a job
to help the farmer." Which she did.

438
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:16,040
Sarah spent hours and hours
weeding fields like this one by hand

439
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,000
to help grow food
for the people of Bolton.

440
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,360
Did you take any
of your own food home?

441
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:29,680
She used to give me cabbages and
potatoes and flowers for my mother.

442
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,680
And of course my mother liked that,
you know.

443
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,040
And I could drink as much milk
as I wanted during the day,

444
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,720
when it used to get warm.

445
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,320
So, you know,
it was pretty hard work, really.

446
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,920
But you had this sense
that you were helping.

447
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,160
And that's what it was all about.

448
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,320
This is where I used to live here.

449
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,000
Has it changed much?

450
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,160
One day, my mother
was taking to me a shop

451
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:59,280
and in the distance I saw
this soldier walking up our road.

452
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,520
And, you know, I said,

453
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,200
"That's my father."

454
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:09,040
So my mother said, "It's not
your father, he's in France."

455
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,520
But Sarah was right. It was her dad.

456
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,560
He had a beard,
which he didn't have before.

457
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,560
And he was just unkempt,

458
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:25,680
not tidy at all,
which is understandable.

459
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,840
Anyway, we got him home

460
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,760
and when he'd had...

461
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,400
a wash and a shave,

462
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,640
a nice hot cup of tea,

463
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,760
he came round a little bit.

464
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,960
But when he did go to bed,
I think he slept for three days.

465
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,200
Sarah's dad had been fighting in
France in May 1940,

466
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,520
when the German army pushed
the British forces

467
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,240
into a small area
of the French coast.

468
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,800
Over the next nine days,

469
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,640
he was one of 340,000 men
brought back to Britain

470
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,400
as part of the evacuation
of Dunkirk.

471
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,200
To welcome Sarah's dad back home,
they had a street party.

472
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,000
But it was not until the end
of the war in 1945

473
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,200
that the whole country
could celebrate.

474
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,320
See all the happy faces there?

475
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,360
Everybody smiling.

476
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,680
The party went on all night
and all day the next day.

477
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,680
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