Evacuee

A Memory of Daglingworth.

I was evacuated to Daglingworth in 1941 from London and was billeted at Warrens Gorse Cottages just outside the village with my younger brother and sister. We attended the village school which was run by Miss Bacon (a bit of a tartar) and we made many friends. I particularly remember a Freddie Boulton and a Mollie Carpenter and a couple of other girls which their names have been lost in my memory but their existence still remains. Mrs Scrutton was the Lady of the Manor and lived in the Manor with her daughter Joan who was in charge of the evacuees. I was at one time billeted in the Manor House with Mrs Scrutton when a Mrs Kent who I was billeted with at Warrens Gorse Cottages moved to Gloucester and I was awaiting a new billet. It was a very strange time for us youngsters from London as we were too young to know what exactly was going on, missing our mum and dad terribly, getting the blame for anything that went wrong and somehow accepting it. But I would like it to be put on record that the majority of the folks in Daglingworth did their best to make us welcome and in our young hearts we appreciated it. We had a lot of fun with the boys and also with the girls who thought we were somewhat strange with our accents and habits but we got on marvellous. I returned home in 1942 when I was coming up for 14 to start work and was apprenticed as a compositor in the printing trade and became a typesetter until I was 65 years of age and was made redundant due to the new techology. I served in the Royal Navy just at the end of the war as a telegraphist and was serving on MTB's in Coastal Forces. I have fond memories of Daglingworth but now I am 80 and living in Spain I doubt if I will ever return. I would like to say thankyou to all the inhabitants of Daglingworth (if any that I knew are still living) and wish them well.

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