Toddlers's Times

A Memory of Badshot Lea.

In 1944, I was evacuated to Badshot Lea, with my mum. My dad, as a plumber & vital to the war effort, was in Liverpool & not in Europe or elsewhere in the Theatre of war. I can remember as a 4 year old, standing, I think, in a southerly direction towards a field in front of me & hills in the distance. I remember seeing a fighter plane crash on the hillside some 1-3 miles. Approx 10 years ago, I was in the area & so I thought I might look at where we stayed. My mum was still alive then & she gave me the name of the road, but I can't remember it now. The land that was fields had now been built upon. We actually came from Bermondsay in South London, but Mum opened a post office account at Badshot Lea. I still have that post book. Somewhere I have a photo & me playing with a little girl in a park, I think near Farnham. I have Farnham Hospital to thank for me being here today. At 6 months old I had an intestinal blockage, called pylorix stenosis. The Doctor who operated on me must have had an area not much more than an inch or two to work in & the operation, I have been told, was experimental at that time in 1940/1. I have a large scar on my tummy about 3-4 inches long, so the scar on a tiny baby must have been very small. So Mum, Dad & I have every reason to be fond of Badshot Lea & the surrounding area. I would like to know what happened to the pilot. Whatever, his nationality I hope that he or she survived.

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