Evacuees....

Evacuees....

Postby Jann » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:32 pm

Evacuees

They boarded the train at the main railway station
With an apple and bun in a brown paper bag
Where they were going they had no information
Around each neck hung a large cardboard tag

We are sending you away to keep you from harm
Is what they were told by Mums and Dads
Your are going to the country ,could be a farm
But some girls were crying and so were some lads

They settled down in the third class carriage
but a short while later it came to a stop
They saw the porter unloading some baggage
Come on, he shouted ,out you all hop

They walked to a place just in the foyer
stood waiting in line ,most eyes were cast down
The best dressed picked first by doctor or lawyer
The rest by the ordinary folk of the town

That boy looks clean, what’s that, his name ?
But his jumper’s all torn and his shoes need repair
Oh she looks quite pretty ,but oh what a shame
Her dress is quite nice but there’s nits in her hair

And so it went on until all were taken
And spread through the town by the folks who lived there
Some were homesick and some were heartbroken
But some loved the life and hadn’t a care

Most folk were kind and looked after their child
But some only wanted a cheap pair of hands
Some folk were careless and let them run wild
Whilst others were stricter and took firmer stands

Some children stayed on for the duration
The rest drifted home which left just a few
Some kept in touch as though a relation
But most just forgot like most children do :sad:
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Postby Maywalk » Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:38 pm

I loved it Jann, but I would wouldnt I. :mrgreen: Who wrote it?

This is the one I wrote which is all true.



COUNSELLING! WHAT’S THAT?


I remember when war was declared that September Sunday morning
And the siren wailing through the air to give us all the warning.
Sitting in the Anderson shelter with a foot of water all around
And listening to my mother pray as the bombs fell on the ground.

It was a nightly ritual as down the Anderson we would go
Hearing planes throb overhead, we soon learnt who was the foe.
Two houses we lost during the Blitz and lots of personal stuff,
Our life was very traumatic but it made us extremely tough.

The devastation that we saw when all the dock’s were afire
With remains of friends and neighbours it was like a funeral pyre.
The realisation of having no home and becoming an evacuee,
And being herded on a train like cattle for all the world to see.

Our journey was quite hazardous while travelling on the train
Because ‘Jerry’ decided to machine gun us over and over again.
And then we faced the trauma of being pushed from pillar to post
While traipsing round a strange town to find someone to be our host.

But we made it through the bad times and learnt to laugh once more
Because everyone helped each other whether they were rich or poor.
There was no counselling in those days, no help out of the black pit
You picked yourself up dusted yourself down and just got on with it.

copyright---Maisie Walker 2001--- all rights reserved
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Postby Rowan » Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:04 pm

Both excellent poems Ladies. Did you write that one Jann, if not would like to know who wrote it.
Avoid the evil, and it will avoid thee.
Gaelic Proverb

Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit.
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Postby dejavou » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:14 pm

Thanks ladies, both very good
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Postby Jann » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:57 pm

Rowan wrote:Both excellent poems Ladies. Did you write that one Jann, if not would like to know who wrote it.


Sorry Rowan but I didn't write it,it came to me from a school friend who actually was an evacuee during the ww11,she din't give me the author,however I thought others would enjoy it :banana:
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Postby Daff » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:12 pm

emmason on IDF50 wrote it
click here
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"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
Albert Camus
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