Interview with female Second World War evacuee to Wilstead who chose to remain. Husband was a prisoner of war in Japanese-held Burma.

  • Women's Voices and Life Writing
You may need to log in to continue. Access the full document and its details.
Title
Interview with female Second World War evacuee to Wilstead who chose to remain. Husband was a prisoner of war in Japanese-held Burma.
Notes on Audio Quality
There is a pause in the audio from 31 to 34 minutes.
Interviewer
Semeraro, Carmela
Document Type
  • Oral history Recording
Date
12 Jun 2002
Interview Date
12 Jun 2002
Biography
The interviewee was one of 9 children born in Edmonton, London on 6 July 1928. Her father died when she was aged 5 and she was put into a children’s home at Cricklewood. She would move from place to place until she was housed permanently from the age of 8 to 11. She didn’t keep contact with most of her siblings, but spent her time in the home with one sister, along with other children. On the outbreak of the Second World War she was taken by train to Bedford as an evacuee. She stayed with her sister in Oakley for three months before splitting up and moving to Wilstead. She would end up staying with a family there from the age of 11 to 20. She would begin seeing a former soldier who had been a POW in Burma, and would marry him in 1948. They would go on to have two children. Her daughter would marry an American and move to Texas. For work she would get a job selling groceries in the village Post Office, and would stay there for 32 years. Her husband passed away in 1986, and later many years after his death, would be given compensation for his suffering as a POW during the Second World War.
Length (minutes)
45
Copyright and Source Archive
Material sourced from Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service