Jean Butler's Story

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April 2009 I was in South Wales, but only for the last 4 months of 1940. I have always said, that was the worst 4 months of my life. But I was one of the lucky ones because my mother and little sister (7 months old when we arrived there) were with me. Mr. & Mrs. Ryan, the elderly couple we were dumped on, didn't want us, of course. We had to be very quiet at all times, he (Mr. Ryan) wasn't a well man. I was told that he had the 'coal miner's disease'. My cruelty was from the kids at school, mainly the boys. I was only just 5, first time in a classroom. I was their punching bag, before school, playtime and after school was the worst. I got away very lightly, it seems. My dad got us a house on the Downham Estate in Bromley Kent and we were able to go home to England just after Christmas. We were originally from Bermondsey, but our house was destroyed by a bomb in the blitz, we were just lucky that we were in the back garden Anderson shelter at the time, otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. I started at the The Good Shepherd School early 1941, from then on everything was just lovely, even though the war was to continue for another four and a half years, I had a great childhood. Jean.