Yvonne Bossom's Story
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Yvonne Bossom's Story |
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As an adult I asked my mother repeatedly about evacuating a two-year old. Why? Because the memories of all the billets, the humiliation, and of the abandonment I felt. At such a young age I remembered so much. Her answer was always "it was a law for all children to be sent away from the cities." Of course, as an adult I found out differently. Oh, the humiliation I felt standing on the crowded platform of Kings Cross station with a tag held together with a piece of string around my neck. I stood there with my older brother and sister as people looked us over offering to take them but not me, I was too young they all said, too much work. After a while, my mother let my sister and brother go with a couple from Banbury. It was the exact opposite to that which Gerry is describing-how I yearned for that kind of love and caring. I looked at my own children when they were that age-for I had made very sure not to repeat the sins of my parents. They were loved and cherished always. My mother also had us on a list for children to be sent to Canada. There came a time when she was notified that there was room for two children only, she declined wanting us all to go together. Thank goodness, that ship was the liner "City of Benares" it was torpedoed and sunk, 75 children drowned. We were so lucky that our mother had declined that passage on "City of Benares". Plus the fact that even at this late stage in life, I can still feel the pain. Yvonne B
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