Description
Object description
British schoolchild evacuee from London to High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 1939-1940, Great Tew, Oxfordshire, 1940-1941 and Mountain Ash, West Glamorgan, Wales, 1944-1945
Content description
REEL 1: Background in London, 1935-1939: family and daily life; parents' employment; evacuated to High Wycombe, Bucks, 2/Sep/1939. Aspects of period in High Wycombe, Bucks, 1939-1940: attitude of local population to evacuees; description of first billet; story of appearance before committee following mother's decision to return to London; interrogation of father due to Dutch surname Limburg; attitudes to Dutch/Jewish origins of family.
REEL 2 Continues: further comments on family origins; clothing; daily life; further description of conditions in billets; reasons for return to London, 1940; mother's employment as upholsterer.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period in London, 1940: education at primary school; story of mother and gypsies; evacuated to Great Tew, Oxfordshire, 5-6/1940. Aspects of period in Great Tew, Oxfordshire, 1940-1941: use of manor house as reception centre for evacuees; description of conditions in first billet; story of train journey to Great Tew; description of conditions in second billet.
REEL 4 Continues: relations with host family; problem of eating; problem with hair; use of corporal punishment by host family; lighting; cooking and washing facilities; helping with agricultural chores; weekly household routine.
REEL 5 Continues: memories of village postman and village shops; visiting pub with host; story of appearing in Christmas play; visits to theatre in Oxford; reaction to host's wife giving news about air raids in London; reason for returning to London, 1941; opinion of education at village school; attitude of local inhabitants to Jewish origins of family.
REEL 6 Continues: attitude of local inhabitants to arrival of evacuees; story of dental examination at village school. Aspects of period in London, 1941-1944: description of air raids; reaction to seeing family house on fire; story of father retrieving possessions from bombed house; further comments on evacuation to Great Tew and father's reaction to treatment; story of return to London, 1941; description of temporary accommodation in London following bombing of house.
REEL 7 Continues: accommodation with relatives; education; story of father's workplace being bombed; evacuated to Mountain Ash, West Glamorgan, Wales, 7/1944; reason for evacuation; attitude of East End evacuees to Dutch surname.
REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of period in Mountain Ash, West Glamorgan, Wales, 1944-1945: description of billet with miner's family; opinion of host family; relations with East End evacuees; miners' routine after returning from pit; allocation of coal to miners' families; attitude of mother to long hair; memories of Welsh women carrying babies in shawls; use of Welsh words; opinion of education at local school.
REEL 9 Continues: relations with local children; clothing made by parents; mother's reaction to problem of head lice among local children; description of weekly household routine; visits by parents.
REEL 10 Continues: memory of coffee shop; visits to film shows; food including sweets and fruit; story of visit to fair on Barry Island; description of Sunday routine; father's religious beliefs; description of wedding customs in village.
REEL 11 Continues: recreational and sporting activities; return to London and problem of re-adjusting to city life, 1945; various memories of VE and VJ Day celebrations in Mountain Ash and London, 5-8/1945. Reflections on period as evacuee.