Keith Martin
Dear George, Thanks for your Email.I was evacuated
to Ipswich on the 1st of September 39, with the boys and girls
which includes my Wife, from William Torbitt School Ilford.Some
time in February 40 I was sent back to Ilford to join a party
of boys going to Elmbridge.On the 26th of February 1940 we all
assembled at Loxford School to get on Grasshopper coaches which
left in convoy for Cranleigh.I was placed in Fairlop house as
a junior, Mr Anderson as house master and Mr Jones.Class Teacher
was a Miss Dawson.We hadn't been at camp long when we noticed
that the cutlery had NCC stamped on it, which stood for Nazi Concentration
Camp.In the summer the Battle of Britain was fought over the very
top of us, we had no air raid shelters so they dug trenches along
the sides of the hedges at the entrance of the right hand field.
and when things were getting a bit hot we moved in and watched
the(what we thought at the time)fun.At night we could see the
fires burning in London it lit the whole sky up.we had'nt been
at camp long when the Army arrived to blow up the bridge over
the canal in the corner of the left hand field.it was a narrow
humped back and couldn't take the weight of a tank so they said,
we all watched from a safe distance and up it went, bricks flying
in all directions great fun. then they set some Italians POWs
to work building a new one.The canal was great source of fun we
had camps, rope swings, skated on the ice when it was frozen over.
there was steam at the end of the fields which ran under the cannel
by the bridge, we used to go through this for no good reason i
can think of.In the summer school work was done in the morning
and evening so we roamed around the country side,Nore hill was
a favourite place Army Ranges, and Pitch hill next to it Leith
hill more ranges, the army was everywhere. On Sundays we were
all marched down to St Andrews church in formation house by house
after church we were free to do what we liked. Once a month the
grass hopper coaches arrived with some parents for the lucky boys.We
used to swim in a bend of the river wey called Badgers hole also
at a sandpit which was flooded we called it Navies hole. We sometimes
went to Vacherie pond to swim if we were lucky we would get refreshments.The
pond was dug to supply the canal with water.I made a life long
friend at school Dick Clark of Abbey and his brother was in Abbey
too,my brother in law was also in the same house Jim Rendle. we
all arrived together and were Pioneers a society thought up by
AEC the head master we also had a secret sign.
My wife has a friend we go about with and she is the same
age as us, She was at a camp school a few miles from Elmbridge
called Hyden heath. It was a mixed school unlike ours, I remember
going there for a concert or something with a group of boys. Last
year we went to Hyden heath to see if we could find it, And yes
it is still there we had a look round, found her dormitory took
her photograph along side it, she was very pleased. It is now
used by Leonard Cheshire homes. the buildings are the same as
Elmbridge but the layout is different.We had a meal at the Leathern
Bottle, and had a tour round Elmbridge, Looked at the canal and
it smells just as I remembered it.
I hope I haven't bored you to much. I liked your web site
and the information about how the camps came about, which was
just what I have been seeking for years. If this is any use to
you I could say a bit more. If you want me too.
yours Keith.
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