These sound files are extracts (short edited pieces) from longer oral history interviews that Northumberland Archives recorded. These interviews were made as part of a project to preserve the memories of people who had been evacuated to Northumberland as children during the Second World War. 

For each person there is a short extract where they introduce themselves and one more extract where they talk about their experience of being an evacuee. 

Gordon was born in Willington Quay during the mid-1930s. His father was a General Practitioner (doctor).

On 1^st September 1939 Gordon was evacuated with his older sister. Gordon departed from Jesmond station to Alnwick, carrying with him a rucksack, a brown paper bag with sandwiches, and a cardboard box containing a gasmask. Gordon and his sister travelled with Newcastle Church High School; he was in the Kindergarten.

Gordon, his sister and two other girls stayed with the headmaster of the Duke’s School – very strict “disciplinarian”.

The children had to wait until after the family had eaten before they could eat. The children were served in kitchen, the family ate in dining room.

The headmaster blew a whistle at 6:30pm when the children were locked in their rooms until 8am. They didn’t stay very long.

Gordon changed schools part of the way through the war. He started going to Newcastle Preparatory School which had been evacuated to Eslington Hall (near Whittingham).

Gordon describes some of the boys’ activities – playing in the woods on the estate, Boy Scouts, debates, mock trials and snowball fights in the winter.

The village celebrated Wings for Victory week each year and put on a play of St George and the Dragon.

The boys weren’t aware of rationing, but were each given a tin of sweets which contained their sweet rations and were allowed a certain amount each day.

Each Christmas, the staff gave all of the boys a KitKat which had been saved up from their own sweet rations.

Photograph of Eslington Hall – NRO/10668/01/39