These sound files are extracts (short edited pieces) from longer oral history interviews that Northumberland Archives recorded. These interviews were recorded as part of a project to record 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.

Doris was born during the early 1930s and lived in Jarrow.

The weekend before the war broke out, Doris’ school in Wallsend, was evacuated to Ponteland.

Before the evacuation, the children were examined by a nurse.

Doris, along with her two sisters, a boy and their teacher Mr Bell, stayed with their host family, Mr & Mrs Parks in Woolsington. The Parks had a very big house with lots of land, which was on the perimeter of the Woolsington airfield which had been taken over by the RAF.

Doris and her younger sister didn’t go to school for three months because the school was in Ponteland and there was no public transport.

Doris and her sister were given sweeties through their fence by RAF men at airfield.

Doris’ elder sister cycled to school using the daughter of the host family’s bicycle, while boy they stayed with rode to school in Mr Bell’s sports car.