Recording the Past for the Future

Talk to your relatives.

Whilst Seeking Guernsey Evacuees in Bridgwater during WWII I found Gillian Mawson's excellent  Guernsey Evacuee Oral History blog.  I contacted Gillian to see if she knew of the people I was seeking but alas, still to this day we haven't found them.

Gillian and myself shared a common interest in war-time stories and struck-up a mutual friendship that seemed to change course as she mentioned that she was writing another book on child evacuees.  This new book would contain 100 short stories from all walks of life.  I mentioned that my father and his family were evacuated from the East end of London and that's how we ended up in Somerset.  I was asked to write a draft short story and Gillian immediately offered the story a place in the book.  I was thrilled!

I then realised that I only knew snippets of information as my father rarely talked about the war years when he was alive.  I tentatively visited his younger brother George and sister Sylvia not knowing what to expect.  They were more than happy to talk about the events leading up to the evacuation and their eventual permanant move down to Somerset.

Of course the whole story couldn't be published and two of the siblings aren't mentioned in Gillian's book (I shall be writing it myself sometime in the near future) but the big thing for me was my father's story has now been published in book format.  I collect old books and wonder if a future descendant of our family will be thrilled to find a copy of 'Evacuees: Children's Lives on the WW2 Home Front' in 150 years time. 

James Martin (in darker cap).

If I hadn't taken on the Guernsey research I would never have met Gillian and therefore my father's story would never have been published.  My uncle and aunt were fantastic in sharing their knowledge with me, much of which I didn't know.  If you don't ask, you may well lose much valuable information.  As my way of thanks I've bought several copies for my uncle George and aunt Sylvia.  

Copies for George, Sylvia and myself.

I'd also like to thank Gillian for this opportunity to see my fathers story in writing in this wonderful book.  An heirloom in the making no doubt.

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