By Cyril Fathers from Cilgerran near Cardigan:
"It was June 23 1940 when it looked as if Hitler was going to invade England. The towns and villages around Hythe and Kent had already evacuated London. Myself and other children from Hythe and Dover were sent to Wales. We were sent on 23 June 1940 to Pembrokeshire.
We came by train to a village called Crymych after about 6 hours journey. We arrived about 7 in the evening. Each class was sent to a different village, one class was in Crymych, one class in Blaenffos and one class in New Chapel. My class went to a village called New Chapel and we were divided to farms and houses in the area.
I was taken to a place called Pen y Graig, Cilgerran and I walked 3 miles to New Chapel to school everyday. I was 12 on June 26 1940. We walked all the way to school and walked back. It was lovely we had the roads almost to ourselves because there was no traffic on the road.
Memories of school
Our school was in a place called the reading room where once a month the local judges met. There was no room for us in the village's Welsh school. On those days that we couldn't go to the reading room we did go to the Welsh village school.
The headmaster was called Mr Parry. In our homes people said, 'you are in Wales and you will have to speak welsh we won't speak english you will have to speak welsh'. We were taught in welsh and if we didn't understand they would say in english.
On the weekends we went to the village to play with our friends. I was in Cilgerran for 5 years and I remember my foster parents were very strict, we weren't allowed to go out anywhere without telling them. We had to be home for a certain time. They were responsible for us that's why they were so strict.
If we got on a bus to go to Cardigan on a day and somebody older than us came on the bus we had to give them our seat and we had to help elderly people to cross the road and we had to be truthful at all times.
On Saturdays we always went to Cardigan. We went to the pictures and got a bus home at night. Then on Sundays I had to go to Manor Deifi church in the morning and I was in the choir Sunday school in the afternoon and chapel in the evening; that was every week.
Every summer they had Camanfa Ganu in the chapel. All the Baptists came to Cilforian Chapel bettween Cilgerran and New Chapel.
When we were walking to school everyday we always stopped to talk to the local farrier, they were horse and cart days. At dinner times we had an hour for lunch and we went out on the street to play.
One day it was snowing and a car passed through the village, which was quite an event, and I picked up a snowball and threw it at the car. The driver stopped and took me to the school. He said, 'I've been all over Britain in my car and this is the first time anyone has thrown a snowball at me!' and I got a cane for that."
Cyril stays in Wales...
Cyril Fathers passed away on 21 September 2007.
your comments
If you are under 16 please do not disclose your surname.
We try to publish as many comments as we can but unfortunately, due to the volume of comments we receive every day, we cannot guarantee that all comments submitted will be published
Lionel Owen from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I was evacuated to Nantmel from Liverpool in early 1940. I remember so well arriving at Rhayader station with dozens of other children and being marched to the Drill Hall to be welcomed by the Mayor, be served tea and cakes (my first taste of Welsh cakes!) and to meet our foster parents. I was with my sister Margaret but we did not stay together. She went to Mrs Morgan at Pencae while I was sent to Mr & Mrs Lewis at Coed Glason. The Lewis' were unable to be at the Drill Hall and I was taken to Coed Glason by Vicar Davies, a kind man who subsequently arranged for me to%! 20be transferred to Mrs Thomas at Pen-y-banc when it was found I was unable to settle at Coed Glason. The reason was that John, the Lewis' son and a boy of my own age, had lost his leg in a terrible mowing machine accident and we shared a bedroom. I screamed the place down when John's mother removed his wooden leg each night. I was very happy at Pen-y-banc where I stayed until the war ended.
Tue Aug 12 14:30:42 2008
Lionel Owen from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Those years were the end of an era I realised later. The farm was worked by horses and by hand as it had been for centuries and I remember the excitement when, eventually the first tractor arrived. I remember so well the highlights of each year - sheep shearing, pig killing, hay making, potato planting and harvesting, the grain harvest. I remember drinking cold tea with the women in the fields, while the men drank cider - a huge barrel of which sat in the barn and rolling the fleeces after the shearers had removed them from the sheep. I felt so important!!
Tue Aug 12 14:30:35 2008
Lionel Owen from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I remember watching fascinated as the vet neutred the bull calves and Mr Thomas removed footrot from the sheep with his penknife. I remember the hard winters and the need to dig sheep and lambs out of drifts on the hillsides. I remember candles and oil lamps, churning the cream to make butter, milking the cows by hand and carrying water in buckets from the well which was some distance from the farmhouse. I remember Christmas and its simple pleasures, with a parcel from the Canadian Red Cross and the excitement of visiting the local farms before 12 noon on January 1st to sing "New Years! Gift."
Tue Aug 12 14:30:30 2008
Lionel Owen from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I also remember the radio and listening with wrapt attention to the broadcasts of Winston Churchill and hearing the cultured voices of John Snagge and Richard Dimbleby reporting from the front, with the news read by Alvar Liddell! I remember too the convoys of soldiers that drove occasionally along the A44 and calling "Got any gum chum?" when the convoy was American. I remember the village school with Mrs Bacon and Miss Oliver trying their best to cope with children from the age of five to fourteen in classes that had suddenly exploded due to the influx of evacuees.
Tue Aug 12 14:30:25 2008
Lionel Owen from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I still have friends in the area and continue to visit, even though I only get to Britain infrequently now, I still make a point of coming to Rhayader and the Gaufron. I will never forget those five wartime years. Initially I was terrified at being away from my family and living with strangers in an environment completely alien to the one I had left in the city of Liverpool. It wasn't long before I adapted, including speaking with a Welsh accent! By the end of the war, I didn't really want to leave and still consider the Gaufron as 'home'.
Tue Aug 12 14:30:20 2008
Kate Renninson, Midhurst
Cyril was my uncle,my dads brother, and will be sadly missed. I am printing this page off for my children who are learning about world war 2 and evacuees at school. Thanks for helping Uncle Syrup!
Thu Oct 4 08:44:02 2007
Suzy Woolston, Surrey Sheep Dog Society
We are saddened to hear of Cyril's passing. He was a well-liked handler at sheepdog trials and we missed him when he moved to Wales. Our condolences to the family from those who knew him in Surrey Sheep Dog Society.
Thu Sep 27 10:03:25 2007
Paula Lewin nee Trimm
Grandad Cyril Gone but never forgotten,rest in Peace Grandad.Died Friday 21st September 2007
Tue Sep 25 09:01:44 2007
Les Fathers, Broadstone Dorset
Dad sadly passed away on 21st September. He loved his time in Wales and our heart felt thanks to his family, friends and neighbours for their support. Les, Carolyn and Craig.
Tue Sep 25 09:01:37 2007
Jane Johnstone from East Sussex
My late father, Thomas Royden Owen, was from Newport, Pembrokeshire. During the war, one of his many brothers (Leslie) became engaged to a London evacuee named Renee. Tragically, Leslie was killed almost immediately after being posted abroad and Renee returned to London where she eventually married and worked for many years for the British Oxygen Company. I stayed with Renee and her husband in Blackheath in the early 70's while I attended the BP secretarial training school in Moorgate. (Renee and her husband, Len, were great eaters, I've never had such huge dinners before or since!) When they retired, Renee and Len decided to return to West Wales to be with their many old friends. Renee is now a widow but is still enjoying life in the beautiful surroundings of Pembrokeshire.
Thu Aug 16 16:16:20 2007
Anne Thomas
To Chris Lee, Arizona. Vera Fathers is Cyril's sister. She also stayed in Pembrokeshire. Another sister came to retire here, her name is Gladys. Many of the brothers and sister are still alive.
Thu Jul 5 09:58:50 2007
Chris Lee from Arizona, USA
I was evacuated to St Dogmaels from Seabrook, Kent. One of the other girls billeted with me was Vera Feathers. Was she related to you?
Fri Apr 13 10:40:01 2007
anne thomas little newcastle pembs
Cyril is my Uncle he is my fathers brother. I grew up hearing wonderful tales of their childhood and the evacuation. Most summers during my childhood our visitors would consist of past evacuees. Over the years these visits would sadly dwindle. Dad, uncle cyril and my aunt learnt welsh, eventualy uncle cyril went home. Although I've been brought up Welsh speaking, Dad speaks better Welsh than any of us! I'm proud of my heritage and very proud of my Dad, Uncle Cyril and Auntie Vera as I'm sure the rest of my family are!
Mon Jul 17 10:33:12 2006
Don Fathers, Brighton
Good luck Cyril from brother Don.
Mon Jul 10 10:51:21 2006
Sacha Trigg, Manchester
Thankyou so much for this. It helped me so much doing my homework. Once again. Thankyou.
Mon Jun 19 10:39:29 2006
Douglas Higginson.Perth Western Australia.
Lovely to read your story Cyril. So similar in a way to mine. Please read my story and you will see. It is under Llwyndafydd Days. Hwyl a pob bendith. Douglas. 76 years young this way.!!!
Fri Jun 16 10:46:20 2006
Nola Graveney-Edwards - Llanidloes
I was born in Hythe, my Father Reginald Allen Graveney was born in Hythe in 1920, My grandparents Mabel & Constantine lived in Tanners Hill Gardens, Saltwood.
Do you remember much about Hythe ?
Mon May 22 15:29:24 2006
Ca theline Redfern
My mother was evacuated to Llandrindod Wells from Bootle in Liverpool. She was a teacher. Her nick name was Kit or to some Kay. She fell in love with an army captain called John Petrie from the London area. After the war she lost contact with him and she then married my father John (Jack)Yates. She is 82 now but still has some very happy memories of her times.
Tue Oct 25 22:31:48 2005
Josh Garrigan from Burrington
How did u feel when you were evacuated to Cardigan?
Fri May 20 14:35:42 2005
Add your comments to this page here:
