The Estate - Bevendean History Project
Evacuees in Medmerry Hill in Higher Bevendean
Memories of Esme White
When war was declared I was just 7 years old and was staying with relatives in Edinburgh. My mother was very ill and I had been moved around various relations since March 1939.
My aunt in Scotland was very concerned because my gas mask was in Brighton as presumably, they had been issued a while before the war started and I was not eligible for a Scottish one!
I came back to Brighton eventually in November 1939 to find that I was now in Moulsecoomb Junior School, not the Infants any more. I lived at 36 Medmerry Hill with my parents Charles who was a trolley bus conductor and my mother Lena.
The lady next door to us in Medmerry Hill had two evacuees from London - a brother and sister - I can't remember their names but they were a bit older than me. Next door, on the other side, were three evacuee teachers who had come with their pupils. The house had been requisitioned as it was empty because the owner had joined the Forces and his wife, who was an invalid, had gone to live with her mother.
Two evacuee boys being introduced to prospective family in Brighton during World War Two.
The evacuees were educated separately and so we had to share the school with them. At different times we had lessons in Moulsecoomb Hall, St. Francis' Hall and St. George's Hall.
I can remember having to go into the Air Raid shelters across the playground in the Junior School but I can't remember where we went when the sirens sounded when we were in the other places or what we did about our exercise books, etc.
Perhaps someone else can recall it although there are not a lot of us left.
I don't think the evacuees stayed very long although a few did not go back and were integrated into our classes. Bob can't remember anything about evacuees at Coombe Road School but that there were two children in the flat above where he lived.
Perhaps, as the houses and flats were smaller in the Coombe Road area there was not enough accommodation for any extra children.
Looking back, one thing seems rather odd. A number of Brighton children were evacuated to the north of England at the same time the London ones were sent down here.
I did not know of any Moulsecoomb children who went away but in later years I met a girl who had spent most of the war years in Yorkshire and she had kept in touch with her family.
Editors note.
Looking at the 1939 registration records for Medmerry Hill the following people are listed as living there.
Cecil, Alice and John Edney were living at 30 Medmerry Hill
There are no records for anyone living at 32 and 34 Medmerry Hill
Charles and Lena Constable were living at 36 Medmerry Hill
Laurence and Helen Robertson were living at 38 Medmerry Hill
William and Ivy Manton were living at 40 Medmerry Hill
People who are still alive today have been removed from the records.
Esme remembers that No. 32 was occupied by the Wilson family - it is possible the daughter still lives there - she was a bit older than me. Mr. Wilson kept a pig farm on a site at the Race Hill where the horse stables are now. He used to come round collecting leftovers (not much with food rationing) to feed the pigs. No. 34 was the house that was requisitioned for the evacuee teachers and when they went home the Council put in a family whose house had been bombed.
When I came back in November 1939 a Mr. and Mrs. Hills were living at No. 38 and they had the two evacuees who would have come to us but as my mother was still ill, she could not look after them.
Dave Manton lived at No. 40, he was a member of the Moulsecoomb Youth Fellowship and also a Server at St. Andrew's for many years. I think they may have had an evacuee there - they would have had room as Dave was an only child, like me.
Esme White nee Constable
When war was declared I was just 7 years old and was staying with relatives in Edinburgh. My mother was very ill and I had been moved around various relations since March 1939.
My aunt in Scotland was very concerned because my gas mask was in Brighton as presumably, they had been issued a while before the war started and I was not eligible for a Scottish one!
I came back to Brighton eventually in November 1939 to find that I was now in Moulsecoomb Junior School, not the Infants any more. I lived at 36 Medmerry Hill with my parents Charles who was a trolley bus conductor and my mother Lena.
The lady next door to us in Medmerry Hill had two evacuees from London - a brother and sister - I can't remember their names but they were a bit older than me. Next door, on the other side, were three evacuee teachers who had come with their pupils. The house had been requisitioned as it was empty because the owner had joined the Forces and his wife, who was an invalid, had gone to live with her mother.
Two evacuee boys being introduced to prospective family in Brighton during World War Two.
The evacuees were educated separately and so we had to share the school with them. At different times we had lessons in Moulsecoomb Hall, St. Francis' Hall and St. George's Hall.
I can remember having to go into the Air Raid shelters across the playground in the Junior School but I can't remember where we went when the sirens sounded when we were in the other places or what we did about our exercise books, etc.
Perhaps someone else can recall it although there are not a lot of us left.
I don't think the evacuees stayed very long although a few did not go back and were integrated into our classes. Bob can't remember anything about evacuees at Coombe Road School but that there were two children in the flat above where he lived.
Perhaps, as the houses and flats were smaller in the Coombe Road area there was not enough accommodation for any extra children.
Looking back, one thing seems rather odd. A number of Brighton children were evacuated to the north of England at the same time the London ones were sent down here.
I did not know of any Moulsecoomb children who went away but in later years I met a girl who had spent most of the war years in Yorkshire and she had kept in touch with her family.
Editors note.
Looking at the 1939 registration records for Medmerry Hill the following people are listed as living there.
Cecil, Alice and John Edney were living at 30 Medmerry Hill
There are no records for anyone living at 32 and 34 Medmerry Hill
Charles and Lena Constable were living at 36 Medmerry Hill
Laurence and Helen Robertson were living at 38 Medmerry Hill
William and Ivy Manton were living at 40 Medmerry Hill
People who are still alive today have been removed from the records.
Esme remembers that No. 32 was occupied by the Wilson family - it is possible the daughter still lives there - she was a bit older than me. Mr. Wilson kept a pig farm on a site at the Race Hill where the horse stables are now. He used to come round collecting leftovers (not much with food rationing) to feed the pigs. No. 34 was the house that was requisitioned for the evacuee teachers and when they went home the Council put in a family whose house had been bombed.
When I came back in November 1939 a Mr. and Mrs. Hills were living at No. 38 and they had the two evacuees who would have come to us but as my mother was still ill, she could not look after them.
Dave Manton lived at No. 40, he was a member of the Moulsecoomb Youth Fellowship and also a Server at St. Andrew's for many years. I think they may have had an evacuee there - they would have had room as Dave was an only child, like me.
Esme White nee Constable
1940s_War_Time_Stories_010_news
Editor:
If you can add to Esme's story or have similar memories, please use the contact page on the website, to tell us about what you can remember.
If you can add to Esme's story or have similar memories, please use the contact page on the website, to tell us about what you can remember.
