Soldiers on the Beach

In writing this story, as with many of our memories, I rely on my siblings for clarification and help remembering the stories.

After leaving the foster home when she was 14 years old (see the witch story) mom was sent to  be a mother’s helper.  She was placed in domestic service to a family named Groves.  They had two small girls.  Mom’s job was to clean the house, do the girls’ laundry,  etc.  She was given Saturday afternoons and Sundays off.   She was in their service for two years (1938 to 1940) until she reached the age of 16 at which time she would have been emancipated.

Mom learned so much from Mrs. Groves on how to run a household, how to take care of babies and generally how to carry yourself and be in the world.  She had to work hard but learned a lot in those two years.  Mom was also proud of the fact that Mrs. Groves’ father was a doctor.

The Groves would often take their holidays at the seaside.  One particular time when they were there, the beaches were covered with soldiers in all different uniforms from many different nations, all speaking different languages, thousands of them.   The sea was full of boats and men were jumping into the water and swimming to the shore.  From mom’s description it sounded like it was chaotic but exciting.  Parents were warning their young daughters not to speak to any of the soldiers.  But, regardless of the warning, these young girls would run up and down the beaches getting autographs in their diaries. Mom talked about being excited to be on the beach.  She talked of remembering wearing a bright yellow dress with flowers.

That was the story we heard growing up from mom.

So let’s back up to the beginning of this story when mom leaves the foster home.  Mom always called herself a “mother’s helper.”  But I couldn’t find any information or programs in Britain at that time by that name.  And in my search to fill in some pieces of this story, I asked my cousins in England if they knew which children’s home the Thompson kids would have been sent.   My cousin Charlie Thompson (from the Isle of Wight) said that his dad, Charlie Thompson and my mom had been sent to Dr. Bernardo’s Children’s Home.  We also know that Aunt Iris (Iris Palmer), Dennis, and Avis were at the same home.

Armed with that information, I contacted Bernardo’s and was able to fill out a form to have them check their records so we could find out specific dates as to mom’s time with Bernardo’s.  But alas, I was disappointed when they responded back that they were unable to locate any records for mom.  So she must have been in another children’s home.  (There were many different ones back in those days).  Bernardo’s did provide me with a list of other agencies that might have her records.

But from what I read, Dr. Bernardo’s and other similar institutions would foster children out until they were done with their compulsory education.  The fostered children would be returned to the children’s home to be trained for domestic service.  I don’t know how long the training was but once completed mom was serviced out to the Groves family.  Side note:  England, before 1944 had compulsory education for children up to age 14.   By the time mom went into domestic service she was finished with her schooling.

During the time mom was with the Groves family here are some of the things that were happening in England at that time.  Reading through this list, I am pretty sure when mom was talked about all the soldiers on the beaches speaking all different languages, she was talking about the evacuation of Dunkirk.

• 1938  
• 9 July gas masks are issued to the civilian population
• 13 September Prime Minister Chamberlain meets German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in an  attempt to negotiate an end to German expansionist policies
• 1939
• 25 February – first bomb shelter built in London
• 31 March – Britain pledges support to Poland in the event of an invasion
• 27 April – Military Training Act conscription; men aged 20 and 21 must undertake six months military training
• 30 August – Royal Navy proceeds to war stations
• 1 September
  • “Operation Pied Piper”: 4-day evacuation of children from London and other major U.K. cities begins.  History of Evacuations
  • Blackout imposed across Britain
  • The Army is officially mobilised
• 3 September – World War II  Declaration of War by the United Kingdom on Nazi Germany following the German Invasion of Poland on 1 September
  • General mobilisation of the armed services begins. The signal “Total Germany” is sent to ships
  • National Service (Armed Forces) Act passed by Parliament introduces National Service for all men aged 18 to 41
• 24 September petrol rationing introduced
• 29 September –national register of citizens compiled to support the introduction of identity cards and rationing
• 30 September – Identity cards introduced
• 1 October – call-up proclamation: All men aged 20–21 must register with the military authorities
• 17 October – first bomb lands in the U.K., at Hoy in the Orkney Islands
• 1940
• 1 January – World War II: Britain calls up 2,000,000 19- to 27-year-olds for military service
• 8 January – food rationing introduced
• 3 February – a Heinkel He 111 bomber is the first German plane shot down over England
• 11 March – Rationing of meat introduced
• 16 March – First civilian casualty of bombing in the UK, on Orkney
• 2 May – Last British and French troops evacuated from Norway following failure in the Norwegian Campaign
• 10 May – Chamberlain resigns as Prime Minister, and is replaced by Winston Churchill
• 26 May–4 June – The Dunkirk evacuation takes place. 300,000 troops are evacuated from France to England.