ID: WW2_VAC / Tony Millatt

TitleEvacuees come to Mersea
Abstract

Evacuees at Mersea. Drawing by Don Butlin for Mistral 1990

Evacuees came to Mersea in two main waves. 1st September 1939 over 400 unacommpanied children came to Mersea from West Ham. They had come to Colchester by train and were taken to nearby schools for food, and for the next stage to be organised - buses to West Mersea School. At the school, the Billeting Officers, all the staff, and many volunteers were waiting.

Householders on the island had been told they had to make room for as many children as living space permitted. The householders thoughts were often along the lines of choosing two nice ones, but for the children themselves, it must have been terrifying. They were mostly under 11, frightened, lonely, and homesick.

Two days later on 3rd September, 332 women and young children also came to the island.

The evacuees came with the headmaster of a West Ham School, Mr Robson, and a number of voluntary helpers. The numbers vary in different reports, but it is difficult to imagine the effect such large numbers had on the island. The school implemented a shift system, with local children in the morning and evacuees in the afternoon. There was overflow into the Legion Hall and the WI Hall. Plans were made for providing school dinners for the first time, though this did not happen until most evacuees had left.

Other small schools started, often run by teachers escaping from London and catering for children who had voluntarily left London. The Council requisitioned Oxford House in Mill Road and equipped it to accommodate children with ailments or just suddenly needing accommodation.

Life on the island with evacuees settled down. A Billeting Tribunal met to resolve problems of accommodation, though often this was to rubber stamp arrangments where local families had agreed between themselves to move children.
Many householders found evacuees a strain, but others really welcomed having them in the family. Kathy Negus was even adopted by a local family, and her sister also stayed in touch, returning to Mersea for her honeymoon.

The last months of 1939 were the 'phoney war', with little action on the land, though there was serious action just off the coast and abroad. The result was that many evacuees drifted back home.
By May 1940, there was a serious threat of invasion and a new evacuation plan. Mersea and the surrounding area was a possible invasion area and the remaining evacuees were encouraged to move. In June 1940 17 children and 16 adults were evacuated from Mersea to Cinderford in Gloucestershire. 62 remained at West Mersea or were taken home.

Read More:
Negus family evacuees

Mersea Island in Wartime by Pat Norris Page 1   Page 2

A recollection of 1939 by Helen Searle 1991 and in 2001 Page 1   Page 2

Evacuees and Wartime Life by Peter Tucker

A List of Evacuees who came to Mersea

Evacuees come to Peldon

AuthorTony Millatt
SourceMersea Museum
IDWW2_VAC
Related Images:
 Mrs Lawrence.
 Pat and Fred. 
 May 1940 just before the evacuees were sent away from Mersea. [From back of photograph - presumably referring to two evacuees and their mother on the left.].
 Centre is Violet Chatters and to the right Sheila Chatters. They are standing on the Air Raid Shelter at the back of the Chatters' bungalow St Pietro, now 38 St. Peters Road.  CHS_017
ImageID:   CHS_017
Title: Mrs Lawrence.
Pat and Fred.
May 1940 just before the evacuees were sent away from Mersea. [From back of photograph - presumably referring to two evacuees and their mother on the left.].
Centre is Violet Chatters and to the right Sheila Chatters. They are standing on the Air Raid Shelter at the back of the Chatters' bungalow St Pietro, now 38 St. Peters Road.
Date:May 1940
Source:Mersea Museum / Sheila Chatters
 Sent to Mrs E.M. Hayward, Rainbow Road West Mersea, by Queen Elizabeth to say thankyou for welcoming evacuees to her home in 1939.
</p><p>Mrs Hayward said Our evacuees came in 1939 from the east end of London for the duration of the blitz
 - Jean Garnham from Wanstead
 - Ernie and Bert Jacob from East Ham
 When they became adults - Ernie (a Petty Officer in Merchant Navy !) appeared at Rainbow Road; we were still there and he returned again when on leave many times to see my sister Mary. In 1951 they were married. 
</p><p>[ 29 September 1951 Ernest Douglas Jacob married Mary Winifred Hayward at West Mersea Parish Church ]  JAY_EVC_005
ImageID:   JAY_EVC_005
Title: Sent to Mrs E.M. Hayward, Rainbow Road West Mersea, by Queen Elizabeth to say thankyou for welcoming evacuees to her home in 1939.

Mrs Hayward said "Our evacuees came in 1939 from the east end of London for the duration of the blitz
- Jean Garnham from Wanstead
- Ernie and Bert Jacob from East Ham
When they became adults - Ernie (a Petty Officer in Merchant Navy !) appeared at Rainbow Road; we were still there and he returned again when on leave many times to see my sister Mary. In 1951 they were married.

[ 29 September 1951 Ernest Douglas Jacob married Mary Winifred Hayward at West Mersea Parish Church ]

Source:Brian Jay Collection
 Connie White - an evacuee who stayed with Mr & Mrs Arthur Cock and used to return to Mersea after the War
 The card says To Auntie, with Love from Connie xx. By Curzon Studios, The Grove, Stratford E.  RG25_521
ImageID:   RG25_521
Title: Connie White - an evacuee who stayed with Mr & Mrs Arthur Cock and used to return to Mersea after the War
The card says "To Auntie, with Love from Connie xx. By Curzon Studios, The Grove, Stratford E.
Source:Ron Green Collection
 James E. Morgan who was an evacuee at West Mersea during WW2. He was from West Ham, born 6 September 1928. James stayed with Hannah and Ezra John Read, at Yoma, Coast Road. The 1939 Register tells us that also staying in the house was Dennis F. Barrett, born 14 September, 1928, also from West Ham.
</p><p>Yoma is Amoy backwards - the Reads had a daughter who was a missionary in Amoy, China
</p>
<p>The photo is from 1938, a year before James came to Mersea.
</p>  VAC_001
ImageID:   VAC_001
Title: James E. Morgan who was an evacuee at West Mersea during WW2. He was from West Ham, born 6 September 1928. James stayed with Hannah and Ezra John Read, at "Yoma", Coast Road. The 1939 Register tells us that also staying in the house was Dennis F. Barrett, born 14 September, 1928, also from West Ham.

"Yoma" is "Amoy" backwards - the Reads had a daughter who was a missionary in Amoy, China

The photo is from 1938, a year before James came to Mersea.

Date:1938
Source:Mersea Museum / Michele Morgan
 James E. Morgan who was an evacuee at West Mersea during WW2. He was from West Ham, born 6 September 1928, and came to Mersea September 1939. James stayed with Hannah and Ezra John Read, at Yoma, Coast Road. The 1939 Register tells us that also staying in the house was Dennis F. Barrett, born 14 September, 1928, also from West Ham.
</p><p>Yoma is Amoy backwards - the Reads had a daughter who was a missionary in Amoy, China
</p>  VAC_003
ImageID:   VAC_003
Title: James E. Morgan who was an evacuee at West Mersea during WW2. He was from West Ham, born 6 September 1928, and came to Mersea September 1939. James stayed with Hannah and Ezra John Read, at "Yoma", Coast Road. The 1939 Register tells us that also staying in the house was Dennis F. Barrett, born 14 September, 1928, also from West Ham.

"Yoma" is "Amoy" backwards - the Reads had a daughter who was a missionary in Amoy, China

Date:c1940
Source:Mersea Museum / Michele Morgan