WHAT were things like during the war?

This question posed to Ann Gilmartin by her granddaughter Kate, aged 12, many times and so she has written a booklet about her childhood adventures as an evacuee in Evesham and dedicated the story called Number 64 to her.

Now widowed and living in Ireland, Mrs Gilmartin said: "I have had a wonderful response from everyone who has read my story," and she added: "I feel it is an important chapter in the history of Evesham, a part of England I have loved to visit with family and friends."

Her story starts when as an 11-year-old she was evacuated with her school from Birmingham in September, 1939.

After arriving at Evesham railway station Ann walked across the road to St Mary's School where they were given something to eat and a carrier bag containing "rations," a term they were going to be familiar with for the following years of the war. Her carrier bag contained a tin of corned beef, a huge bar of Cadbury's chocolate and a packet of biscuits.

The children were all issued with a gas mask to protect them from Hitler's gas bombs.

"We carried this in a box with string over our shoulders. Fortunately we never needed to use them," she said.

The children were dropped off at various houses in the town and Ann ended up at 64 Windsor Road with a Fred and Norah Brotherton and their daughter Marjorie, aged 13, a pupil at Prince Henry's Grammar School.

"My first impression of Mrs Brotherton and the house was one of amazement," she said. "She was so kind and a real fusspot. Mr Brotherton was a very kind man who was to become a real father figure in my life, even to giving me away on my wedding day 13 years later."

She recalls that Mr Brotherton was a market gardener for a local firm and also had ground of his own where he grew produce to sell at the market. "With plenty of spares for us to eat at home we were never short of fruit and vegetables and Mrs B was able to bottle, preserve and make jams.

"Also as Mr B was an agricultural worker which was classified as an important occupation he was allowed extra food rations, so we all benefited from these," she said

Mrs Gilmartin settled into being part of the Brotherton family, helping with all the domestic chores and always shown the correct way to do things, Mrs B saying: "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well."

Every week Ann always had a letter with a half crown (25p) postal order, After an initial splash out at Woolworth she was shown how to budget and remembers she always had a little bit in her post office book.

School, church regularly on Sunday and the routine at No 64 - Saturday afternoon the weekly bath, Monday washday and the leftovers from Sunday - and a summer holiday job in a sweet and cake shop on the High Street are all recalled by Mrs Gilmartin.

Even after returning to Birmingham Mrs Gilmartin continued to spend holidays with the Brothertons and after their daughter died from meningitis aged 17 she was always there for them. When she married Michael in 1952 Mr Brotherton gave her away and as children arrived Mr and Mrs Brotherton became Auntie Norah and Uncle Fred.

Reminders

The Brothertons both died in the late 1980s, ending what Mrs Gilmartin says were 50 years of love and friendship.

Before the door of Number 64 was closed she was invited to take whatever she wanted from their home and she carefully selected items she felt special to them and which she could treasure as reminders of happy days as their evacuee.

She says: "All that remains are loving memories and a grave in Evesham cemetery which I have regularly visited. I reflect on those days in Evesham with sheer joy. The security, love and trust I received from total strangers was incredible and I know that children growing up in today's environment could never enjoy freedom in the same way."

In a tailpiece to her granddaughter in the booklet Mrs Gilmartin says: "I hope you have enjoyed following my voyage of experiences as an evacuee and as a teenager, and that maybe you will relate them to your children and your children's children to keep the memories of World War Two alive."