I can only say that I have been privileged to have been just one of those fortunate evacuees during World War Two, while others possibly suffered. I was enjoying the very best of my childhood, and of my life.
Paul Richards was six years old when he moved to Cookham with his family to escape the perils of living in London during the war. Although only 30 miles away from the city, down the river Thames, Cookham was a rural idyll that the war barely seemed to touch and where the pace of life was slower. Paul spent his days exploring the countryside, making friends with the local characters and enjoying the country way of life. More than 3.5 million people were evacuated during the Second World War, and not all were relocated to happy homes, but these nostalgic memoirs show one evacuee's recollections of a contented childhood – where people survived through adversity by taking pleasure from the simple things and keeping their strong sense of community spirit.
