3 October 1939 - War has broken out

Eastbrook
Bullamoor Road
Northallerton

3.10.39


Dear Angela
Although I have not received a reply to my letter of the 15th August I am writing now as I have done so much since then.
After writing the last time I went for a fortnights camping. We had a wonderful time. We were camping in a field about 20 yards from the River Wear at Eastgate. There was good bathing and the woods were very close by. Our water was obtained from a very squeaky pump and we got our milk and eggs very cheaply from the farm. The village was about twenty houses and a public house. The Pennines were only about 6 miles away and we often went onto the moors. After ten days of fun we were called back home because of the crisis. When we got back we found the town in a fever of excitement over the “war scare”. We had only been back about a week when the war began.
Since the war began we have had to have complete darkness in the streets at night, and it is terrible trying to find your way about in the dark. I suppose you will have heard about the evacuation scheme, well I am an evacuee. We were told to report at school with our clothes in a rucksac, and then we were taken down to the railway station and sent to my present abode Northallerton which is a small town in Yorkshire.
I will have to tell you about Northallerton. It is in the North Riding of Yorkshire between the Pennines and the Cleveland Hills. It has a population of 5,000, two cinemas, no baths, no library and no river. We have to attend school and 450 boys have been put into space for 200. We are billeted in private houses and the owners receive some food for the first two days and they are given an allowance for our keep from the Government. I am sleeping with one of my pals and we are having some great fun although the town is half asleep and is so small. The girls portion of our school is now at Richmond which is 16 miles away, we often go through on our bikes.
The government have just begun to ration petrol and they are going to ration food in the next few weeks but we will not starve as this is a great fruit producing area and we know where the orchards are.
I cannot write to my German correspondent now so I will have more time to write to you now. I am sorry if this letter is like a story but it has been a new experience to me. Please excuse my writing as I tried to “bounce” my pen on the classroom floor. Write to my home address as I will be going home if the war finishes. If you write home it will be sent to me.
I think I have just about run out of my latest adventure so I will close now hoping you are in as good health as your “corresponding evacuee”. I would have sent some camp photos but they were very poor.
Love
Harold
P.S. Write soon