Barbara
Barbara, who was 8 or 9 when WWII started, remembers being evacuated from Southend Central Train Station to Sutton Coldfield, where she lived with two school teachers. Although they were lovely people, Barbara regularly sent telegrams home as she missed her parents so much.
Eventually, Barbara joined her Mum and Dad at Eynsham, a sleepy little village in Oxfordshire, as her Father had begun working a short distance away at RAF Brize Norton…
Please note: This interview refers to war-time incidents that some listeners may find upsetting. There may be some background noise due to the interview being conducted outside.
Barbara was evacuated as a child from Southend Central Train Station to Sutton Coldfield.
When in Southend, Barbara attended Brewery Road School (now called Porters Grange), followed by Southchurch Hall School (now Southend Adult Community College)
Photograph: Children being evacuated in 1940 from Southend Central Train Station - With thanks to Southend Museums Service.
Barbara’s Mum (second from left) was a dancer and starred in one of Hollywood’s very first talking films ‘The Broadway Melody' in 1929.
The Broadway Melody, 1929. MGM's first musical, made at the dawn of talkies, in which Barbara’s Mum starred as a dancer.
In 1943, at the age of 12, Barbara remembers performing at the Regal Theatre in Southend-on-Sea (now the site of Tyler’s Avenue car park) and with her Mum’s encouragement, she went on to enjoy a long career in entertainment.
Barbara’s uncle Edwin was in the Parachute Regiment and was injured in September 1944 at the Battle of Arnhem, which was depicted in the film A Bridge Too Far. Edwin later became known as ‘The world’s foremost hypnotist’.