MEMBERS of Inveraray History Society were given a moving and often uplifting glimpse into wartime childhood this month as they heard first-hand memories from a former evacuee.
At the society’s afternoon meeting, Dr Joyce Deans shared memories of her experiences during the Second World War, prompted in conversation by Anna Magnusson.
Joyce was a pupil at Laurel Bank School in Glasgow when, along with around 170 girls of primary and secondary age, she was evacuated to Auchterarder for the duration of the war.
The younger girls were housed at Strathallan Castle, while the older pupils, including Joyce, stayed at Auchterarder House.
Although the move meant years away from home and family, Joyce recalled how the girls gradually adapted to rural life and came to appreciate freedoms they would not have enjoyed in the city.
Despite the upheaval, school life continued under the guidance of the headmistress and staff, with lessons and discipline maintained throughout.
With rationing in place, cooks managed to keep the pupils fed, helped by local farmers who supplied rabbits and eggs. Each girl, Joyce recalled, had to make 2oz of butter last a week and 1lb of jam stretch for two months.
Members and guests were entertained by a series of vivid and often humorous memories, including classes being held in bathrooms and on stairways, and the excitement of sneaking out for skating on the ice at night.
But the girls were also expected to play their part in the war effort.
Senior pupils were sent out tattie howking in the fields, helped grow vegetables, gathered sheep’s wool from fences, and learned to dye and weave it. They also made bandages for wounded soldiers and performed gym displays and concerts for recovering Allied troops at Gleneagles Hospital.
One especially poignant memory was of students performing sketches in French for French troops on the very day France fell to Germany, aware even then of the importance of lifting morale.
Reflecting later on those years, Joyce and her fellow pupils came to realise how fortunate they had been compared with others of their age, including Anne Frank, whose wartime experience was so very different.
Anna Magnusson said it had been an honour to edit Joyce’s memories, along with those of other former pupils, into a small book capturing part of Scotland’s social history during the war.
The society’s next meeting will be its AGM on Tuesday, May 5, at 2pm at Auchindrain.
Spaces are limited, but non-members wishing to attend and take a tour, costing £5, are asked to contact [email protected].
