Noelle Bigwood, nee Mignot, 93, was 10 years old when she was evacuated via cargo ship to Weymouth on 20 June 1940.
She was not reunited with her family until September 1945.
‘I was a pupil at Notre Dame school,’ she said.
‘I can’t remember how many children there were on the boat but it was packed because there was a shortage of available boats at the time due to the Dunkirk evacuation.
‘There were about 60 of us from Notre Dame, along with five nuns who looked after us.’
After arriving in Weymouth, the children travelled via train to Burnley in Lancashire, where they stayed for two weeks before arriving in the village of Greenmount, just north of Manchester, where they would remain for the rest of the war.
‘I knew there was a war going on, but I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, going away felt like a holiday,’ Mrs Bigwood said. ‘Our parents had no idea where we were being sent to.’
Life during wartime was immensely challenging.
Rationing and practising air raid protocols became commonplace, and opportunities for Mrs Bigwood to contact her parents in Guernsey were limited.
‘The Red Cross organised for us to send occasional letters back home, but they could only be 25 words long, so you couldn’t say much other than that you were alive and OK.
‘I also remember going to pick up meat and sweet rations for the families I stayed with. You couldn’t choose, it was just what got given to you.’
Mrs Bigwood stayed with one family for the first 18 months of her time in Greenmount, before moving to a second family for the remainder of the war.
She recalled hearing German planes flying overhead as nearby Manchester was bombed.
‘In the house opposite to where I lived there was a cellar with bunks in where people would go if they heard the planes.
‘We also used to practise throwing ourselves down on the ground outside. Luckily we never had to do it for real, but as children we found it quite exciting.’
She was thankful for the five nuns from Notre Dame, who had travelled over with the children and had helped continue their education at a nearby convent.
‘Looking back it must have been so difficult for them as they had to look after us all the time, it was amazing feat.’
In September 1945 Mrs Bigwood was finally able to return home to Guernsey.
She vividly remembered the moment she was reunited with her parents.
‘I remember coming into the harbour, hearing a boy sing and seeing a big crowd. My parents didn’t have a car so we walked back to our bungalow home in Village du Putron.
‘It was weird being reunited with them. I had missed them dearly but I had also become attached to Greenmount, so there were lots of mixed feelings.’
She stayed in Guernsey for 10 years following the war, before moving to the UK to work and start a family. She and her husband had four children. She became homesick and the family returned to Guernsey for a period in the 1970s. She currently lives in Clevedon, Somerset, with family nearby, including grandchildren.
‘The war period was obviously very difficult and I remember feeling scared and frightened often, but I’m also amazed that we managed to get through it.
‘I don’t plan on returning to Guernsey, but my children and their families have visited, so the link is still there.’
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