Evacuee Dies Aged 12 in Wales

I write this story in memory of my late husband who died a few years ago.
He came from a family of five, who lived in Kentish Town,London. In 1941,three of the children-Bill, Len and their sister,Audrey were evacuated to Aberbargoed, a small mining village in Wales. Bill and Len,who were 12 and 10 years old at the time, were taken in by one family and their younger sister,Audrey was at a house nearby.

One day Bill and Len were playing hide and seek on opposite sides of the road. It was Len's turn to hide and he shouted "Ready"- Bill ran out to find him and was knocked down by a car and died at the scene. The family, like most in those days, had little money and could only afford for Bill's mother to attend the Funeral.They managed to borrow enough money for a headstone in the Churchyard where Bill was buried.
Len and Audrey were taken back to London and remained at the Family home in Kentish Town for the remaining years of the War.
In the 1970's Len and I went to Aberbargoed to find the church where Bill was buried. We found the Church easily but hunted for a long time and could not find the Headstone. The grass was very long and it seemed we were not going to be succesful. Len started back towards our car and I thought I would just have one last look. Luck was with me and I found this tiny Headstone which,having been protected by the grass for so many years,looked like new. We stood there and looked down into the valley, it was so peaceful, a beautiful place to be laid to rest.
On arrival home we went to tell my Mother-in-law, who was in her eighties, and she cried as if it had all happened recently. To her it probably seemed like it had.

Would Bill still be alive if they had never been evacuated? Who would have thought a child would be killed by a car in a small Welsh village in 1941?

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.