Evacuation Of The Innocents

Noelle Bigwood, now of Clevedon - second row from back, 5th from left

From off the Guernsey island
The little children fled
“The nuns will take good care of you”
Their parents sadly said
Families just ripped apart
Before the Nazi horde
Invaded in their thousands
The siblings went aboard
The steamer that would take them
To safety far away
In England's green and pleasant land
In hope of better day
Mothers, fathers watched them
Never knowing when
They all would be united
Or even meet again
Time to rest in Weymouth

And calm the youngsters' fears
Before the train that took them North
Excitement mixed with tears
Near Bury the evacuees
For all new homes were found
Off to bed in strange rooms
Far gone familiar sound
This would be their normal
And so five years went by
Keeping up their schooling
Trying not to cry
But always there to guide them
The five nuns who stayed true
To adults’ pleas to shield their young
And see them safely through
They asked their charges to write down
Experiences they'd had
Of living up in Lancashire
Away from Mum and Dad
And then the war was ended
The exiles could return
Sailing to St Peter Port
Where all too soon they'd learn
What hardships and great dangers
The island had endured
So parents could maintain a home
With future life assured.