Week St. Mary
NORTH CORNWALL, UK

50° 45'03.84"N 4° 30'01.39"W
Elevation: 142m OS: SX237977

CALOR VILLAGE OF THE YEAR
County Winner
2009

Week St. Mary Village Community Web Site

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Wartime Evacuees 1. Philip Herbert Samuel Martin B.Com., A.C.I.S. 2. Audrey Tarrant's Memoirs 1. Mr. Philip Herbert Samuel Martin B.Com., A.C.I.S. was instrumental in bring evacuees to Week St. Mary. Mr. Martin was educated at Selhurst Grammar School, Croydon, where he won the Royal Society of Arts Silver Medal for Precis writing at King's College, London, where he was trained for the teaching profession. He served in the first World War with the London Rifle Brigade and was badly wounded. His first professional appointment was with the Croydon Mentally Defective School, and from there he went to Sydenham Boys School, Croydon, as assistant head master. In 1935 he became an Associate of Chartered Institute of Secretaries.
Mr. Martin always had the boy's outside activities very much at heart being an organising secretary of the School Journeys' Association, arranging many outings. including a visit to the Royal Agricultural Show at Windsor and the Glasgow Exhibition in 1938. Twice yearly, until the war stopped it, he took & party of boys to camp for a fortnight at Caterham, Surrey. Weekly visits were also made to a farm near Croydon for the purpose of introducing town boys to country life. At the outbreak of the second World War, Mr. Martin was evacuated with Sydenham School to Woodingdean near Brighton and while there, he fulfilled his plan for the furthering of country knowledge by forming the first Young Farmers' Club for evacuees, and for his hard work in this sphere he was mentioned in Parliament. In April 1940 he returned to his home only to leave again the following June for Week St Mary with a party of boys and girls. As head of the school he entered fully into all the activities of the village and figuring strongly in these were the Army Cadet Force, in which he held the rank of Captain, the Rifle Club and Observer Corps. He obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1946. Mr. Martin was a Freemason for many years and was both an ardent railway enthusiast and historian having had articles printed in the technical magazine. For several years he was a correspondent for the "Post and Weekly News" and up to 1951 was the Secretary of the Horticultural Show.
In an article written by him some time after the Second World War we read the following: I remember well, Sunday, September 16th 1940, for I left my home in Surrey at 7 a.m. to take charge of a party of Croydon children going on evacuation under Plan 4. The authorities had been alarmed by the drift back of children under the previous arrangements and determined to send them further afield, but all I knew was that we should detrain at Bude. The long journey ended about 7 p.m., when several hundred tired children and teachers detrained at the station and were shepherded into Cann Medlands Garage where a real Cornish meal was provided and the children were medically examined. I remember walking down the line of buses parked at the side and reading the names of the destinations. North Cornwall was unknown to me then, but it struck me that Week St. Mary was an attractive sounding name, and I gave instructions for my kit and party to be loaded as far as possible for this place. I never regretted this decision.
Somewhere about 8.30 Mr. L. Maddock drove the bus up to the school where the late Mrs. Sandercock, and her willing band of W.V.S. helpers assisted by many others set about distributing the children around the parish. Every child had a stamped post card on which to write its new address, and those in charge of parties sent telegrams to Croydon giving the location of each school party. The information was posted up outside the Town Hall and must have relieved many anxious parents. By 1945 Croydon children were to be found in 40 different counties. Back in Week St. Mary the children were rapidly absorbed into the homes which had given them shelter and most remained until they were due to leave school or the end of evacuation in 1945. Many still visit the village or keep in touch with their foster parents. When the attack started in August, 1940, the wisdom of evacuating the children was more evident and there were additions to the evacuees. These continued and in 1941 parties arrived from Bristol and Plymouth, so that the School and Methodist Schoolroom were crowded with 156 children and 6 teachers. The "fly bomb" period in 1944 brought the last party of evacuated children and mothers to the village this time from West London, but with the end of the German War most of these returned after a short stay. Evacuation brought many problems and difficulties, but this was well worth while. It may be a sign of toughness to stick it through the raids, but no child should be forced to experience the sight and sound - and possible injuries which go with a modern air-raid. Those who returned from North Cornwall had had a period of loving care in a peaceful countryside, with the continuous education which every child needs. Naturally, they compared favourably in health and development with those who grew up among sleepless nights - and worse and interrupted schooling. The success of the movement was due in great measure to the whole-hearted help of the Cornish people who received the children and treated them as their own.