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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

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. |
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