IAmAnEvacuee

There is not one lesson for every person. I think the most important is to always think why people do what they do, and judge people by what they are trying to do than what they are doing, or maybe understand what they are trying to do, but that doesn't mean excusing their actions.

Acknowledging when you're wrong is important too, it means it's so much easier to learn and stop worrying, but it's also very difficult, the easiest way is to start small, so when you make a very small inconsequential mistake, for example, making the tea badly or telling them slightly wrong information, apologise. It becomes much easier to eventually be responsible for and apologise for the really important things. People always change, I have changed a lot, but the only way we can make sure other people know we have changed is through telling them and showing them, and apologising and being honest is a part of that.

About the Jews fleeing Nazis...my husband was Jewish- born in Britain- and although most of his family, from Russia, I think it's now Belarus, came before the war, some stayed and were killed there, I think. I knew many survivors but not in his family, but because I live in a historically Jewish area and have a lot of relatives through my husband in Israel, and a lot of survivors who I knew through the communist party and my bridge club. It was only luck that ensured his family left before the immigration policy largely prevented his mother's family and his cousins from leaving.

Syrian people are fleeing war. My daughter works with refugees as she is an immigration lawyer and the stories of little boys being tortured and women and men being trafficked....I can't believe anyone with a conscience can turn people away or say they deserve to drown in the Mediterranean or don't deserve support, even. There are problems which some refugees cause, but I think that's because they're human and they're usually poor and not allowed to work and have been traumatised. I wish the UK would take more so that the refugees would be spread out across Europe so all could be supported instead of a few countries having too many to support. Syrian refugees deserve our help and support. It is terrifying to contemplate what they have been through.

I am voting to remain. I believe that the Eu is very positive and I believe the immigration we receive is beneficial to our economy and our culture. I think the EU adds another layer of protection against human rights abuses, which I would not trust the Tories with. I worry that the leave campaign is causing dangerous nationalism and xenophobia.

It was not Victorian, like how some people think, but there were very big problems. For example, some people did not have to pay, such as the very elderly, and they would line up separately to the paying patients. The paying patients got better care. An almoner would visit the patients to ensure they paid. It was more stressful and unfair for the patients. For the staff, life before the NHS was okay, wards were busier and I think that the NHS allowed and encouraged medical developments, without it, I believe even paying patients missed out on the best treatments. The NHS saw much more monitoring than before as well which meant fairer treatment for everyone, but there were some situations where regulations didn't fit the context or realities.

To be a nurse before the NHS was actually very interesting! Not as good as a doctor, of course, but it was a good job, especially for people like me who could not afford other skilled training, such as teaching, which was what I wanted to do. However the hierarchy was very strict, and I feel standards for basic day care were higher than today. When I was last in hospital, the wards were definitely less neat, but the nurses were more overworked. Nursing wasn't respected as much by doctors either. The ideal for a nurse was to marry a rich doctor and retire. Nowadays, I imagine a nurse's dream would be much more than simply becoming a matron and marriage, but perhaps specialising in mental health and achieving a very high level and pay for yourself.

I was sent to the Forest of Dean by train. I do not think of myself as a refugee though! For the first week I was in a miner's house. I hated it. I was picked out as one of the last because I couldn't stop crying. It was off the road and a very small house. We shared a bed, my sister, the man, the wife and me, and the man came home from the pit black from coal, which terrified me. I hated it so much. After a week they moved me to a bigger middle class family close by. They had a big garden and were older, but had no children. There were two other evacuees from Essex, where I'm from, as well, who were much younger. They actually wanted to adopt me after the war, but I decided not to, and they eventually adopted two toddlers who were very sweet. It was a wonderful childhood with them.

The best? Well, it was lovely being outside. As horrible as it sounds, the war was absolutely the best part of my childhood. I was a Guide and we went camping all over the forest, which I loved. But the best parts were probably attending an excellent grammar school and living in an educated and close family. We had two dogs, one died during my stay, the first was called Peter, and the second was named Peter 2! Both were so well trained and lovely. I will always remember those dogs. Another great part of being an evacuee was when a bomb was dropped nearby. I don't know how or why as we were not near a bombing place, but probably a plane unloading it's bomb after flying back from bombing Cardiff or maybe even Bristol. It was very exciting and also harmless.

The worst was being away from my family. I cried a lot at first and missed my sisters and my brothers a lot. I was one of the youngest, but my half sister stayed with my mother and my closest sister was in the same village but was older and later left to Cheltenham as a cook. Actually one of the worst things was the privy midden! Even though the family I lived with were middle class, they had an outside toilet. I hated going there in the dark and was terrified of the spiders.