Ivy Wilson was born and grew up in Margate, Kent. She lived in a house with her parents, Mr. and Mrs Sutton and younger brother in a house near the harbour. She can remember watching the coal boats coming in and picking up the bits of coal that fell off the trucks.
She went to Holy Trinity School for a short time before she was evacuated, but can’t remember being told about it. She remembers being taken to the train station in a bus and watching her mother crying. On the train somebody gave her a banana and she didn’t know what it was.
She was first billeted with a lady in Rugeley who was rather unkind and shaved her head because she thought she had nits. Fortunately, one day at school Ivy was taken by the hand and told she was going to live with a Mrs Harrison in Hints. One of the first things she told Ivy was: “You’ll call me aunty and you’ll do as I tell you”.
Listen to Ivy talking about her time in Hints Mrs Harrison by clicking on the audio link below:
Transcript of Ivy’s audio clip _getting into trouble_
No matter how strict her aunt was, Ivy had a wonderful time in Hints. She enjoyed having her own bedroom and playing with Patch, her aunt’s dog. Ivy finally went home after six years in Staffordshire, she had a wonderful time with her. She had her own bedroom and enjoyed playing with Patch the dog. Ivy finally went home between VE and VJ day after six years in Staffordshire. Going home was a terrible shock and she didn’t recognise her mother after six years in Staffordshire. You can hear her talking about the day she came to pick her up by playing the audio link below: