Ifield Park care home in Crawley: Stories that live on — A wartime teddy bear and a lifetime of memories

Mary Williams had a beautiful Teddy Bear that originally belonged to her mother and had probably been one of the earliest “Teddy Bears” sold at the time. It had been a special gift from a schoolteacher to her mother. During the Second World War, Mary was just six years old when she was evacuated from her home in Romford, near East London, to escape the bombing raids. Although Romford was not a primary target, it lay beneath the flight path of German bombers to London, who sometimes dropped bombs over Romford early on their way or dropped spare ones.

Mary was sent to stay on a farm in Devon as part of a private arrangement. Though her family knew where she was going, it was very hard for Mary, an only child, to be away from her parents for the first time. She took her treasured Teddy Bear with her for comfort.

One day, Mary and the farmer’s children were giving each other piggyback rides in the kitchen. Mary fell on the stone kitchen floor and broke her arm. She was then admitted to Exeter hospital.

Hospitals then were very different from today. Children were expected to stay in their beds all the time, and their mothers were only allowed to visit once a week. Mary was understandably upset, although her mother came from Romford to stay nearby and would secretly wave to her through the children’s ward door when the nurses were not looking.

Mary made friends with the girl across the ward. As they were confined to bed, the girls threw toys to each other to pass the time - though it was difficult with Mary’s broken arm. When Mary’s teddy fell on the floor, a nurse confiscated it and scolded the girls for throwing toys.

Mary’s mother decided to take her home earlier than what the doctors recommended, fearing that the children’s ward, on the top floor, was unsafe during an air raid. Devon had seen little bombing until then, and local people were confident that Exeter was safe because it was in a valley. Mary was so keen to go home with her mother that, when she remembered her teddy as they were going down in the lift, she did not want to go back up to the ward to ask to have it back.

Shortly after, Exeter was bombed.

When she got home to Romford with her mother, Mary was upset because she missed her teddy. Her mother wanted to get her a new one, but there were none available in the shops. All materials were being kept for essential items, like clothes to keep people warm. Mary’s mother had a friend who made clothes. She very kindly kept all the little bits of material that were left over from a coat that she was making and sewed them into a Teddy Bear.

Mary never loved this teddy as much as the one that she lost, but when Mary’s daughter, Jill, was born, it became her favourite teddy for many years. Mary’s wartime teddy is no longer played with; it is too old and fragile to join in rough games these days. The story of this Teddy Bear stands as a touching reminder of one family’s experience during the war, as shared by a resident of Ifield Park Care Home.

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