War-time evacuee traced

Author Sylvia McHale had hoped to trace Daphne Le Friec after she read a letter in a national newspaper which Daphne had written. In the letter Daphne said she was a native of Guernsey and, like Sylvia, had been evacuated to Tottington, near Bury Lancashire, during World War Two.

The letter gave Daphne's address as Bexhill on Sea.

Sylvia wrote a book on her war-time experiences as an evacuee called, 'Time to Stand and Stare' '“ Tottington Memories 1939-1943. Many fellow evacuees, who lived in or around Tottington, were from the Channel Islands and Sylvia had hoped to make contact with Daphne in order to share their experiences.

Daphne was pleased and surprised to read the article and contacted the Observer.

Although initially she didn't think she had met Sylvia, on reading her book (which Sylvia kindly sent to her) many memories came flooding back.

Daphne said: "I can't say I remember Sylvia. I was only six years old when I was evacuated with my younger brother John, who was nine, and my sister Betty who was twelve. But reading Sylvia's book has bought back many memories and there's every chance that we did meet."

Like thousands of other young children at the time, Daphne said it was quite an experience for a small girl to be uprooted from her home, given a tiny suitcase containing just a change of clothes and two vests, and taken down to the docks. Leaving her Mum, Dad and elder brother Lesley on the quayside in Guernsey, the young Daphne and her siblings were placed on a ship under the care of nuns, escaping the island a few short days before the Germans took control.

The rest of Daphne's family also secured safe passage off the island and six weeks later they were all reunited, and they were to live in Tottington, which Daphne describes as, "a lovely, magical place", until their return to Guernsey in October 1945.

Daphne believes hers and Sylvia's paths probably crossed many times and one of the group pictures in the book (of a choir) describes one young girl as 'unknown', but Daphne knows exactly who it is.

She said: "That's' me! So we must have met at some point."

Daphne hopes she will soon be sharing her memories with Sylvia; their phone numbers have been exchanged there's the possibity they will get together in the not too distant future.

On hearing that Daphne had been in touch Sylvia said: "I'm overwhelmed, it's a tremendous surprise and has refreshed all the memories again."

Sylvia hopes it won't be too long before the pair can meet in person. She said: "I'm planning to give Daphne a call and speak to her later; I'm quite excited. It would be lovely if we could meet up."