Nonagenarians share childhood memories of war, evacuation and family sacrifice

As Britain prepared to mark Remembrance Day, two residents of Furze Field Manor care home in Sayers Common shared first-hand accounts of growing up during the Second World War.

At 94 and 96 years old, Derek Forster and Derek Tulip still vividly recall air-raid sirens, evacuation, rationing, family separations and the lasting impact war had on those around them.

For Derek Forster, who was just seven when war broke out, some of the strongest memories are not of battlefields, but of childhood moments shaped by conflict. Derek F said,

“I remember playing in the back fields when the air-raid sirens sounded. There was no way to run around the field to reach safety fast enough, so the older children picked me up and threw me over the fence.”

During the war, Derek attended school in the Horsham area, where boys sheltered in tunnels during V1 flying bomb attacks. One memory that has never left him is hearing the names of former pupils killed in action during Sunday chapel services.

“Some had left school only months earlier. They were only 17, 18 or 19. It could bring us to tears.”

Derek’s father served as a radar operator in Burma, directing fighter aircraft near the front line. Although he eventually returned home on Christmas Eve after the war, the emotional scars remained.

“I don’t think he ever fully recovered from what he experienced. He had nightmares and rarely spoke about the war.”

Decades later, Derek developed a keen interest in wartime intelligence, researching the stories behind Bletchley Park, the Enigma codebreakers and the deception operations that helped secure the success of D-Day.

Meanwhile, 96-year-old Derek Tulip remembers a childhood defined by uncertainty after being evacuated from London.

Sent from Croydon to Goring-by-Sea as a young boy, he was eventually moved between numerous relatives’ homes after his original placement failed. The repeated moves disrupted his education. Derek T said,

“I missed a lot of schooling. Looking back, that’s something I’ve always regretted. While at a school in Blaydon, my mother told the headmaster that I could not read well. The headmaster insisted that the difficulty was about the education I had missed, not my ability, and arranged extra lessons.

“Just as I was beginning to make progress, I was sent to stay with Uncle Bob, who had a shop. I was kept home on Wednesdays to wait for deliveries while the adults went to Newcastle. It felt like another step backwards.”

Despite the challenges, he fondly remembers the relatives who cared for him during difficult times, particularly his grandmother.

“When I look back, I think, how on earth did she afford to keep me at that time?”

His older brother served and suffered life-changing injuries after coming into contact with an electrified military signal wire, losing two fingers as a result.

Despite the disruption war brought to his childhood, Derek went on to build a long working life in construction, haulage and public transport, remaining a bus driver until the age of 68.

As Remembrance Day approaches, both men believe it is important that wartime memories continue to be shared.

Reflecting on his experiences, Derek Forster said: “At the time, we children didn’t always understand the sacrifices adults were making. It is only as you grow older that you realise how much they endured. These memories deserve to be shared and remembered.”

Jacquie Ferguson, General Manager at Furze Field Manor, said: “Listening to Derek and Derek speak about their experiences is incredibly moving. Their stories remind us that war was not only fought on battlefields. It affected children, parents, families and communities across the country. As Remembrance Day approaches, it is a privilege to help preserve and share these precious memories so future generations continue to understand the sacrifices that were made.”