Kath Dolling (nee Smith) and EvacuationThe wail of air-raid sirens over Penge, South-East London on Sunday 3rd September 1939 dramatically changed the life of eight-year-old Kathie Smith. She had lived as a shy, only child, with her partially-sighted Mum and elderly Dad, a retired merchant seaman and widower. Kath was born when her mother was 45 and Dad 66! The Government's evacuation scheme for London children found Kath and her school friend Pamela Houghton (later married to Robert Gomm of Chesham) happily relocated to the beautiful country home of Sir Cyril Reginald Sutton Kirkpatrick in Little Chalfont.He was Chief Engineer for the Port of London Authority and responsible for the erection of many famous bridges, including the King Edward Vll bridge over the Tyne. The gardens and barns surrounding the rambling old house were a haven of delight for two small children from South London. An orchard, knee-deep in daffodils in spring, abounded in apples. "We could eat any windfalls but sometimes couldn't resist 'heading' a few perfect specimens" Kath recalls. Roses of every hue offered hips and haws for harvesting - officially to be taken to Chenies School to be made up into nutritious syrup for babies, but a more exciting use was found to be itching powder to put into Lady K's hairbrushes. (The seeds inside the hips are covered in tiny burrs). Frau Mueller and Frau Claussen, cook and parlour-maid respectively, (Jewish refugees from Germany) were particularly kind to Kath and Pam, providing tasty soups on cold winter days on returning from school in their large cosy kitchen. When Kath missed the school pantomime at Christmas through contracting chickenpox, she was treated "like a little princess" when confined to bed. In TV-less evenings Lady Pauline Kirkpatrick would gather them round the white grand piano in the drawing room, and teach them to appreciate French songs and carols. All this because Pam's granddad once worked with Sir Cyril at the London Docks, and her gran had been housekeeper for them pre-war. Little wonder that when Kath's Dad arrived in the Spring of 1940 to take her home to Penge, because there was no bombing and her Mum missed her, she wept all the way back to London. September 1940 saw the start of the blitz, and Kath's father, who had just opened a sweetshop in Maple Road, Penge, sold up and decided to take his family to safety. 'Loudhams' was unable to accommodate them, having taken in other evacuees, so the 709 Green Line bus dropped them, with a couple of suitcases and Gyp their dog in Chesham Broadway. An elderly man, leaning on the railings on 'The Plough' public house at the bottom of Whitehill took them under his wing. "My wife goes to Newtown Chapel. Come home with me for some soup. She'll know someone who can take you in". That someone was Miss Maud Ebbs, who had a semi-detached house in Gladstone Road. She kindly allocated them a bedroom, but poor Gyp had to be put down. With more attacks on London, the house soon became overcrowded, and Kath and her family were taken in by Mr & Mrs Scott of Vale Road. They had a young son Alan, who was a keen stamp-collector, and a younger daughter, Marie, who was good company for Kath. There was also another boy evacuee name Terry Fitzgerald. All managed to live amicably in a small three-bedroomed semi. Sweet violets then grew along the roadside down the Vale which Kath and her school friend Margaret Palmer (now Barnard) made into bunches to give to their landladies. Eventually the Smith's were offered two rooms in a house belonging to Bill Palmer, a dairy farmer from The Vale, and uncle to Deirdre Lacey (now Britten) one of Kath's school friends. Bill's elderly Aunt Bella occupied the front room of 172 Broad Street, and Kath enjoyed reading Enid Blyton's 'The Wishing Chair' by candlelight to the old lady each evening beside the fire. During this period. Kath's aged father (then 78) obtained work as a night-watchman at the Empire Works at the top of Station Road. This was originally the Empire Theatre but was converted to making small aeroplane parts for the war effort. This meant that Kath no longer had to sleep on a mattress on the floor, except at weekends. Then she often slept at the Manse in Bellingdon Road, the home of her friend Sylvia Gladstone, daughter of the Newtown Baptist Church minister. "I was always made to feel one of the family", she recalls with gratitude. Being a choir member there from the age of eleven, Kath and her family were invited to move into a two-up, two-down cottage in Cromwell Terrace, Townsend Road, (now the site of Cromwell House). Here they cared for 85-year-old Walter Dwight, and after his death, rented the cottage. Townsend Road schooldays were very happy ones for Kath, where she recalls May Day celebrations, with May Queen Iris Canning whose crowning glory was long dark ringlets, whilst blonde and curly Deirdre Lacey was chief attendant. "I really appreciated the fact that although I could never have a birthday party because of my home circumstances, my many school chums - Eileen Lawrence, Margaret Brown, Gracie Dickinson, Janet Pruden, Pam Dwight, Rita Holloway and Deirdre Lacey always invited me to theirs, without thought of return. Such was the generosity and acceptance of Chesham people". Although she passed the scholarship examination, due to her circumstances she was unable to take up the opportunity of education at Dr.Challoner's Grammar School, where most of her friends went. Instead she attended Whitehill Senior Girls' School, under the headship of the human dynamo and Methodist Lay preacher, Miss Florence Dyer. Kath was encouraged in her writing by another evacuee, a young teacher, fresh out of Training College, Miss T.M. Shaddock, who now lives in retirement at Great Missenden, and is still a valued friend. At the age of 14 Kath left school and was employed as a junior clerk at the Children's Special Service Mission (C.S.S.M.) & Scripture Union which had moved from London to 'Emberton', Stanley Avenue for the duration. Evening classes at Germain Street school for shorthand-typing and book-keeping landed her a job with George Williams & Co. Ltd, the Juvenile Clothing Manufacturer in Asheridge Bottom. In the modern factory (1946) she trained as secretary to the manager, Mr Ernest Wallin, did the wages, with bonus system, for the 90+ employees, dealt with reps, invoicing and switchboard duties and must have been one of the original DJ's organising 'Music While You Work' sessions, which encouraged productivity. Hours were 8.30-6.00p.m. plus Saturday morning, all for the princely sum of £2.00 per week, plus one week's holiday in July. Two years later, Kath was allowed a 'junior' to assist her and Margaret Herrington cycled in from Latimer Village each day to share the suite of offices located at the front of the building. Kath's wages then went up to £3.00 per week. The factory supplied high quality clothing to such firms as Harrods, Daniel Neal, John Lewis and Barkers of Kensington, and was known as 'The Factory in the Garden'. Aptly-named gardener Mr Sidney Budd grew vegetables in the surrounding landscaped area to serve the workers' canteen, which was presided over by Miss Olive Appleby, Mrs. Kitty Payne, and Mrs. Budd. In 1951 the company sold out to Van Houten, the chocolate firm, and Kath found herself a post as Secretary/Cashier to Norman Jenns, entrepreneur businessman of Hill Avenue, Amersham, specialising in furniture stores in Amersham, Gerrards Cross and Marlow. The next step in her career was in the Public Health Department of Amersham Rural District Council, where she was secretary to the Chief Public Health Inspector Fred Caudery and assisted the Medical Officer of Health, Dr.T.Evans. Here she spent nearly five happy years until, in obedience to God's calling, she entered the International Training College of The Salvation Army at Denmark Hill in August 1957, receiving her commission as a Lieutenant in May 1959. Kath Dolling (nee Smith) |
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