Poems from the Evacuation Project
Here are some poems from the Evacuation Experience 2010. Our original activity was developed by Dr Gerrard O'Sullivan an Advanced Skills Teacher from Tenterden and we find it works particularly well. Engaged in the Experience, children often find hidden depths of expression which this exercise unlocks.
Evacuation Poems
Kent and East Sussex Railway 2010
Bombs, bombs,Screaming bombs
Hayley, St Mary's Folkestone
No chocolate allowed,
The children wave at the crowd.
Mums and dads speaking out loud.
The children are very loud.
Jenny, Annaf, Badger, Sari Bridge and Patrixbourne School.Here we all are at the stationIt's the day for evacuation
We are going to the country by train
[We don't know when we'll be back again]
Goodbye, ta-ta and toodle-pip
[I hope I won't be travel sick]
Bridge and Patrixbourne School.
Don't be late.
We've got to evacuate.
We are leaving home ~
That's the bad news.
My mother has the home-sick blues.
Anon, Bridge and Patrixbourne School.Here comes the trainExtremely late...... again!
Everybody excited, someone is crying,
The spiv is hoping people are buying.
Amanda, Chloe, Zoë and Alex Bridge and Patrixbourne School.
Here we are
Skies are blue
And the train is here.
Rachel, Silverdale School.Excited energy
VulnerableAdoptedChocolate (illegal!)
United with your family
EmergencyEvacuate, Evacuate!
Eleanor, George, Ella and others Bridge and Patrixbourne School.
War was a bore for the poor!
The planes flew over the lanes.
Anon, Silverdale SchoolToday I left home without a smile
On the train I waved goodbye,
Wondering what my life will be
Feeling scared so far away from my family.
My body is sad from head to toe
What will life be like when I come home.
Tears rolling down my cheeks
As I comfortably clutch my family photo.
Lindsay, Brittany, Hollie, Emmy, Rhys and Adam Godington Primary School
An evacuee from Kent
On a steam train he was sent
Away from the war
Was he sent far?
Only to Stoke-on-Trent!
Anon.Bombs overhead
Take Shelter
Evacuation day
Sad, lonely, afraid
Travelling to the country,
What will I find?
My host family
I hope they are kind.
Jazmine, Sol, Charley, Maya, Chantel and othersDiscovery School
Evacuation
Sitting here all alone.
Wondering how things are at home
Choking smoke and burning coal
Isn't great food for the soul.
I don't know where I will arrive,
With my new family, will I survive?
James, Shay, Harrison, Mitch, Emily, Taila, Sasha and ImogenThe Discovery SchoolThis morning I left my house
I think it might be for one year
I must confess I shed a tear.
Carla, Ed, Henry, Katie, KayleighKingshill School
Women, Men, Children, all involved in war.
Officer, officer, help us please.
Rationing was hard
London bombed – in devastation
Destroyed – all homes !
Will this war ever end?
Adolf's army, sent to frighten us.
Run for cover, run, run, run.
I hope we never have WWIII.
Morgan, James, Bethany, Jack, Heather and others,West Minster Primary School, Sheerness.I'm really, really sad.
I don't want to leave
I feel really upset and I want to go home
I don't know what to doI am angry and lonely
I don't know where I'm going
Or who I'm staying with.I will NOT go,
I am staying in my trench
I wish the war would go away. Anon
Hot, Stuffy, Crowded, Unhappy
Hot, Stuffy, Crowded, Unhappy
When are we going to get there?
Tired, thirsty, scared, frightened
I need the loo; Me too !
Hungry, annoyed, frustrated, squashed
Where are we going?
I don't want to go, I hate the country
Paranoid, strangers' faces, agitated, worried.
Buxted School, years 5 and 6.Worried, sirens wailing through the air.
Anderson shelter, safe, tight and extremely stuffy.
Resportation on the running train,
Children nervous of their arrival.
Clutching gas masks.
Mersham Primary School.
Standing on the Platform
Steam Train
Children waiting
Soldiers watching
Planes flying
Bombs dropping
Trains whistling
Scared, worried,
Sad,
Missing my mum.
Oakley SchoolEvery child was evacuated
V2's are flying high
Adolf Hitler is getting ready
Can Hitler beat us?
Unbelievably frightened
Evacuees were on the steam trains
Evacuees arrive at their new homes.
St Mary Star of the SeaYear 3 Mrs Jacob's group
In WW2 the bombs flew
In World War 2 the bombs flew.
Lighting the night skies from the gloom.
Fear and fire flew from the flames
And evacuees boarded the trains.
Wentworth Primary School
Years 5 and 6 Miss Stracan and Miss Phillips
The toilets smell and its full of grime,
The sooner I get out of here the better
I need to give my family a willing letter.
I hate Hitler, I do, I do,
My shoes have holes, yes my shoes.
Natasha, Greatstone Primary School
World at War,
Oh, no,
Run, run,
Lunch is limited
Dig for Victory
Worry,
Are we safe?
Revenge,
Terrible Time,
World is scared,
Oh, WE’VE WON!!!
Various children: school uncertain – two schools named on sheet, please let us know!!Everybody screaming,
Very Frightened
A strange feeling of sadness
Carefully boarding the train
Uncertainty all around,
Afraid and unsure
Teddies taken
Identity cards pinned.
On our way to a different place
No one knowing what’s happening next.
Punnetts Town
Horrible, horrible Hitler
You have split up our families
You have invaded half of Europe
Blowing up our houses and trees
We suffer at your hands
I wish that you could seethe misery inflicted on us
The poor, young evacuee!
Yr5 Singlewell SchoolToo young to know the misery
Inflicted on our kin
Hitler, not good, nor man,
Just monster full of sin.
Let us all remember,
Let us not ignore
All that’s gone before us
These wars we want no more.
Yr 4/5 Greatstone Primary School
