A SECOND World War evacuee has penned his memories of being moved twice during the bloody conflict.

After being separated from his family, William Slattery, who now lives in Rayleigh, has written a book on his experiences between the ages of ten and 15 years old.

Echo:

Striking a pose - Billy in his RAF days

He hopes the book will serve as a reminder to his family, friends and residents of how a generation coped during the war.

The 89-year-old, who is known as Billy, lived in Walthamstow, east London when the conflict broke out.

In his book, he touches on the experience of being measured for gas masks and being evacuated from his home in the capital - a prime target for German bombing. In 1939, he was evacuated to Rushton, in Northamptonshire, where he lived with “Mr and Mrs Kitchener” and another evacuee.

Billy recalls in his book: “I remember one particular Saturday afternoon when my friends and I were out playing.

“The air raid sirens sounded, so we all ran home. We could hear guns firing in the distance. Standing by the Anderson shelter we saw about 20 German planes. I found out afterwards that they had bombed the docks.”

He continues to explain how when he was back home in London, he had to sleep in their air raid shelter.

Billy then left home for a second time to stay in Yorkshire, at his uncle’s house.

Throughout the book, Billy recounts his life throughout war, including his experience of the ‘blackout’ and of working as a typewriter repairer.

He adds: “It was all quite exciting at ten years old. We assembled at my school before being marched to the station to board the train. Nobody had any idea where they were going, not me or my parents. My dad said ‘bye’, we shook hands at the platform and then I was off.”

His partner, Ann Davies, also from Rayleigh, said: “He has written this book for family and friends to read about his story. We wanted both of our families and friends to be aware of his life, so I said ‘why not write it down?’ Between us I thought we would get it right.

“I bought him a book and pen, he wrote it down and I typed it. It was then professionally edited by people from the area, so we got other locals involved.

“It has been put in print in time for his birthday, as a present and took over a year to make.

“It is quite emotional to look back on, when you read between the lines. When I first mentioned it, he thought it would just be paper, paper clipped together! We’re so excited that it’s finally finished, 60 copies have already gone.”

Friends and family have all received a book, whilst the remaining copies have been sold for £2. Proceeds from the book will be donated to charity.

Billy has had a rollercoaster of a lifetime, not only as a evacuee, but as someone who has served in the RAF.

He is soon to turn 90 and friends and family will be coming together on March 3 to celebrate his life, at the Royal British Legion. in Rayleigh, where Ann and Billy are members.

The Rayleigh charity even held a book signing for Billy to celebrate.

Partner Ann added: “There was a queue of people at the signing. It was quite nice to see the book had been received well and quite funny to see him signing copies.

“It has escalated far more than we ever expected.”

Echo:

Author - Billy's book has been well-received