Author Description

On the 1st September 1939, thousands of Manchester school-children were entrusted to the care of their teachers, to be taken by buses and trains to somewhere safe in the country; their ultimate destination was unknown. Edward Gill's mother entrusted all 7 of her children with the parting words to Albert, the eldest, "Don't forget to write when you get to the other end." Some of the children travelled for most of the day before arriving tired and bewildered in villages many miles from home, where they were dispersed among strangers able and willing to take them. For some, like Edward Gill and his family, the effects of the experience have lasted a lifetime. "Dear Mam and Dad..." is a brief personal account of this landmark in their lives and in the nation's history.