John Lumsden, a retired teacher from Fylingthorpe, came to talk to Forms 2 and 3 about his wartime memories. He was evacuated from Brighton to Ripponden
and had a happy time with his host families, developing a lifelong affection for Yorkshire. In fact he was teased by his school friends when he arrived back in Brighton after the war with a broad Yorkshire accent! His playmates who stayed behind in Brighton had a lucky escape when their school playground was hit by a bomb, and several houses on Mr Lumsden’s street were destroyed as German planes off-loaded their bombs before flying home across the channel. The pupils were especially interested to read Mr Lumsden’s letter to his father, written as a young evacuee far from home. Many thanks to Mr Lumsden for sharing his memories.
and had a happy time with his host families, developing a lifelong affection for Yorkshire. In fact he was teased by his school friends when he arrived back in Brighton after the war with a broad Yorkshire accent! His playmates who stayed behind in Brighton had a lucky escape when their school playground was hit by a bomb, and several houses on Mr Lumsden’s street were destroyed as German planes off-loaded their bombs before flying home across the channel. The pupils were especially interested to read Mr Lumsden’s letter to his father, written as a young evacuee far from home. Many thanks to Mr Lumsden for sharing his memories.Forms 2 and 3 also had an informative presentation from Mr Stephenson this week, in relation to their history study of World War II. As a keen metal-detectorist, Mr Stephenson had several interesting finds to show the children, including items recovered from the field next to Fyling Hall School, where in 1942 a German plane crash landed. The pilots bailed out and were detained in Scarborough. The children have been very interested to hear about how the local area was affected by the war, and have been researching the story of another German plane which crashed near Whitby, shot down by a young RAF pilot called Peter Townsend, who later became famous for his royal connections…… but that’s another story!