Born and Bred
A Yorkshire Family
Amy Emily Radford
Amy's Story
Amy was one of four children born to John G. Radford and Rachel E. Nicolle in 1897. By 1916 she had given birth to her first child, George Kitchener, named after his father, whom she would marry in 1917. They probably didn't marry earlier due to the war, as George, her husband was serving in the Royal Field Artillery in France. Their marriage probably took place on a period of leave.
With the end of the Great War, life on Guernsey was good for Amy and George and their growing family. By the mid 1930s, Amy and George were grandparents and their family continued to prosper.
However, the clouds of war were soon gathering once again and they found themselves about to live though another World War. One that this time was to have a profound effect on all their lives.
This time the family had decided not to remain on Guernsey, but to evacuate to England along with countless others. In 1940, with the war in France in full flow, Amy and the rest of her family, who were not fighting, were still on Guernsey awaiting evacuation.
By the 22nd of June they had managed to secure places aboard the "St. Julien" due to depart on the 29th of June,this would prove to be the last boat to leave Guernsey carrying evacuees. The day following their departure, on the 30th of June 1940, the Germans arrived to occupy the island.
After arriving in England (surviving family members are unsure whether they landed at Weymouth or Southampton), they had to endure a long train journey to the Yorkshire, specifically to Oulton, a small village next to Rothwell in the Leeds area of West Yorkshire.. It was there that they were allocated a place to live as refugees, finally ending up at 41 Oakley Street, Thorpe.
With the war finally over they returned to Guernsey in December 1945. People had been returning to Guernsey since August of that year, but for some reason they failed to hear about these return trips until much later. The ship they sailed on was called the "Hantonia" and it was packed with other families returning home.
As they were one of the last families to arrive on the ship they found themselves in one of the storage holds. When they got down there they saw a horse tied up in a stall and several sailors lashing a box to one of the supports.
When they asked what this was they were told it was the coffin of a man who had died in England but wanted to be burried in Guernsey. Amy, was very superstitious and said that they were in for a bad trip. This proved to be true as they set sail in one of the worst storms in years.
The sea was so rough that the ship was unable to dock at St. Peter Port, so it tried for Jersey and was once more unable to dock. The ship then tried to dock in France but the weather was against them again, finally the ship headed back for Guernsey where it eventually managed to dock in St. Peter Port.
Unfortunately, they had arrived back in Guernsey a week too late and their house had been given to someone else. They stayed for a short while, but felt they were treated badly by those islanders who had elected to stay when the Germans invaded, and so they returned home to England.
In 1977 Amy celebrated her 80th birthday. A big party was held and she found herself, once again surrounded by her family. She continued to be a very independent old lady, who I would visit once a month, as at that time she was living across from my Seconday School, at 33 Longthorpe Lane, Lofthouse, with her youngest son, Malcom and his family. Sadly, six weeks before her 81st birthday she died, surrounded be her family.
