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Peter Bell

Recollections of evacuation to Argentina.

The outbreak of war

Peter Bell talks about the outbreak of war.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Maggy_Read_Peter_Bell_01.mp3

'Sailed off to sea'

Peter Bell talks about leaving England.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Maggy_Read_Peter_Bell_021.mp3

Arriving in Buenos Aires

Peter Bell and Maggy Read talk about arriving in Buenos Aires.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Maggy_Read_Peter_Bell_031.mp3

Returning home

Peter Bell and Maggy Read talk about returning to England after five years in Argentina.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Maggy_Read_Peter_Bell_041.mp3

A different life

Peter Bell and Maggy Read talk about adjusting to life in England.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Maggy_Read_Peter_Bell_051.mp3

The outbreak of war

Whilst on holiday with his family in Devon in August 1939, the office at which Peter's father worked was evacuated from London to Weston Super Mare. The family at once relocated ‘father fetched us in a borrowed car and we went to Weston Super Mare’. The day that war broke out, Peter was roller-skating on the seafront in Weston Super Mare. He had been told to return home at 11 o’clock to hear an important speech on the radio. After hearing the Chamberlain declare war with Germany, Peter happily returned to roller-skating on the seafront. Although Peter’s parents were worried, ‘I thought the extended holiday great!’.

Evacuation

In 1940, it was decided that Peter, aged 9, and his sister Maggy, aged 6, were to be evacuated to Argentina to stay with their uncle Rex and his wife Olga. The journey to Argentina took three weeks. Peter recalls, ‘I remember crossing the Bay of Biscay in rough weather with nearly everyone being seasick and being in the dining saloon almost alone with Stewards serving me with lots of ice cream’.

Life in Argentina

Arriving in Buenos Aires, were met by Rex and Olga and taken in a large car to the couple’s luxury apartment. The siblings discovered a different life from what they had experienced in England. ‘We came from an ordinary suburban background in London and here we were with kind strangers driven by a chauffeur and in an apartment with living-in cook, maid and butler’.    

In Argentina, Peter attended a boarding school with bought Spanish and English classes being taught. During the summer holidays, time was spent in Uruguay enjoying the adventures offered by the surroundings.

Returning home

When the war was coming to an end, Peter and Maggy returned to home. It was not easy for the siblings to return to their family and austerity in England after five years in Argentina. Considering his evacuation to Argentina, Peter wonders ‘would we have been different people had we stayed [in England]? Did it change our lives – I suppose it must have for good or bad who knows’.  

Photo:Peter and Maggy pictured with their family in 1940. A similiar photograph was taken when the siblings returned home in 1945.
Photo:Peter and Maggy pictured with their family in 1945 after returning from Argentina.
Photo:Peter and Maggy pictured with their grandparents in 1940. A similar photograph was taken in 1945 when the siblings returned to England.
Photo:Peter and Maggy with their grandparents in 1945.
Photo:Photo of Kenneth and Edith Bell, Peter and Maggy's parents.
Photo:Peter and Maggy in Uruguay.
Photo:Peter and Maggy in Uruguay.
Downloads

Peter Bell
Peter Bell (32k)
To read more about Peter's wartime experiences in his own words please press the above link.

The outbreak of war
The outbreak of war (74k)
Transcript of audio clip with Peter Bell.

'Sailed off to sea'
'Sailed off to sea' (77k)
Transcript of audio clip with Peter Bell.

Arriving at Buenos Aires
Arriving at Buenos Aires (77k)
Transcript of audio clip with Peter Bell and Maggy Read.

Returning home
Returning home (87k)
Transcript of audio clip with Peter Bell and Maggy Read.

A different life
A different life (73k)
Transcript of audio clip with Peter Bell and Maggy Read.

This gallery was added by Malin Lundin on 29/05/2012.
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More about...
Contributors
  • Recollections of how a telephone call made VE-Day extra special.
  • Wartime memories of life in the Army.
  • Recollections of life as a driver for the RAF Motor Transport Division.
  • Recollections of evacuation to Argentina.
  • Recollections of childhood memories of wartime.
  • Childhood memories of wartime in Heston.
  • Recollections of the heavy air raids over London and leaving the capital for safer areas.
 
 
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  • Recollections of Evacuation
 
 
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