25th march 1944 on the occasion of their engagement

At the outbreak of war, Pauline Savill was a 13 year old girl at Campbell School in Beacontree, Essex. Pauline and her 10 year old brother Terry together with a large number of the pupils were evacuated to Deddington in 1939. Her parents had impressed on Pauline that she should ask for both of them to be billeted together. She tried her best to convey this to the billeting officer, Helen Loveday (Castle End) in the evacuee reception room on the top floor of the British Legion building, but Terry was still sent to live with Mr & Mrs Finch near the library while she was sent to stay with Mr and Mrs Course; it was thought that Pauline could help with them with their three children. They lived at the Nook on Victoria Terrace. Alan Course was the brother of ‘Doughie’ Course whose bakery was at the corner of The Stile and New Street – and was where Sid Berry worked before the war. Within a short while Alan moved to Oxford so the billeting officer had to find another home for Pauline. In the event this proved to be one of the best things that happened to Pauline as she went to live with Mr and Mrs Shirley in Philcote Street. They had no children but clearly loved having Pauline as a surrogate daughter for the next 5 years. It became a second home for her with ‘Uncle Harry and Aunty Carrie’ for the rest of her life.

Pauline went first to school first in the village and then walked or cycled to the College for Further Education which had been evacuated to North Aston Hall. The College lent pupils a cycle which they could keep after 2 years; sadly the College went back to London 3 months short of Pauline's 2 years!

She was not short of friends because so many others from Campbell School were in the neighbour hood – some in Deddington and others in outlying village - but she developed new friends through a club for young people that was run at the Forrester’s Hall (now part of Philip Allan Updates,  Publishers on the Market Square), the Holly Tree Club owned by Mrs Collins and she did meet a young Hempton lad called……

…Peter Franklyn who was 16 and working as a butcher’s boy at Boltons opposite the British Legion building. They clearly hit it off from the start and quickly became sweet hearts. Pauline has an autograph book with Valentine poems and sentiments from Peter written in it! In July 1942 Peter was old enough to enlist. Pauline, accompanied by her visiting father, walked with Peter to Aynho Halt to waive him off to join the Royal Armoured Corps. For the next 2 years they met only when he came home on leave.  Pauline’s parents got to know him quite well because her mother had come down from London with her other younger daughter, Diane, to live with the Shirleys as well for 18 months.

Peter went to France with his tank regiment post D day and moved with it through Europe into Germany with the advancing Allied Forces as they liberated Europe.

 

This carefully posed photograph above shows him ‘somewhere ‘in France or Belgium with his tank crew and some very relieved (literally) locals – including children on top of the tank . Peter is 3rd from the right kneeling. He obviously could not write in detail or very often but did send regular messages on Army issue Field Service Postcards.......

Three weeks before the end of the war Pauline went home and immediately got a job in the Treasury in Whitehall working in the office that awarded Honours and Medals – many of them (too many) posthumously. Because of where she worked she was able to witness the Victory day parades from Earl Mountbatten’s offices looking on to Whitehall which was an enormously exciting place to be. She lived at home for the next two years until Peter was demobbed in early 1947. They were married on March 22 1947 and came back to Deddington to live with Uncle Harry and Aunty Carrie again. Peter got a job in Tuckers Stores (now Otters Restaurant) and their married life continued happily with he and Pauline running Mr Bolton's newspaper business from New Street. Peter went back to butchering after a while but Pauline kept the paper bisness going for 16 years. Mr Bolton owned the Post Office which was subsequently bought by Ken and Edith Garrett.

After some years they moved to Aynho then again to Banbury where Pauline now lives; however, Peter’s family are still represented in Deddington by his niece, Mary Tompkin and her family who continue to be a great help to Pauline to this day..

Some footnotes to this story:

1. There were three other girls who married Deddington parish lads and were seen as ‘outsiders’ at first so  naturally they and Pauline came together for mutual support. They, and their husbands, have remained very good friends since. They were  -  Daphne & Ron Canning, Edith & Ken Garrett, and Edna & Bill Malcher.

2.  Doreen Stewart - who was at Campbell School with Pauline was also evacuated to Deddington with her mother. Doreen stayed on after the war and married Ken Ashton and now lives in Kidlington. She and other evacuees can be found by following this link