We were sorry to begin the term in January 1940 without Miss Stevens who had had to stay at home to nurse her uncle with whom she lived. Miss Stone came to take her place in teaching the Middle Division and soon after my cousin, Miss Trickey, joined the staff to take the Preparatory. The winter was said to be the coldest for thirty-six years. There were heavy snow falls in January and the roads were like glass but there was only one day on which the school car could not go out. There was an epidemic of influenza and many people, pupils and staff, had their turn away from school. Several children were in quarantine because their parents had German measles!

It was a sad day for us when my rough haired terrier George died from swollen glands. But I was glad he went before the air raids began, he was so terrified of thunder that I think he would have died of fright when the bombs began to fall. Rex being a gun dog did not mind but he always came to find me when the siren went.

The summer term began on May 2nd. Miss Trickey did not come back this term but we were glad to have Miss Stevens with us again and Miss Barton from Fetcham joined the staff to teach French. Shutters had been made to add to the safety of the study windows and later on in the Autumn term a blast wall was built in the pond garden close to the study windows to prevent damage from shattered glass.

On May 28th we heard the news of the evacuation from Dunkirk and in June Wise, who had been our chauffeur for two years, joined the RASC. We gave him a penknife as a parting present. On the 23rd June we had our first night air raid alarm. We went down to the study with blankets tucked round us for two hours, then the all-clear sounded and we went back to bed. About this time Canadian troops began to arrive in Bookham and Effingham and were encamped in Beech Avenue. Cars had to pass picket guard and the driver had to show his or her identity card. We were unable to have our usual League of Pity Entertainment in the garden because of the possibility of air raids but we had a show of dolls of all nations and tea and country dancing in the gym. The Upper Division performed a puppet show in the study.

When the Autumn term began several members of the school had gone to America, Xenia Michell to New York, David Mann to Calgary and David Madden to Nassau. Deirdre Fraymouth joined the staff as a student teacher in the Preparatory. I said to Mrs. Michell 'You are sending Xenia to America? You, with a husband and son in the Navy?' and she said 'Well, Miss Joce, as a precautionary measure.' I said 'It may be several years before you see her again' and she said 'Oh Miss Joce, how dreadful.' But it proved to be so.

Air alarms were becoming more frequent now and some bombs had been dropped in Bookham. The study which was now called the Refuge Room had been made into a bedroom for the boarders. On one or two occasions it was used by day children when shots were being fired at enemy aircraft overhead. Once when all the children had been collected inside and were playing 'Thumbs up' with Miss Eleanor some of the members of the household and some parents who had come with their children watched parachutists descending who eventually landed in Westcott and were taken prisoner.

We had our usual Harvest Thanksgiving on October 11th and I took the produce up to London by train. I had to go to London Bridge as Waterloo station had been hit by a bomb. As the train ran into London it was heartening to see how in spite of the damage done during the night the inhabitants were carrying on as usual. One woman I noticed particularly, polishing up the brass knocker of her front door though most of her windows had been broken and pasted up with brown paper.

On the night of Thursday October 24th the lodge of Southey Hall School was bombed. Old Dicker the lodge keeper and his wife were taken out unhurt but shortly afterwards a land mine fell on the other side of the grounds and the Headmaster alarmed at the bombs coming so close removed the school to Devonshire. It was the most disturbing experience we had at any time during the war. It was about eleven o'clock at night. I happened to be in the bathroom and heard this thing whizz overhead and thought 'this is us!' The next moment there was a bang and part of the bathroom ceiling fell down. I called out 'I am quite all right' but no one was taking any notice of me I heard Eleanor say 'My God, the children' and pushing mother and Deirdre out of the way dashed down to the refuge room where they were all fast asleep. It was the only time I ever heard her use that expression. We were all a bit shaken and went down to the sitting room where presently we were joined by Mr. Maby who looked in to see if we were all right and told us where it had fallen. One of the little boarders was furious next morning when he heard how near the bomb had been and he knew nothing about it.

A week later several bombs fell near by and made a hole in the Lower Road, near the top of Eastwick Drive. The school car with me driving had to turn in the opposite direction and get back to the village by way of Keswick Road. On Sunday October 13th we listened to Princess Elizabeth broadcast to the children of the nation during Children’s Hour.