Mrs McPhee-(introduces Mrs Mathieson and Primary 7 pupils) Can I remind everybody that we wrote letters and arranged for an article in ‘The Press and Journal’. Then Mrs Mathieson telephoned school and said, ‘I am the daughter of Mr Smith who was headteacher at Cove school from 1922 until 1948-26 years’. We decided to ask you some questions because of the project that the children are doing at school about what it was like to be evacuated. We found out that some children from Dundee had been evacuated to Cove and you can remember the evening of the evacuation.

Mrs Mathieson-They were coming by train from Dundee and I knew there were forty being unloaded at Cove station. We had a beautiful Cove station in those days. When I got home at night, the lights were still on in the schoolhouse, my home. This was unusual but my father was still sitting with the lists in front of him because he had been placing the evacuees in various homes.

Mrs Campbell-Morgan-So he had the job of deciding where they would go?

Mrs Mathieson-I don’t know how the places were offered. I know that he placed them.

Mrs Campbell-Morgan-The first question is from Reece.

Reece-What did the evacuees look like?

Mrs Mathieson-Well I didn’t see so much of them because I was 18 at the time and I was at university and not at home a lot. There were boys and girls and some parents with them. I remember one lady, Mrs Toner, she had 9 children but I don’t think they were all with her. My sister told me that Mrs Toner lived in the farmyard in a caravan at Cove Farm.

Mrs Campbell-Morgan-Do you think she couldn’t bear to be parted from her children?

Mrs Mathieson-I would say so. That evening my father said, ‘We have 2 boys staying with us.’ Apparently there was no home for them so they stayed with us.

Kelsay- Being the headmaster’s daughter, were you treated any differently?

Mrs Mathieson-I was treated more harshly. I was expected always to be polite and to behave.

Ryan-Were the evacuees friendly?

Mrs Mathieson- I think they were friendly enough with the village children. They shared teaching time. The village children went to school till 1 o’clock and then the evacuees went.

Mrs McPhee-You were telling me that you thought most of the evacuees were back home by Christmas time.

Mrs Mathieson-They did not stay long and their teachers were nuns. So presumably they were Roman Catholic.

Mrs Campbell-Morgan-So they came with their teachers?

Mrs Mathieson-I just know the nuns appeared.

Mrs McPhee-In the log book it mentions the Cove children and the evacuated children going to Portlethen to do cookery. Cookery was obviously a big thing to do.

Mrs Mathieson-After they were 12.

Sophie-Do you know if Cove has changed since WW2?

Mrs Mathieson- Oh yes. Bombs were dropped in Cove during the war. We were almost shot at once. The beaufighters were chasing a German plane that had come in to bomb. It dropped its bomb just over where the quarries were. People came up from the village because they thought the schoolhouse had been bombed. We were alright except that the beaufighters were firing their bullets at the plane and they hit the walls of our house.

Mrs McPhee-Did they have air raid wardens in Cove?

Mrs Mathieson-Oh yes, my father was the chief air raid warden (as well as the other jobs eg billeting officer)

Mrs McPhee-Were you issued with a gas mask?

Mrs Mathieson-Oh yes, we all had gas masks and we all had identity cards. At night we used to go into the larder in our house.

Mrs McPhee-Did you tape your windows up?

Mrs Mathieson-Yes, in the blackout you didn’t see a light anywhere.

Kirsty-Did you hear any stories about the evacuees –good or bad?

Mrs Mathieson-No except that they all went home very quickly. They didn’t like the country. Cove was the country then as opposed to the streets they lived in Dundee.

Mrs Campbell-Morgan-Do you think also because nothing really happened and the war hadn’t really started, people thought it was safe?

Mrs Mathieson-Exactly it, nothing was happening. I remember one particular evacuee had said ‘There’s nae chip shop.’