Earliest Memory

For many a night in a cave sounds petrifying…but for Peter it was just part of everyday life.

Peter Savage, 73, was an evacuee during the WWII. Peter spoke with confidence and enthusiasm when asked about his earliest memory- the traumatic ordeal of evacuation from Greenwich, London to Orpington, Kent.

“I remember the event like it was yesterday”. The Brit, now living in Virginia, USA, described how every night his Grandmother would take his brother and himself to Chislehurst Caves, Kent, to seek shelter and safety from the terrible events of war up above them. 

“It was pitch black in there and you could hear the bombs above your head. It was terrifying!”  The cost for the night was one tuppence, “a small price for safety” quoted Peter. When asked to describe the caves in one word, Peter said ‘damp’; “I can smell it still today”. Two years ago, Peter and his wife returned to England on a holiday. The childhood sweethearts revisited the caves and described the visit as “extremely moving” and a trip they would recommend to people of all ages. 

Despite Peter’s earliest memory being a significantly traumatic one, especially for a boy of two, it was one that contained laughs and happiness “My brother and I used to go into the post office in the caves and one talk to the man while the other shoved a handful of sweets into his pocket” Peter chuckled as he relived his youth.