The boy who was evacuated to Hodnet and stayed

Joe Cunningham and his sister arrived in Hodnet during September 1939. Aged just six Joe found rural Shropshire very different to industrial East Manchester where he had lived until the Second World War broke out and, along with hundreds of other children, they were evacuated out of harms way. Unlike most of the children when the war ended Joe did not return home.
Recently, Joe has sent us his memories of the years he lived in Hodnet. Joe left to join the RAF aged 18 and by the time he retired he was a British Airways captain. Now aged 84, Joe lives near Southampton. You can read his memories of the years he lived in Hodnet in our Local History section, just click the link below.

Memories of an Evacuee