11th September 1940

Sisson came in today about the destruction of church railings [for salvage]. He was very perturbed about the evacuation notices, although it does not apply outside the Borough [of Colchester]. From this most ridiculous situations arise. Lexden Schools are shut, while the Stanway Schools, less than half a mile away, (with a Colchester Councillor for a headmaster!) are open. Some children have been sent from Lexden a few yards up the London Road to relations in Stanway; others have been sent to West Bergholt. Grammar school boys from the town are expected to leave, while the school has to remain open for the benefit of boys from the country, who are apparently allowed to come into the town to school, while it is unsafe for our own children to remain here! I was told tonight that between 3,000 and 4,000 went away today on special trains.

Hull, strangely enough, takes no interest whatever in all this. I was quite expecting him to bury the whole museum today.

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