Maureen Haslam was born in East Ham in 1930 and spent her early childhood in Dagenham, Essex. At the outbreak of the war she was evacuated to Glaister, near Great Yarmouth, with her two sisters and school mates. Due to fears of invasion they were then moved on to Wilnecote, a small rural village just outside Tamworth.

The war years proved to be unhappy for Maureen; she received little warmth from her host family and much prejudice at school. Maureen describes this in the link below:-

Maureen Haslam – anxiety at school

Transcript for Maureen Haslam’s audio clip

Her situation improved when her parents and brothers, who had been bombed out, moved into a nearby farmhouse. Maureen has since settled in Staffordshire.