On arrival at Adhurst we were all dispersed into our allocated bedrooms, eight camp beds in each “dormitory” as we must now call them. We all felt very strange but were soon organised into teams for the chores – no cleaning ladies and lots of parquet flooring, huge windows and flights of stairs, all of which had to be kept in pristine condition. The kitchens were vast, in keeping with the size of the house and some of the girls were drafted into teams to work there and in the dining room.

At the end of each term we normally headed for home for the holidays. Most of the girls had parents still in Portsmouth and they were collected and taken home. Others, like me, had to go by train – either due to petrol being scarce or because of distance.

My father had joined the RAMC, and my mother, who was rather frail, was living in Exeter, close to some relatives – so for me the journey home was quite a trek – complete with luggage!

I travelled to and fro several times but at the end of that summer term my mother suffered a severe heart attack and I was obliged to leave school to stay with her permanently. I still wonder what happened to my camp bed (we had had to provide our own), as it never arrived in Devon! It had gone the way of many other items ie blown up in Portsmouth!

So, sadly, my days at Portsmouth High School were over but some memories remain. Very vividly, even after all these years, I am reminded of a crush I had on one of the prefects – better not name her! But at the time she was the centre of my world. I remember too, the celebrations of the school birthday each year – we all wore a large bow of yellow ribbon on our tunics and sang the school song with gusto.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been to such a wonderful school, even for such a short spell, and the memories will continue for ever.