Peggy swiped a tear from her cheek with her mittened hand as Bobby turned and marched away into the snow, then she walked on and through the gates leading to the school.

After a time, Bobby stopped to stuff the food in his lunch box into his pockets then after discarding the box and his gas mask, which Edith insisted they should carry at all times, he resolutely moved on towards the railway station. It seemed to be a long, long walk, particularly in such bad weather conditions, but his steps never faltered and at last the station came into view. Once inside, he dropped to his knees and crawled past the ticket office so as not to be seen, only standing again when he reached the platform. It was quite deserted. The people who were waiting for the next train to Euston were all huddled around the fire in the waiting room. Bobby slunk into a corner and at last he heard the roar and hiss of a train as it approached the station.

When it came to a halt he watched as a guard went systematically along the rows of carriages opening doors to let folk off and on. Then, waiting until the man was at the very far end of the platform, he made a dash for the luggage carriage at the back of the train and slid inside to hide amongst the suitcases.

The journey seemed never-ending. The atrocious weather frequently slowed the train and even stopped it completely a few times as snow was cleared from the tracks. Bobby’s hands and feet were so cold that he had lost all feeling in them, although he was aware that he must have dozed off when the sound of the brakes made him start awake.

There were no windows in the luggage carriage, so he was unsure if they had reached their destination, until the engine became silent and the sounds of doors slamming reached him. Then suddenly the door was flung open and as a surprised porter caught sight of him, he shouted, ‘’Ere, nipper, wharra you doin’ in ’ere?’

Bobby was shocked to discover that it was already completely dark outside and the gloomy light that penetrated the luggage van made him blink but the next second, he was up on his feet, regardless of his frozen toes and he sprinted past the guard like a whippet and hared off across the platform. He didn’t pause for breath until he emerged into Euston Square where he came to an abrupt halt as he stared about, horrified. It seemed that the whole city lay in ruins. Once-fine buildings were now nothing more than smouldering ruins and gas pipes and water pipes jutted out of the ground like so many writhing snakes, as weary soldiers and civilians dug amongst the wreckage looking for survivors.

Bobby took a deep, shuddering breath then set off to find what had become of his parents and his home.