Moray woman shares story of her family evacuation in D Day build up
With 1944's preparations for D-Day on the Moray Coast, Meg Anderson's family were among those told to "ask no questions" in receiving three weeks notice to leave their farms.
Last updated 6th Jun 2024
July 6th marks 80 years since D-Day and the landing of the Allied forces at Normandy. As German forces were pushed back from the initial beach-head, it marked the first step towards the end of the Second World War.
As some in the military made the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives in the liberation, little is known about the contribution made at home in the preparation towards those landings.
In Moray, much of the terrain and the Firth was considered suitable to train and practice (and similar to Normandy) ahead of June 1944, with the land near Nairn to Roseisle a hive of activity.
In late 1943, the Admiralty chose to evaccuate many farms along the coast asking people to temporarily give up their land for wartime use.
Meg Anderson's Grandfather farmed at Wellhill, near Kintessack not far from the Culbin Forest.
He parents were also impacted as they farmed at Lingieston, across the bay from Findhorn.
Meg said: "They had three weeks - and in that time they had to sell everything - cattle, crops and it all had to be completely vacated - they had to find space to store the furniture
"They had no idea how long they would be away
"There was some help from some prisoners-of-war from Archiestown, but they had to feed them too!"
Meg was born in February 1944, just four months later, but thankfully her parents were taken in by an elderly widow who gave them rooms for the duration of the evacuation.
After the three weeks notice to evacuate Meg explains, "The saving grace for my Grandfather was that he was able to stay in a cottage on a farm belonging to a neighbour and he was able to help with the work there
"The thing is that farmers don't like doing nothing
"My relatives would've had money initially because they sold so much, but what they did longer term I do not know
"It must've been difficult - they did get some compensation - but I don't believe it was very generous"
It wasn't until 30 years after D-Day that the story of Meg's family began to be told.
Her Aunt, Rita Taylor, retired from teaching in 1974 and when pupils were learning the history of the Second World War in school she would return to talk to them.
Despite the scale of the preparations for D-Day, the local contribution up until that point was a well-kept secret.
As Meg said, "Can you imagine that today with today's social media!?
"I remember my Aunt saying it was quite a thing having to sell-up and evacuate the land, but it was nothing compared to what families on the continent were having to do
"She made little of that sacrifice - because she felt so many others had given so much more
"Those families in Europe were in danger, and although my family had to leave their home, they were never in any danger"
Given her own family history, Meg and her husband travelled to Normandy for the 75th commemoration of the D-Day landings in 2019.
Although many years had passed, she felt those service personnel taking part spoke so clearly about the events and the loss was still felt so strongly despite the passing of time.
Meg said: "My experience of life has told me that people don't learn from war and there are still terrible things that happen
"I recall standing in a field of war graves and I was looking at the ages of them, around 18 to 23, and I thought 'What a waste' - and we've learned nothing from that"