WE WERE LUCKY
An autobiography by Hilde Gerrard neé Weissenberg, born 1907 JOURNEY TO ENGLANDWell prepared for our jobs, we looked forward to the day when we could start the journey to England. At last the papers arrived and we could go. We broke the journey in Paris, where Andrea Marangoni met us and showed us round the city. He also had to leave Italy, although he was a Catholic, as he had remarked in the bank where he worked, that he disagreed with the expulsion of the Jews. This led to a quarrel with a colleague, who slapped Andrea and who then denounced him for anti-fascist activities. Andrea had to leave within a day in order to prevent being locked up. After one day in Paris we continued our journey to England. The work permit for Gerhard and myself did not include the children, and it depended on the immigration officer as to which course he would take. We were on the boat and we hoped to arouse very little notice. When we approached the immigration officer, my baby boy began to cry and I could not pacify him and by the time it was our turn, he yelled so that we could hardly hear ourselves speak. I cannot say whether that helped but the tense moment came and our immigration papers were stamped and we were allowed to land and board the train at Dover. We clutched each others' hands and were very happy.
In the train they served afternoon tea and we ordered four portions. We had not enjoyed for months any meal so much as our first English tea with buttered toast and jam. When we paid, the waiter asked us if we had not made a mistake with the tip. We assured him that we had not, to which he replied that it was not usual and we thought that neither was it a usual journey. We were in Great Britain!
We crossed London and reached Farnham, where we were collected by our employer - the children by their foster parents Mr and Mrs Gerald Bullett from Petersfield. the twins were two-and-a-quarter years old when they had to leave us. It was a great advantage in their lives that they had each other.
We reached Mayfield House and I tried not to think of the children but to adjust myself to the new circumstances. Our servant quarters were plain but adequate, we had a bedroom and a sittingroom with furniture that was once probably used in the family part of the house. I wore light blue frocks with white, large aprons in the morning and black silk with little white aprons and headgear in the afternoon. I had had the instructions for the outfit already by letter in Italy and came well prepared. The house was large and well furnished, the staff consisted of the butler, a nanny, a nursery maid and the scullery maid. Gerhard was the cook and I was the parlourmaid. The garden was beautiful especially as we arrived in spring and everything was in full glory.