Remembrance week gives us the chance to reflect on the sacrifices which were made by those who went to war for us. It is also an opportunity to remember the local history of those from the North East and the story of John James Castling (Jack), a double evacuee during the Second World War, is a truly remarkable one. Jack was born in South Shields in 1927 and passed away in October 2016, aged 89 years. It is with great honour that we remember his life during Remembrance week.

In September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany and Jack Castling was a 12 year old boy attending Dame Allan’s Schools. What was to follow over the coming years for the young Jack proved his ceaseless positivity and his ability to make the best of any situation.

Jack, who lived in Killingworth with his family, including his sister Sheila who also attended Dame Allan’s, was first evacuated from the North East to Wigton, Cumbria in 1939. Eight months later the threat to the North East appeared to have receded and so Jack returned to his life in the North East.

However, Newcastle was a centre for heavy industry and so was a key target during the war. In July 1940 a German raider attempted to drop a bomb on the high-level bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead. It missed, but struck Spiller’s Mill nearby. At the time Dame Allan’s Schools were holding an evensong service at St Nicholas’ Cathedral in the city centre. The bomb, which killed 13 people and injured 100 more, caused the whole cathedral and the vicinity to shake so violently that  three-quarters of Dame Allan’s parents decided to evacuate their children to the safer countryside.  

On 7th July 1940, just five days after the bombing, 12 year old Jack and 150 other children from Dame Allan’s Boys’ School departed from Heaton station and took the train to Windermere, carrying a few possessions and a gas mask. Jack’s sister Sheila followed the day after with the Girls’ School.

Jack would spend the next four years of his life living in Windermere; he attended Windermere Grammar School and lived with three host families, eventually being reunited with his sister and mother, who was given a job in Windermere, in his final host house.

Jack would later reflect on these years with happiness, speaking to the Westmoreland Gazette in 1999 he said: ‘We had a splendid war – it was such a big adventure. We were townies and had not seen sheep in fields. We would go around Windermere with big walking sticks.’

However, it wasn’t an easy life. Speaking of his time in his final host house Jack said: ‘We were allowed to listen to the 9 o’clock news on the radio until 10pm unless it was a scouts’ night. There was no central heating and once we put a glass of water between the beds and in the morning it was frozen solid.’

There were tragedies too, the Head Teacher of Windermere Grammar School, Mr Knowles, was called up to go to war, he was reported missing and it was eventually discovered that he died in captivity in the Far East. However, Dame Allan’s Head Mr Wilson took the role as interim Head and the collaboration between the schools led to the rugby master from Windermere marrying the history teacher from Dame Allan’s. 

In 1990, fifty years after the evacuation, Jack decided to honour the journey they had taken as young children and arranged a reunion with fellow evacuees, 36 of whom attended to re-run their first evacuation, catch up with each other and reminisce. The reunion, which departed from Newcastle Central Station, was a great success and showed the great positivity Jack had, he turned something which must have been scary into a celebration for everyone involved.  

In 1944 Jack returned to live in Newcastle and eventually worked for Procter & Gamble as a research executive. Jack met his wife Ann and when they married, one of Jack’s fellow evacuees Bill Tobias was his best man. Jack and Ann went on to have two sons who they sent to Dame Allan’s Schools. In 1984 Jack retired to Staveley having had a deep love for Cumbria since he was an evacuee. Jack continued to have an involvement with Dame Allan’s Schools and attended the tercentenary event in 2005, where he met with the Queen.

Dr John Hind, Principal at Dame Allan’s Schools, said: ‘Jack’s story really is remarkable. For a child to have to live away from home twice under such circumstances must have been frightening. However Jack was a very positive person. He clearly made the best of his time in Cumbria and to arrange a re-run of the evacuation 50 years later is a lesson to us all to make the best of whatever life gives us. It was a pleasure to know Jack and he will be missed very much by us all at Dame Allan’s. ’

Those students at Dame Allan’s who weren’t evacuated set up a salvage group, a knitters’ group and a gardeners’ group to help the war effort.

Dame Allan’s Schools’ history club has extensively researched the history of the old boys who went to war. In the First Word War 652 boys served and 84 died. In the Second World War 411 served and 43 died.