The Swain family home, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey.

48 Douglas Road, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 7SA

This was the Swain family home. The house, split into two families, was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Pollard, who lived with their three sons: Peter, Frank and Basil. Next to the house was Tolworth Boys’ Infants’ School. (still there today). The Pollards inhabited the bottom floor, whilst the Swains lived upstairs. There were three bedrooms upstairs: in the first slept Sarah-Ann and George, along with Phyllis until she was 14. She had a single bed at one end of the room, whilst her parents had a double bed at the other. There were two windows with a small wooden chair under each. In the second room Peter Pollard, the son of the landlords, lived. And in the final room Victor and Harry Swain lived until 1929, when Vic was fighting in India and Harry had moved out, so Phyllis finally got her own room! There was a fireplace in here, a chest of drawers, and it’s possible that the boys shared a bed whilst living here.

There was also a living room upstairs with a kitchen coming off the side down 5 steps. In here there was a sink area and gas stove. This stove once had gas trapped in it, and when Sarah Ann lit it, a large flame shot at her. Fortunately she got away with only singed eyebrows. Behind the stove was the bathroom and lavatory.

The house was bombed on 28^th July 1941. During the night, Sarah Ann got out of bed and was in the landing when the side of the house was hit, and George, already unwell, was badly wounded. He was taken to Surbiton Hospital but died on August 8^th – eleven days after the attack. Following this, the house was torn down and 50 years later, when Phyllis revisited the location with her daughter Carole and husband Len, the space where the house had been was still empty.

In the house, Phyllis remembers there being a small plaque on the wall, made by George, commemorating his fourth son Rowland Jack Swain, who was born 1910 and died 1911 aged one. This was lost with the house sadly.