Letters to America Letters to America
Joan Reece (née Farman) was eight years old when she was evacuated to Rochester in New York State during Word War 2. Her father was assistant superintendant at the Kodak factory in Harrow in North West London. The evacuation was organised by the company, which had its headquarters in Rochester. This site contains the letters written to Joan by her parents, Sydney and Dorothy Farman, during the five years she was in Rochester. Not all of the letters have survived, but those which have, give us a fascinating insight into life during the war. Sadly, only the letters to Joan have survived - those written by her to her parents have unfortunately been lost.
Joan was born in 1932. Her parents were Sydney and Dorothy (Dolly) Farman. Sydney was assistant superintendant at the Kodak photographic factory in Harrow, north-west of London. As usual in those times, Dorothy was a housewife and mother. Joan was the eldest child. In 1936 the twins Anne and John were born. They were not yet 4 years old when Joan was evacuated to Rochester in August 1940.
The family lived at 50 Maricas Avenue, Harrow Weald, which at that time was in Middlesex but is now part of London. Joan's parents were originally from Forest Gate in East London and her paternal grandparents still lived there.
We know that not all the letters written were received as a number were lost when the ships carrying them were sunk by German U-boats.
However, 114 letters have survived and are part of this site. Initially there are more letters from Joan's father than from her mother, but as time goes on, there this changes. Joan's father was not called up for active service, but worked long hours at Kodak and was a member of the Home Guard. He also looked after the family's allotment which provided a vital addition to their diet since food was increasingly rationed as the war continued. He would have had very little free time to write letters.
The letters tell of everyday family events and life in wartime London. They often talk of rationing, air raids, the blackout, the notorious London smogs and historical events such as notable speeches by Winston Churchill.
Letters on dates marked * are incomplete.
Letters from 1940 
Letters from 1941
Letters from 1942
Letters from 1943
Letters from 1944
Letters from 1945
Maps showing the location of places mentioned in the letters
In August 1940 Joan sailed from Liverpool to Montreal on the RMS Duchess of Atholl with a large group of other Kodak children. This was very risky as the British government was unwilling to divert military vessels from defense to protect the convoys from German U-boats.
Read Joan's account of her journey to Rochester
The 156 British children evacuated by Kodak to Rochester were known as the 'Kodakids'. On arrival they were quarantined for two weeks in Hillside Children's Center and then placed with foster families.
Joan remembers her arrival in Rochester
Joan was fostered by the Grashof family who lived in Brighton, a suburb of Rochester.
The Grashof family and Joan's new home
How Joan spent her free time in Rochester
Memories of Christmas and Easter in Rochester
Joan's father, Sydney Basil Farman, was Assistant Superintendant at the Kodak factory in Harrow. He visited the Kodak factory in Stuttgart in 1936 and wrote of his experiences in pre-war Germany in a book he wrote after he retired.
Visiting Kodak in Stuttgart in 1936
In 1943 Joan's father was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours. This was for his work on an aerial camera to improve the ability of the RAF to assess the success of bombing missions over Germany.
