I was surprised and pleased to read the letter from Mrs J Longly, from York (Letters, February 7).

She was evacuated in 1943 and is trying to find out the date this occurred. I can say Mrs Longly is one very brave lady who had a terrible time as a young girl during the Second World War.

In 1940, she went with her mother and young brother to the Odeon cinema in Kemp Town one fateful Saturday afternoon in September.

At this time, June Miles, as she was then, was aged just seven years, her brother four. While they were enjoying the film, a bomb scored a direct hit on the cinema, killing some and injuring a number of people, including young June, her brother and her mother.

June's injuries included serious shrapnel wounds to her left leg, under her right arm and, worst of all, losing half her buttock, all being extremely painful. She spent many months of terrible pain in hospital. Her young brother lost one finger and deadened two others.

He also had a severe shrapnel wound, the hospital saying it would work itself free in time. In fact, the boy's father eventually removed it. June's mother also suffered very serious injuries, in particular to her legs. She attended various hospitals over a number of years but eventually had to have one leg amputated.

June was also involved in Brighton's worst air attack in May 1943 and soon after was evacuated to Yorkshire. She briefly returned to Brighton as a schoolgirl but once again returned to Yorkshire, where she married and has brought up her family.

She desperately wants to know more about the date of her evacuation in 1943 and, although she cannot recall exactly this fact, she can still plainly see the terrible events of that Saturday afternoon, way back in September 1940, as clear as if it was yesterday.

Her full story can be read in a new book, called War In The City. She certainly endured a childhood few can compare with.

If anyone has any details of the evacuation date in question, please contact Mrs June Longly at 2 New Forge Court, Haxby, York YO32 3YA, or me. I will pass on the details.

-David Rowland, 2 Harvest Close, Telscombe Cliffs, East Sussex BN10 7JG (Tel 01273 583787)