SISTERS spotted themselves in a photo being used in an exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of the Great Evacuation.

Doreen Bindley and her sister Rita Ridley, of Douglas Road, Chingford, were aged nine and five respectively when they were sent to Luton from their home in Walthamstow in 1939.

The black and white photo, featured in the Guardian last month, shows the girls walking with other pupils George Gascoigne School arriving in Luton, and is one of several included in an exhibition at Vestry House Museum.

Mrs Bindley, who now lives in Loughton, said: “I was very shocked when I saw the photo in the paper because it was very familiar – we have the same photo ourselves.

"I recognised it straight away and got goosebumps.”

The 79-year-old said she clearly remembers the Great Evacuation, when thousands of children were sent from London to the countryside.

The widower said: “The photo was taken on September 1, 1939. Before we went, they made us try our gas masks on, which we didn't like very much, but they would give us a penny for doing it.”

The sisters were first sent to a “very nice couple” but then got moved to another family where, she said, they were unwanted.

She said: “We didn't go to school and were pushed out of the house every day. My mum came to see us and we were filthy and poorly looked after so she took us straight home. I was really glad to get home to Walthamstow.”