大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Sue Sutton on behalf of Bruce Young, the author and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

During the war I'd come to St Issey to work on Trewince Farm owned by the Woodwards. I was twelve and a half when I started. My parents would put me on the train from Sheen near Richmond, Surrey.

I came down when I was 14 and there were German POWs helping on the farm harvesting. The farmer kept them late one night and they missed their transport back to camp. I was the only one who could drive. There was a Flying Standard 12 belonging to the farmer who couldn't drive. He had five daughters who could drive but they were away in the WAF. I drove them back to the camp on my own with the two German POWs. I was a bit worried at the time but I never told my parents!

The five daughters played tricks on me all the time nicknaming me the City Goose because I wasn't 'countryfied'. They put a duck head in a pastie for Sunday supper and a rook in my bed! I had saved up my sweet ration for three months to share with the daughters. On my first night I hid them under the bed. In the morning there were only wrappers left. The girls had found them and eaten them! I loved being on the farm and couldn't wait to get there. Father was a magistrate and came down on a suprise visit to find me driving a tractor - he was so cross he ordered me off. I used to drive wagon loads of sheaves of corn into the village. Young boys in the country did this but father did not know or understand.

I joined the Sea Cadets from Kingston Grammar School near Richmond. Sea Cadets worked sweeping for mines on the Thames Estuary. We never found any.

I spent all the time of the Blitz in London. A bomb dropped in the next road destroyed a house and damaged several others.

I was in the 1st XI cricket team. Last day of school I arrived at 9am to hear the air raid siren so I went to the air raid shelter and at 1pm the Sports Master came through to tell us to report to the door - we went to Kingston Barracks and played a match having to dive into the shelters three times in the afternoon.

Travelling from home to Waterloo Station, we were allowed on the Atlantic Coast Express and were packed in like sardines. During the journey we passed six Pulman trains with German POw's sitting in real comfort!

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