大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥� War by a volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf of Brian Grassby and has been added to the site with his permission. Brian Grassby fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

Army

They had some on the Racecourse, I think they were Indians, used to be in the Racecourse place. We used to go up through the woods there when they were there. They were all right the Indians were.

I do remember the boy Townsend he was an RAF pilot. He was one of the pilots that did the big dam by the Dam Busters, he was actually one of those; he used to live down Garden City.

The tanks used to be going over the top of Mount Pleasant, the lorries early in the morning. On the top of Bulwark corner as you come round, instead of taking the corner they went straight on across the road and down into the field. You used to see about four or five Yank lorries down there in the morning, after the convoy came through.

And the tanks used to come down, one went into Griffiths, the ironmongers one day with his gun through the bedroom window. And the Americans used to get into the Arch and try and hack the stones down to get through. Until somebody came along and stopped them.

Home Life

We used to have a cellar, a cellar in the house. We went in the cellar down underneath, every home in Mount Pleasant had cellars. Just go down until the All Clear sounded, and then we went back up.

We had a little battery radio, we had the wireless on nearly all the time. That鈥檚 the only thing you used to hear, the wireless, in those days.

I remember the camp and the Germans and the convoys and the tanks and that. We used to get pushed down the stairs when there was an air-raid and my dad used to open the back door and see the searchlights over Bristol.

School

I was in Portwall School, we had to run home every time the siren went, just round and up Hardwick Avenue. We had fire drills and gas masks. I remember putting the gas masks on in school, they showed me that they were very awkward things, horrible and rubbery; I鈥檝e hated the smell of rubber ever since.

Poor old Albert, he was a policeman there in the war. You remember he used to be the policeman just patrolling. If anything happened he used, if you happened to be out when the air-raid siren went he used to send you home, make you go home if you were out in the streets. 鈥淕et home, go on.鈥� If it was our Alf you may get a clip around the ear to help you on your way.

Town

The iron railings went from the building that used to go round to Station Road from the High Street. Right on the corner before you went down into Station Road, on the right hand side there were iron railings and they
took all the railings away from there.

Voluntary Organisations

My father was in the Home Guard, and there was a Mr Court, he used to be an ARP Warden. Albert Rowlands was a policeman. I remember little Mr Court he was doing traffic control when somebody shouted 鈥淎ir Raid鈥� he put his gas mask on. He was the only one with his gas mask on
out in the road They used to meet a couple of times a week I think; and they used to do their different exercises, up against the apprentice school at Beachley. They used to come down through the town. They used
to guard the bridge the Home Guard; the old Chepstow Town Bridge, to stop the Beachley Boys getting back to Beachley.

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