- Contributed by听
- Civic Centre, Bedford
- Location of story:听
- Thurleigh and Twin woods
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A2676927
- Contributed on:听
- 29 May 2004
I was born in 1929, and in 1944 I went to join the infantry.
They wanted me to work down the pit but I wanted to join the infantry. The field I worked in was right next to an American airfield, and I cut the grass next to the runways. We saw some horrific things, numerous plane crashes and bombing runs. One day we saw a Typhoon Bomber land on the airfield, jump up again and crash in the next field. We saw German and Italian prisoners of war.
One day I saw Glenn Miller and I wanted to get his autograph, but I couldn't because of his large entourage. I also saw Eleanor Roosevelt.
We kept several large hay bales in the barn, and I couldn't reach the top ones so I decided to pull one out the bottom, when they all fell on me. I couldn't breathe, and it was an Italian Prisoner who heard my shouts and got help to rescue me.
I also did firewatch twice a week, 16 hours a day.
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