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Italian Prisoners of War

Grandfather was with the WARAG based in Aldborough. Many Italian and German prisoners of war were based in this area. Grandfather had the responsibility of overseeing the workload (He was, in effect, the Gang-Master). They ploughed the fields using horse-drawn threshers. Grandfather recalled the accident at Burton Agnes Crossing when many of the German P.O.W’s were killed.
Janet’s father was a young boy at this time and was put inside the search lights in order to clean them. His payment for doing this was just a few sweets from the grateful soldiers. These same soldiers would take animal carcases to Grandmother with which to make soup. There always seemed to be left-overs available for the family. Lots of the animals met ‘mysterious’ or ‘accidental’ deaths which kept everyone pretty well fed!
It was said that one of the prisoners had his gold tooth and fillings removed and gave it to Grandma and she had a wedding ring made from it! Apparently the original ring had been lost and so she was desperate for a new one, but as money was very tight the gold fillings came in very useful.

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