- Contributed by听
- Chepstow Drill Hall
- People in story:听
- Sam Bryant. Chepstow Memories
- Location of story:听
- Chepstow
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A4065734
- Contributed on:听
- 14 May 2005
This story was submitted to the People's War site by volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf of xxxxxx and has been added to the site with his permission. xxx fully understands the site's terms and conditions.
SAM BRYANT AGED 91 YEARS
Agriculture
I was over at Sedbury when the war started farming, looking after a place, Badams Court. Mathews the name was, he used to be up in London and he came home every weekend. His wife and two kids were over in a house there, but they be gone now dead. The daughter is dead; the boy is still alive - Peter, he鈥檚 still at Badams Court. I walked or biked there in the snow 16 miles a day! Milk it was then, Ben had the lot, Ben used to go round the houses with the milk, look.
That week I finished up on the Saturday. My son said that old Harry wants somebody up here with the animals a bit and milking. I went up and he gave me a job. So I was there just over 12 years. There were horses up at Newchurch then, there were no tractors. Harry said the one morning, he must have got in touch with somebody or they with him, that he would take a few prisoners. He wasn鈥檛 a bad lad that Willy one. I could get on all right with him. He always used to talk about his father and the farm they had out there. Oh aye, Willy was all right, he could drive horses, he could do anything. He didn鈥檛 do any milking mind, just odd jobs about like, hoeing because we used to grow a lot of roots, all for the animals. Taties look for the animals, you used to get a fair bit for growing taties in wartime. But one Saturday Harry said 鈥淚 got ten prisoners to come down, I want them to come with you trimming the hedge around in the field鈥 I said 鈥渢en of them look here Harry you take five and I take five, I鈥檓 not taking ten!鈥. There were a couple of nasty looking coves in there. So Harry had five of them and the other five came with Willy and me. Willy kept telling them off like. The only trouble with Harry up there you know, he didn鈥檛 like to see you stood up. But this Willy didn鈥檛 mind that; he used to come down every day, he used to walk across the fields from the camp, in Bulwark.
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