大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf of Coral & Mike Blandford and has been added to the site with their permission. Coral & Mike Blandford fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Memories given to me by Mike and Grace Birbeck.

Grace Birbeck ( nee Bullock )

Lived at 11 Moor Street during the war.

Home memories.
Can remember the American soldiers throwing candy from their lorries as they went down Moor Street. My father Leonard Bullock was a member of the Home Guard and also used to drive the German prisoners of war out on work parties. The officer in charge rode in the front of the cab with my father, while the soldiers were in the back of the lorry. The prisoners made me a lovely elephant out of their great coat material and decorated it with embroiderie and some fancy material for the dhow on top of the elephant. My brother and I were also given some wooden toys - - an aeroplane and a dachsund which was hinged, so that when it was pulled along it waggled back and forth.
As we lived near the police station I can remember the police going out to the back yard to wind up the siren. There was a water tank at the camp that had mountains and lakes painted around the sides.

Mike Birbeck

Home memories
My father (Thomas Towning Birbeck) was the Civil Defence Controller for the Chepstow area; he had an office in the Police station in Moor Street. I used to dread the phone ringing at night as this would mean he had been called out to an emergency. He had to inspect unexploded bombs, and told me of one at the Cwm, Shirenwton, which had slid down the side of the valley and was led in the middle of the road.
I remember hiding in the cupboard under the stairs with my mother and grandmother when the siren went off, also walking up from town in the evening and having to hold onto the tail of my father鈥檚 greatcoat as it was absolutely pitch black because of the blackout with no street lights and no moon. I vaguely remember my father taking me to Grey Hill to watch the messenger boys training with their motor bikes, I believe they would be used by the Civil defence to carry messages if the phones were out of use.

A mutual friend - - Les Hoare remembered going out of the Church School to shelter under an archway at the back of the Beaufort Hotel; later they went into people鈥檚 houses in Nelson Street.

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