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This story was submitted to the People's War site by volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf of Mervyn Sampson and has been added to the site with his permission. Mervyn Sampson fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

WARTIME MEMORIES OF CHEPSTOW
My Memories by Mervyn Sampson

I can remember the Americans in Chepstow because my mates and I used to sit on the Cenotaph and wait for them to come down High Street in their Lorries and jeeps. We would shout ‘got any gum chum’ and they would wave and throw us sweets and packets of chewing gum. One stopped and asked me whether I had a sister at home. I said ‘yes’ but when I told him that she was three he ruffled my hair and laughed! They would also throw to us their loose change as they did not like their pockets being weighed down by the coins.

A lot of them used to frequent our pubs in Station Road - the Berkeley Arms and Fountain Hotel. Very often my Grandfather, who was very well known in Chepstow for his riding and working with the then popular Lady Curre Hunt, used to bring a couple of GI’s home for supper after the pubs closed. We got to know them quite well and looked forward to their visits, as they would bring tins of ham and other rationed food which was not readily available in the shops. One weekend they failed to turn up, and we heard on the grapevine that the American soldiers were secretely called away. This happened just before the Normandy Landing, and we assumed that their sudden removal from our town had something to do with it.

I remember sitting on the wall outside my house in Station Road watching the German prisoners of war being marched from the railway station to the camp in Bulwark. At Christmas the prisoners made toys for the children and I was privileged to be given one for a present. I thought the world of this as toys were very rare. It was a plane made out of wood.

My Auntie, who also lived in Station Road, took in a mother and son who had been evacuated from London. The husband, Reg Sefton, was in the Scottish Regiment. When on leave he came to visit his family and my Auntie used to lay on a party to welcome him. During the war my Auntie used to work in the Wye Knot Cafe situated in the Beaufort Square area.

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