大象传媒

This story has been written by Amy Gauvrit of Finedon Mulso Junior School on behalf of Jacques Barthe. Mr Barthe has given permission for his story to be included on the People's War website and fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Hello, my name is Jacques Barthe. I am the uncle of Thomas, Amy鈥檚 dad. I was born in the south of France, in the Tarn, in 1939. I particularly remember the end of the Second World War, but I was only 5 to 6 years old.

Hello Jacques, I am going to ask you some questions about the Second World War. Are you ready?

Yes!

Did you see an aeroplane fight?

So the aeroplane fight, I never saw an aeroplane fight, I was more involved in the liberation. I did see some aeroplanes, but they were letting go of shiny paper, which marked the end of the war. At the same time they put interference on the German Radio.

Did you see any German Soldiers?

So the German Soldiers, I saw them come into my parent鈥檚 farm, in the countryside. They came asking for some wine, so at that time I think they called it vine. I was surprised, because they were very kind. When I saw them I was very little. I know this much, they did a lot of massacre.

And what sort of clothes did you wear at school?

The school was just next to my parent鈥檚 farm. We went to school in a grey shirt and wooden clogs. So these clogs, made a lot of noise in the class, it was as if we were walking on a shiny surface.

During the war, was the food good or disgusting?

As I lived in the South of France we lived in the free zone. France was split in two, in the North were the German Nazis who controlled everything. People needed ration tickets in order to get butter or bread. Whereas us, on a farm in the South, we had cows for milk, butter. There were sheep and pigs, so we ate well. But the people from the towns often came to buy produce, as there was a lot less in the town.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I have a brother who is two years younger than me. He remembers a lot less than me as he was only four during the war. My mum was frightened, she didn鈥檛 want us to look outside in case a German passed by, they would shoot. At the time the Germans were scared when anyone opened a window. They would shoot as they thought it was someone from the French resistance.

Thank-you, Jacques!

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