大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Jackie Anthony on behalf of David Powell with his permission and he fully understands the terms and conditions.

It was 1940 and I was 10 years old and fascinated by the war. Colwyn Bay was a small quiet town where the war seemed very remote until one day it was overrun with foreign troops. There were French, Dutch and Polish soldiers everywhere quite suddenly one day and noone seemed to know where they came from. They were billeted in private homes, small hotels and B and Bs. I loved it because I collected foreign coins and was able to add to my collection. Then as suddenly as they had arrived they disappeared again to be replaced as mysteriously by the ministry of Food.

The town was swamped by the new arrivals, schools were evacuated and the local girls' school was evacuated to Chatwsorth House which went to the girls' heads and they became very snobbish. The best part of it was that the summer holidays went on and on while the evacuations were completed. My school was evacuated to a hotel above Conway. The MOF had a rugby team and we were always marshalled along to watch the matches. They would cry "Food Food go it food" from the sidelines.

Virtually overnight the Ministry of Food disappeared to be replaced in !943 or 1944 by an American Field Hospital. The whole town was again swamped only this time by American soldiers marching and drilling in the streets and along the prom. They were billeted everywhere.

By now I was 14 and I had a wondrous time as the Americans gave us sweets and chewing gum which made me the most popular boy at school. The Officers' Mess was just down the road and we had two nurses billeted in our house. Our house became something of a gambling den and I remember them supplying my father with packs of Camel, Lucky Strike and Philip Morris cigarettes. They were a delightful crowd. They left in 1944 just after D Day leaving no trace that they had ever been in our town. Presumably they went to Normandy to establish a Field Hospital behind the lines. Whatever the town felt like a ghost town after that.

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