大象传媒

Edited transcription from a taped interview with John De Jersey

What I haven鈥檛 said so far, I think it was about 1942 we had two 鈥� they came round to billet 鈥擥ermans in our house, we were forced to take in a German officer with three stars who was a chef and his chauffeur, they were in the organisation Todt. Now he and his chauffeur stayed with us for quite a while, they were quite reasonably behaved for a while, and then he started inviting other officers in and they had drinking parties, and I was trying to get to sleep one night, and I couldn鈥檛 get to sleep because of all the noise going on, I went down and complained, this really upset them, because in the book known as 鈥淚 beg to report鈥� the police book, the story is in there, it is not quite right, because when we got up in the morning, my mother鈥檚 best china was all smashed on the floor, there was a terrible mess, and there were thirteen bullet holes in the room, I think they said there was about eleven in the report, but we looked for my mother鈥檚 china, and I said to my father, Right we鈥檙e going to report this so he went to the local police and this is how this report got in the book, I went to the German police, and when I got back the room was as clean as a new pin. Nothing to be seen. I went up the lane, and a lady who I knew said 鈥渨hat are you looking for, John鈥�, and I said 鈥渨ell we鈥檝e had some problems down at home, the Germans who we鈥檝e got billeted on us had a party and fired bullets through the room and they鈥檝e smashed my mother鈥檚 best china and we can鈥檛 find, it they鈥檝e cleaned the room out.鈥� She said 鈥淲ell I saw two Germans putting something into the hedge up the road鈥� so I went and had a look and it was my mother鈥檚 china. Well we showed this to the German police and this officer was then taken into prison, had his three stars removed, and finished up as the cook in the slave camp, and his chauffeur was sent to Russia.

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