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Eileen May de Mouilpied interviewed at the Guille-Alles Library by Becky Kendall of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Guernsey, 5/2/2005. Transcribed and Edited by John David, November 2005

I………. What were your parents doing?
Well my dad was working in the greenhouse for a Mr Le Maitre, I think he was still in the tomatoes but I can’t say if there was tomatoes at the time because he was just gone to work and I really don’t know much about that. My mother had a little greenhouse with grapes, and there was a time when you weren’t allowed to sell them to anybody and one day…
I………. Sell them to Germans or to local people
Well some of them you didn’t have to sell them to the Germans, but then mum had a letter to say that she couldn’t sell them to the Germans, but anyway one particular day there was a lorry came and there was quite a few Germans that came, the OTs, the bosses like, that came and knocked on the door, and mum showed them the letter, and they were very rude, and mum was so frightened, and anyway it was all right, so [ ] she was frightened, you know, anyway, [ ] they helped her with the steps, weighed the grapes, paid my mother some money, and we didn’t hear anything of it. Another incident, another German came to the door, he wanted grapes, and Mum didn’t [ ] they were sour, he could see they were black, he said they were ripe, Mum had a phone, and old fashioned phone, it was all disconnected at the wall, she lifted it up [and spoke into it, in Patois] he went off, he was frightened, it was disconnected, the phone wasn’t working, but he didn’t know that, so he went off.
I………. Was this because she was scared of selling grapes to Germans?
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I………. Was she scared of local people….
Well, local people I suppose could have had them, but I am sure they were stopped from the Germans because they had the letters not to sell grapes.
I………. What happened to them then? Was she supposed to give them away?
I don’t know what happened, but I know that mum had this letter to say.

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