- Contributed by听
- ActionBristol
- People in story:听
- Lona Bailey (nee John), Mabel & J ack Bicknell (maternal grandparents) Gayle gilliam US Sgt
- Location of story:听
- 34 Fowler St Taunton Somerset
- Article ID:听
- A5701187
- Contributed on:听
- 12 September 2005
I used to live with my grandparents, Mabel and Jack Bicknell in Fowler St, Taunton
During the war they billeted 4 Americans, just before 'the big push'.
I remember seeing a crocodile of soldiers at the bottom of Fowler Street coming up the hill towards us, each one waiting to be billeted. We lived at the top of the hill and so we had those that were left.
One of the soldiers was called Gayle Gillia, (Sgt)
We used to get letters from his neices in the USA. He had a girlfriend in Shrewsbury but she wouldn't leave her mother to go to the US with him.
My grandfather, Ernest John Bicknell, was in the Home Guard during the 2nd World War, having been gassed in the 1st World War. He died when he was 63. My father didn't go to war because he wasn't fit enough.
I remember that Saturday was the day that everyone went up to town. All the women folk would meet each other there. I remember the upset, the weeping, as they exchanged news and heard about those who had died or had been taken prisoner.
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