大象传媒

Mum was very suspicious of all people who were not British, and near where we lived was a large house turned into a prisoner of war camp for Italian prisoners. They seemed to be quite harmless and were employed on the local farms and fruit farms. We had two at the farm where my Mum worked. They loved children but Mum would not let us near them, and we had to give them a wide berth. The Italians made jewellery out of bits and pieces, and it took a long time before she would allow me to accept a tiny ring which one of the men had made.

Then Maresfield Camp near us was taken over by the Canadian soldiers. They were so generous and would throw out sweets and chocolates as they passed in their army vehicles. At first we were not allowed to eat any of it, but gradually Mum gave in as sweets were almost unobtainable and only if you had enough sweet coupons. The only thing we were not allowed to eat was chewing gum, which Mum felt was most unsavoury. We once chewed some and stuck it to the brass bed post overnight. We got into real trouble. Every now and again the Canadians treated us to a film show at their camp followed by tea and yet more chocolate. They would collect us in army lorries, with all of us sitting on seats along each side as there were no seat belts then. The mums would come to the school to see us off but my Mum was not happy about the situation at all, and really didn't approve. We had a wonderful time however, as we had never been to the pictures before.

This story was entered on The People's War Website by Stuart Ross on behalf of June Noble. June fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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