大象传媒

Ron Hopkinson now lives in Orrell, in Wigan. He wrote the following account of his experiences as a young boy growing up in Bury. This story is submitted on his behalf.

"In l939/40 we were going to infant school. We were encouraged to go round collecting aluminum pans and utensils to build a Spitfire. I think most of the neighbours were fed up with our frequent calls. At least it was helping the war effort and one month we managed to win a prize for collecting the most. I can't remember what it was. I think we received an orange or an apple each, the neighbours ended up with no pans!

I remember in late 1943 / 44 a large number of Italian prisoners of war were imprisoned in an old mill near where I lived in Bury. Very often we would see them in the fields, helping the farmers. They were very noticeable as they wore large patches on their clothes. In the early days they would also have been guarded by, for want of a better description, the Dads Army. Obviously they had no intention of running away and were very friendly towards children.

My friend and I were both around 10/11 years of age. One day we climbed through a broken window into their quarters and they were quite friendly. Some of them were carving bits of wood into different objects, mostly of a religious nature. We gradually discovered through sign language that they wanted bones. It was funny really. We eventually got the message when they showed us what we took to be a serviette ring carved from a bone. So on the way home we decided to find some way of helping them.

There was a large abattoir near the town centre but we had no luck there; during the war many people would make a meal from bones especially the marrow. However, one day each week, my mother made pea and ham soup. After all the meat had been cut off, the bone was given to the dog to gnaw but it did not get much chance on one occasion. We took it to the Italians.

The next time we visited them we were each given a sliver of bone with an engraving of Christ. On reflection, the craftsmanship was in our eyes superb, considering they were working with rusty nails, broken bits of metal, or anything they could find. I remember going home and asking mother if we could have ham shank every night for tea.

Later they asked if we could find coloured wire and they made little mats and bangles. We sold them for a few coppers to the girls. The men did not want the money - only cigarettes which were very difficult to obtain but there was a little tobacconist close by who would exchange some cigarettes called 鈥楴osegay.鈥� I remember them well. The Italians shared them out. 鈥淣o more, no more,鈥� they said. The smell from them was unbelievable. The tobacco shop certainly got the best bargain with the bangles.

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