大象传媒

At the end of May, beginning of June 1944 I was a 6 year old living with my mother on the very edge of Torquay surrounded by south Devon countryside. My father was in the Royal Navy but had been badly injured earlier in the war and was at that time in a R.N.Hospital. Behind our house on what had been a large country estate, called Cadewell Estate, a large American army camp was set up a few months earlier.I walked passed the camp on my way to school every morning and afternoon and I remember the soldiers plying me, and anyone with me,with sweets,chocolate bars and sugars, and various tins of foodstuffs for our "moms"! It was also the first time I was aware of black people, as obviously some of the soldiers were black Americans. It must have been one or two weeks before D-Day that the camp suddenly emptied. All day long convoy after convoy of lorries, tanks and jeeps swept passed our house, full of soldiers, and others walking alongside the vehicles seemingly fully armed and I suppose ready for combat, en route for the south coast towns where they would set sail for the Normandy beaches. We stood outside on the pavement frantically waving and shouting to all these young men, many of whom had become our friends during the previous weeks. They all waved back and smiled, and as they passed by showered us with goodies - sweets, chocolates and especially wrapped sugar lumps. It was the sugar lumps I remember most of all!

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