Z1205/023

Male Italian former prisoner of war who returned to Kempston to work on the farm he worked on as a POW. b. 1917 SIDE A (00 mins)Family background in the rural southern Italian area around Busso, in Campobasso province. Large family. Agricultural work. Father died aged 37. (05 mins)Village school. Strict teacher. Playing truant. (10 mins)Poverty for one-parent family. Sheep farming. (15 mins)Arable farming. Cherry harvest. (20 mins)Family settlements in sparely-populated area. Church attendance. Half the harvested crop given to land owners. (25 mins)Joined Italian army, aged 20. Alpine Troop. Sent to Libya in 1939. Extremely hot. Poisonous mosquitoes. (30 mins)END OF SIDE A SIDE B (00 mins)9 years in army. Taken prisoner by British. Moved from Egypt to India. (05 mins)Life in Bangalore. (10 mins)Transfer to England. (15 mins)Sent to Bedford, 1942. (20 mins)200-250 Italian prisoners of war. Hostel at Chimney Corner - Kempston Hardwick - wooden huts. 6 men worked at Box End Farm, Kempston. Allowed to live at farm. Treated very well. Dairy farming and fruit and vegetable crops. Farmer encouraged him to buy a house after war and bring over his family. (30 mins)END OF SIDE B. SIDE A (00 mins)Arrival of wife from Italy in 1956. Let rooms in their house to other immigrant Italians. Wife joined him in working at the weekends at Box End Farm in Kempston. She was very upset at not having her children with her (they stayed with grandparents in Italy). (5 mins)Farmer told him he should buy his own house and loaned him the money. (15 mins)Their children (ages 4 - 9 yrs) were brought to England in 1959. Wife worked at Meltis factory, Bedford. His sisters and brothers (four of them) came to work in Bedford. (20 mins)All returned to Italy except he and his wife. He has house and land in Italy. Considers Bedford as "home". One daytime and one night time Italian interpreters helped brick work management to relate to workers. He avoided night work. Wanted to see family as much as possible. Problems with those renting rooms in his house. (32 mins)End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Arrival of Italian male workers in 1950s to work in Bedfordshire brick industry. Pay & hours of work. Chimney Corner hostel, Kempston, for foreign workers. Left brickwork, May 1981, when factory close. Reached retirement age, 10 months later. (32 mins)End of Side B End of interview. Original Interview 120 mins

10 July 2001

From: 1915 To: 2001

English. + Italian

item

Meltis Limited,
London Brick Company,
Marston Valley Brick Company Limited

agricultural worker, prisoners of war, farm worker, school mistresses, EDUCATION, Italians, army, mosquitos, Kempston Hardwick Chimney Corner, Kempston Box End Farm, dairy, MIGRATION, lodging houses, brick worker, wages/conditions, Campobasso (Province), Busso, Italy, Libya, Egypt, Kempston Hardwick, India