Collections Online

Oral history recording with Francesco Laforges. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 2 of 4 (AV 11418-11421)

00:00:13 Francesco continues to talk about food; they would eat stuffed rabbits for a special festival and Francesco would go out to find dandelion leaves for the rabbits, which they would also eat. He talks of festivals- The San Rocco festival, Christmas, Constantinople and explains that every town had a protecting saint; his village saint was Constantinople. The day before the festival there is a big market selling sheep, lambs etc. He describes what the centre of the village was like. For four following days there would be lights all over the village, a stage and a band. There would be a procession, fireworks, food. Ice Cream, nuts, roasted meat would be sold. The community was friendly, young people respected their elders and he continues to talk and people and characters in the village.

00:10:58 Francesco describes the social life of the town; after coming home from work he would put on smart clothes and go out. There were many clubs in the village- Catholic, Communist and Social clubs. People would sit outside and go for walks. On a Sunday balloons and nuts would be sold. They would play football with a sock stuffed with clothes. He talks of the local priest Don Costantino Albergo who persuaded him to join the Catholic club. He taught Francesco how to use a film projector- he remembers seeing a film about steelworks in Britain. The films were chosen by the church, not showing films about sex and violence. He talks about feeling very close to the priest, visiting him on his return.

00:21:08 Francesco was around seven when he started school, he describes the system. During the war there weren’t many people in the school as many children had to work to work to support their families, as did Francesco. Either that or parents couldn’t afford to buy the books.

00:29:13 Francesco talks about bombings during the war. There were soldiers from Germany, Britain, New Zealand, America, Canada and India. His uncle, who was a cobbler, he was pro fascist yet made money from the British soldiers. There was a convalescence home in Bari for wounded soldiers coming back from North Africa. Francesco recalls three British soldiers who would come to the field they rented and many other nationalities in the town.

00:34:40 Francesco recalls coming back from the field with figs and grapes, swapping them with the German soldiers for black bread, whereas the Americans had white bread. British camps would be near the village and his cobbler uncle and brother would work there, he describes their work. He tells how they had to be searched when leaving the camp.

00:43:45 Francesco describes how many Italians left the area in the 1970s and talks about positive effects of Mussolini’s power. He talks about the camps and the uniform, processions and gym displays the children would carry out and about the different stages of for fascist children. In school they had to quote phrases about giovanezza, youth, and sing songs about Mussolini. He notes good points about some of Mussolini’s effects on Italy, for example, introducing running water, sewage works and asphalt roads to poorer areas. He recalls his father was against Mussolini joining Germany during the war but if someone was openly against fascism it was difficult for them to find a job and made to drink castor oil. As few people had radio or read newspapers, they believed a lot of what they were told. Fascist groups would go railing for copper or goods for the war cause.