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

Summary part 1 00.25 Francesco was born on the 15th May 1930 in Ripabottoni, county of Campobasso. His grandparents had always worked there as farmers; he talks about the hard work, particularly during the war. There were many German soldiers in the village in 1943 and his family had to hide in the forest. His maternal grandparents were Francesca Patotta and Nicola Paduana. He didn’t know his paternal grandparents well as they died at a young age. His grandmother provided well for the family, he describes them as wonderful grandparents. They didn’t live on the land. Some people had a basseria a small building on the land, but most farmers lived on the village and walked to the land. In 1942 his parents moved to a farmhouse and stayed there until he was 23. Before that they would walk half a mile to two miles to work on the land with animals. It was a hard but happy life as they didn’t know any better. They grew Indian corn, wheat, vegetables and had poultry and rabbits. They didn’t eat meat everyday as it would be sold to the village. He explains the economic situation; there were a few wealthy people but mostly poor people who would suffer under landowners under the Mezzadria system. He talks about the Princess who owned the land they worked on, and how his parents would work the land, pay rent in wheat and often go home empty handed.

11.29 Francesco goes on to talk about the landowners and how they were treated with utmost respect. However, soon after the war the immigration started and the farmers left the land, so the landowners couldn’t make any money from it. After the war agricultural people wanted a better living so they left; a chain of immigration started. He went back in 1961 and there were acres of uncultivated land. Again he talks about how strict the landowners were and recalls them carrying out strict inspections.

18.56 Animals would be used to work the land, where the whole family would work. Women would work and return early to cook for the men. He describes his family home; he shared a bed with his two brothers, his parents had a room and a kitchen where they ate simple home cooked food. At one point Francesco’s father went to Canada to earn money and was unable to return to Italy as Mussolini’s laws forbade it. In Canada he worked as a water boy on the railway at that age, he then went to Montreal to sweep the snow from the road, after that he shone shoes in a barber shop. Thousands of Italians went to Canada at that time, some stayed, some returned. In 1948 they reopened the passage and his brothers joined him there.

27.00 Francesco describes his town; the community would get together for dances in each other’s house and during Carnival time. He recalls how girls and boys would be strictly separated, and girls would always have to have a chaperone; when he was courting his wife he had to take her whole family to the cinema- they didn’t go again as he couldn’t afford it! In the summer the men would cut the corn and sing in the fields- you would hear the songs miles away, there were no better things to do he says. Francesco recalls that everyone on the village had nicknames. His family nickname was Varratello- from when his grandfather would put a bar across their door to stop thieves breaking in. They would talk dialect in the village and songs in dialect would be sung at festivals and gatherings. He goes on to describe some of the festivals.

38.30 Religion as very important in the town, as it was throughout Italy. The church could fit around 200-300 people, he considers it the most beautiful on Campobasso as it was decorated by a painter from Ripabottoni. He recalls fondly that, as boys, they would go to church to see girls. Relationships were decided by whether it was right for the families to unite; messengers were sent to and fro and permission was needed from all the family.

42.20 Francesco talks about the different festivals; money would be collected for the entertainment and there would be a cinema screen in the square once or twice a year. He started school at 6, he says it was very strict, after five years he finished school. He still has three or four good friends from school who still live in the same village. He talks about dressing up as a Balilla, in the fascist uniform as a boy and the sports displays and marches they would be made to perform. His mother was a fascist he explains, as farming women would be the only ones allowed to sell eggs, chickens, rabbits and pigeons in order to feed the family. He goes on to describe other aspects of the fascist regime which helped the agricultural people.

01:01.15 Francesco was ten when the war started; he remembers black curtains having to be out over the windows so the planes couldn’t see them. Soldiers only came to his town in 1943, first Germans, then English, Canadian, Indian. The town is very near Montecassino which experienced extensive bombing during the war, between German and American soldiers, many civilians were caught in the crossfire and he recounts stories of friends who experienced that. Food was very scarce during the war; they cultivated the land to survive.

Summary part 2 00.20 Francesco continues to reminisce about wartime Italy. The relations between the British soldiers and the villagers were good he says. After the war things carried on as usual; his mother had cows and sold milk around the village. Immigration in his family started in 1948 with his first brother. His second brother immigrated in 1950. Francesco tried to emigrate to Canada but couldn’t so his brother in law asked Francesco and his wife to come to Wales. He went to North Pembrokeshire for eight years then moved to Milford Haven. His mother joined him towards the end of her life.

07.06 Francesco brought a small wooden suitcase with him; a jacket, shirt, underwear and pair of shoes. He and his brother in law arrived in Milan, they took a train to Belgium where it stopped due to a strike in France 1953. He recalls being dropped off at a mine where there was a shed filled with hundreds of Italians all sleeping on top of one another. They left and got to Calais, half starved, where they got the boat. Two sisters in law were waiting for them in London at Paddington Station and they then got the train to Fishguard.

09.40 He remembers that the boat was small, there were lots of Italians travelling at that time. He met an Italian who spoke excellent English which he could never imagine speaking himself. His first impression was being so surprised by so many cows in the fields and the green fields in August 1953; in Italy everything was dry. He worked on farms for some time and explains the difference he found to agricultural work in Italy; here it was on a much larger scale. He worked on various farms and finally worked in a modern farm with modern living quarters.

14.49 After working on various farms and not receiving any pay rises, Francesco went to work for the Esso refinery in Milford Haven. He didn’t enjoy the work until he received his first pay check; he received 21 pounds, and thought they had made a mistake. They lived on seven pounds and saved more money in ten and a half months than in five years working on the farm. He was then able to pay off a loan they had acquired to but themselves a house. At the same time Francesco was cutting hair in his lunch hours. After some training with a friend in Italy, he got a job for a Barbers in Wales but quickly went on to start up his own business. He trained his family and in 1967 they opened a ladies hairdresser. His sons were sent to London to train, all of his four children are in the business.

29.50 When the Esso refinery closed they lost around 500 customers, so they then rented shop in Haverfordwest which they still have now. It is a family business- he paid his children well and needed their help when he started, he didn’t force them but encouraged them. Now they have grandchildren who are trained as hairdressers. There were some Italians in the area but they weren’t very supportive business wise.

35.01 Francesco went on to have a successful hairdressing business and employs many Welsh people in the area and is well respected. He recalls finding the language difficult to learn when he arrived, he found it very difficult to settle in but his wife settled easier than he did and helped him. However now, Francesco has a lot of Welsh friends and describes them as wonderful people. When he goes back he says ‘When I go back I’m a foreigner, when I’m here I’m Italian, what am I?’ His children feel a strong link with their Italian roots. However he says that the community isn’t big enough to keep it alive. However, he keeps the culture alive through family unity; even his grandson wants to start up a barber shop in Italy to keep the family business alive. He is very keen on keeping a link with Italy and wants to improve tourism in the area. ‘I want the village to survive not to die, not whilst I am alive’.