Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Neda Renzi
Oral history recording with Neda Renzi. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00.00 Neda talks about her experiences after the war. She describes the day the war ended as an ‘explosion of joy’ for everyone. The war finished for Neda and her family when the German soldiers left Florence and the Allied forces took over. She remembers it was at the end of August that the Allied forces took Florence. However her family were North of the Arno river whereas the Allied soldiers were still on the south, so they were still under German control. This continued for one month, the worst time during the war for Neda and her family, as they were on the front battle line. That was the point when the German soldiers took over their house to house officials and Neda stood up to them offering interpreting services in exchange for a room in the house for her family. She recalls again their experiences during that time. As an interpreter she was able to help other people in the area when they experienced problems with the German soldiers. The soldiers were sending an ill man to a work camp, she stopped them.
07.42 When the Allied Forces came to the area Neda says that everything changed: they had white bread, chocolate, chicken she recalls people going crazy for the food that the soldiers were throwing away. Her family had some grain during the war as they had fields but her father lost a lot of weight. She recalls that after the Germans retreated, people started leaving their houses, going out, cleaning. Her father, having been a colonel in the war warned the people not to move about too much as it might provoke the allied forces who still weren’t aware that the Germans had left the area. In fact she recalls that they experienced the worst bombing of the war from the allied forces after the Germans had left. They sent partisans to tell the allied soldiers that the German soldiers had left and they stopped. The partisans did a lot in the area against the German soldiers, they fought them in head to head in the street. The partisans at that time had taken over the role of the national armed forces which had disintegrated.
12.49 Neda explains that the partisans all went into hiding in the forests in the mountains nearby to escape being taken prisoner by the German soldiers occupying the area. Many Italian politicians were partisans during the war. The partisans were considered as heroes by the Italian population as they were the only people fighting for the Italians at that time. After the war they lived by candlelight for almost two years, as when the German soldiers destroyed the bridges they also destroyed the electricity lines as well. They would put paraffin or fuel in a bottle, put cotton inside and light it. In the morning they would wake up with black nostrils as they had been breathing in the smoke. She doesn’t remember these times as bad, and thinks this is because she was young and accepted it.
17.00 Neda describes her work in Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank during the war, where women took the jobs of men who had gone to war. She worked there for four years in total, she left when she married her husband. The bank was strict and they all wore a uniform and they worked without a break from eight until two in the afternoon. During the winter there was no heating so they would heat their hands on the electric lamps on the desks, yet she always looks fondly on that period where she worked in the bank. She recalls the sense of community in the bank. They worked very hard but they would also meet outside work for cycle rides. The fact that women worked during the war contributed a lot to the emancipation of women. They were happy to be able to earn money, and to work not imply in the house. She didn’t earn much, two hundred and fifty lire, but she recalls receiving her first pay packet as a special moment. She bought a powder compact with her first pay packet. Neda recalls that they had an amateur dramatics group, they performed in prisons. Neda was the lead with another girl who became a famous theatre and television artist.
23.00 Neda talks of how she met her husband. He was an airman who was based in the airport near their house. The British soldiers would always have to pass their house before going to the base, she recalls three air men in particular. One had a young baby at home and had bought her slippers which were too small for her so he gave them to Neda’s aunt’s granddaughter. As a thank you they invited him in. When he went back to the base Neda’s future husband Gordon had ripped his trousers, having seen a sewing machine in the house the other airman took them there. Gordon went to pick them up and that’s when he and Neda met.
27.51 They communicated in a mixture of English, French and Italian as Neda hadn’t studied a lot of English at school she says a lot of it was down to physical attraction. They married in Italy and had a child and stayed in Italy until the war with Japan was over. After that Neda’s husband travelled to Britain and Neda followed on a train for all the war brides. She recalls the journey, the train was very comfortable but she was travelling on her own with a baby and all her luggage and experienced very difficult moments. When they arrived in Calais to get the ferry it had been cancelled due to bad weather. They were taken to a hut full of soldiers and had to wait until the morning when the ferry could run. She was seasick on the boat and others helped her with her baby. When they arrived at Victoria station they were put in a Salvation Army hospital. She remembers the cold and it was her birthday. When she arrived at her in-laws house they had prepared a high tea for her.
36.00 Neda didn’t have too many expectations of Britain but found that it was very different to her life in Italy. They had a Catholic wedding in Italy, which was normal as they were both Catholic. There were certain things that were lacking as it was still wartime but the Naafi provided them with food. Her brides dress was not white, they were rationed and Neda had something that she could wear again. She brought very little to Britain as she only had one suitcase. She recalls one incident during the journey where a young girl of sixteen or seventeen became upset and threatened to throw her baby out of the window. They managed to calm her down and informed the authorities but really people had to look after themselves. She recalls that it was incredibly difficult for her to leave. In Wales Neda already had one child and quickly became pregnant with another. She went to have her baby in Florence with her family. Her husband followed and tried to find work in Italy however it was very difficult. They started to build council houses in Caerphilly and as by that time Neda had three children she was high on the priority list.
46.17 Everything was completely different for Neda when she moved. She bought Woman magazine and learnt English from that with a dictionary. She couldn’t go out to work as she had children to look after but she found sewing work she could do at home. She then started teaching Italian when the children were older. Her husband was working in the Tinplate factory in Caerphilly. He lost that job and they went on to run a pub in Risca. They then moved to Bridgend and their fourth child was born. The pub was called the Ship Hotel. Her husband died very young at fifty and Neda started teaching with Enaip. She has always been very independent with a can do attitude. When asked why so many Italians started their own businesses she says that they do seem to have a flair for business. Many Italians in the area emigrated before the Second World War and were already settled, so Neda didn’t meet many Italian people in the area. She talks of the Ferrari family, Elena Germain. The Ferrari family worked in the Conti cafe which was opened before the Second World War it is now closed. The Cavalli family still have a fish and chip shop.