Description
Object description
British schoolchild evacuee in Northiam, GB, 9/1939-10/1939; schoolchild in London, GB, 1939-1941; evacuee in Grampound and St Stephen, GB, 1941-1942; film protectionist with Prince of Wales Cinema, Lewisham, London, 1942-1944; conscientious objector worked at Beare Green Youth Hostel and Fishfold Farm, Ockley, GB, 1944-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Invergordon, GB, 1926-1938: how Italian parents settled in Scotland; childhood in Invergordon; father's military service in First World War; family's ice cream and fish and chip shop; education; reaction of school friends to Italian invasion of Abyssinia, 1935; attitude to Scottish and Italian identities. Aspects of period as schoolchild in Blackheath, London, GB, 1938-1939: family move to Blackheath, 1938; opinion of educational standards in England.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction of family to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; preparations for evacuation. Aspects of period as evacuee in Northiam, GB, 9/1939-10/1939; evacuation with brother, 1/9/1939; opinion of billet and host family; listening to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's radio broadcast of declaration of war, 3/9/1939; hop picking; return to London, 10/1939. Aspects of period as schoolchild in London, GB, 1939-1941: education; story of one brother joining British Army and one brother registering as conscientious objector; effect on family of Italy entering war, 10/6/1940; story of brother Luigi Sidonio's arrest and internment on Isle of Man; rationing; work helping mother in family shop; description of first German air raid on London, 7/9/1940.
REEL 3 Continues: sheltering in cellar; damage caused in local area; return to school, 1941. Aspects of period as evacuee in Grampound and St Stephen, GB, 1941-1942: evacuation to Cornwall, 1941; description of billets in Grampound and St Stephen; return to London, 4/1942. Aspects of period as film projectionist with Prince of Wales Cinema, Lewisham, London, GB, 1942-1944: leaving school; employment as trainee projectionist at Prince of Wales Cinema, Lewisham; importance of cinema in wartime; films shown during blackout and air raids.
REEL 4 Continues: work as film projectionist; opinion of film 'Gone With the Wind'; importance of newsreel films; use of cinema as refuge during blackout and atmosphere; reason for registering as conscientious objector on call-up for military service, 1943. Aspects of period as conscientious objector in Beare Green and Ockley, GB, 1944-1945: offer of employment at Beare Green Youth Hostel; work in kitchen; reaction to V1 Flying Bombs and V2 Rockets landing on London; death of father; joining gang of farm workers, spring 1945; memories of conscientious objectors John Cowan and Reg Feline.
REEL 5 Continues: description of farm work; worked as farm labourer at Fishfold Farm, Ockley; relations with farmer's family and land girls; political beliefs; reason for registering as conscientious objector and attitude to fighting fellow Italians; attitude of brother Luigi Sidonio to four years internment on Isle of Man; VE Day celebrations in London, 8/5/1945; reflections on continuing anti-war stance and wartime experiences.
