#les servini

[etw-teg]

A talented young man was producing "Under Milk Wood" a play for voices[;] ours was the first 'stage' version, they had been hoping for an older chap with experience (they used another word) to play Captain Cat! . . . Incidentally it was voted a great success by the people at Laugharne, Dylan's birth place. (Servini 49)

Les Servini, immigrated from Italy as a child together with his widowed mother, reminiscing about his time playing theatre while enrolled in university as a mature student

Servini, Les. A Boy from Bardi: My Life and Times. Cardiff: Hazeltree Press, 1994. Print.

[etw-teg]

I was 26 years old I had lived here for nearly 20 years, what about all my Welsh friends? I had been to Court twice, to help the police as an interpreter! My years at school and in business? The bitter truth slowly dawned on me. I was still Italian, and technically I was an enemy. That morning one or two ladies were admitted [to the police station] but only to bring some coffee, very welcome, Mrs Belli! Next day we were loaded onto a bus, with a police escort and taken to Maindy Barracks, Cardiff. More men arrived constantly until we must have numbered 2,000. My uncle Tony and John came, we were out on a large field guarded by the Welsh Regiment. Food was spasmodic and scarce, nobody's fault, the whole operation was sudden, ill-conceived and unprepared. One incident brought home to me the futility, the paradox of the situation. A friend and relative, Obertelli from Ystelafera, has sons born here. To his great consternation he saw that his son Peter was one of the soldiers on guard around the perimeter. He was one of the thousands who had been called up, how did he feel guarding his dad! (Servini 21-2)

Port Talbot, 10 June 1940

Source: Servini, Les. A Boy from Bardi: My Life and Times. Cardiff: Hazeltree Press, 1994. Print.