Memories of a motorcycle side car ride to Setley PoW Camp
An oral history interview with John Patrick Toman. Interview Date 06/08/13
John Toman was born in 1944. He has some brief recollections of being 5 years old and taking a journey in the sidecar of his Uncle Stephen’s motorbike, a BMW R75 with a 24hp engine. The journey, along with his brother and mother, was between Portsmouth and the New Forest along narrow and bumpy roads.
His uncle was a BBC reporter attached to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers during the war, starting in North Africa and travelling via Sicily and Italy to finish in Austria. He ended his career with the BBC in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His uncle being a Catholic and marrying a Protestant girl caused strife on both sides of the family. They moved from Ireland to the New Forest to get married.
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Interviewed by: Nick Osman
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Gareth Owen
Links:
To find out more about the Prisoner of War camp at Setley see the ‘Setley Prisoner of War Camp – Overview’ article.
Key Words:
BMW R75, Portsmouth, New Forest, BBC, King’s Own Scottish Borderers