© 2013 Paul Forte

Anna Hassan, daughter of the late Angelo Fusco and the late Rosa Forte, shares the following stories of her family in Banbridge during the war years.

No sugar, Pepe the Turkey and Lady Montgomery

My parents started their business in Banbridge around 1937 - the only Italians in the town and they were not sure how they would be received. They started well and worked hard to be accepted into the community, however the positive start was disrupted by the spread and growing austerity of World War Two.

Warfare rarely bodes well for small businesses, peoples' spending drops, resources become scarce and luxury ice cream certainly did not match the mood of austerity. Fortunately however the opposite seemed to be true for my family and by one of the many fortunate coincidences that characterise the beginnings of successful businesses, a large US military camp was built nearby in Loughbrickland and the real money began to come in.

Many were of Italian origin, mum was a great cook and they used to come and eat in the shop. Mum cooked to order and the food reminded them of their own homes. Mum never had to buy 'nylons ' as she was given gifts of these by the soldiers, and my father always had petrol on hand for his beloved car, they also gave food, that was rationed, so that they could keep the shop open and thriving. My mum told some great and true stories about that time. Here are three of them!

One day, my father, who normally had a lively twinkle in his eyes and a ready sense of the absurd through thick and thin, had worry written all over his face. When he failed to join the usual group of GIs at their table for a black coffee with 'a little extra' in it, they asked him what was wrong. My father explained that he had run out of sugar. Although he had run out of coupons, there was no sugar to be found even on the 'black market' and without sugar - there could be no ice cream! The GIs agreed that this was a serious problem and went off.

An hour or two later they returned and said that they had sourced some liquid Saccharine. They enquired whether or not this could be used as a substitute for sugar in the ice cream. Papo thought that it might be possible and so a plan was hatched to retrieve the liquid from a warehouse 'south of the border'. At midnight they set out in an American Jeep, driving through fields and lanes to cross the border undetected. They returned exhilarated with success at 4am. My mother had prepared a delicious Italian feast for them. They ate, laughed and told the story of their adventure. The Saccharine was admired, smelt and sampled over and over and eventually all agreed that although it was incredibly strong it should be OK, as long as it was heavily diluted. They had only been able to source a 'full to the brim' one-gallon clay jar - but that would be more than enough for over a year's production of ice cream!

My father was taking no chances with it and decided to carry it to the store out of harm's way. Whether through tiredness or excitement the jar slipped out of his hands and smashed into a million pieces with the taste, touch and smell of saccharine thick in the air everywhere. There was a very quick exodus from the kitchen. My father was heartbroken, and my mother was furious not just because of the waste but because, for months afterwards the kitchen smelt ridiculously sweet and the surfaces were sticky no matter how many times they were scrubbed!

My father and his Italian mates from Belfast played cards each week. They always came to Banbridge as mum would have a meal prepared and they could sit, often until the early hours of the morning playing without being interrupted by wives or family. These meeting were never cancelled and the 'boys' looked forward to the 'card school' week on week. At that time, during and for some years after the war, meat was difficult to source so, mum kept chickens and turkeys.

One particular turkey was very clever and became a family pet with a free run of the shop and kitchens. During one of my father's regular card playing evenings, one of the guests arrived in a beautiful suede pair of tan shoes. He loved them as he had won them during a poker game with an American Captain. As they were sitting around the table the turkey, whose name was Pepe, was walking about. Unfortunately he soiled on the guest's suede shoes. Apparently when he noticed what had happened he put his hands under the table, caught Pepe by the neck and pulled. When mum found out she was ready to wring the guest's neck.

Eventually, after mum had got over her anger at what had happened the staff and customers feasted on Pepe, who by all accounts was the tastiest turkey they had ever had.


Another true but hilarious event happened when Lady Montgomery came to Banbridge to encourage people to enlist for the war effort. Unfortunately in her rousing speech from a stage which was placed just outside our shop, she referred to the "renowned characteristics of the Irish for fighting". This did not go down very well with several people in the audience that had gathered around. A mini riot ensued, led by the Parish Priest, during which she was heckled and booed. She and her entourage were quickly whisked away, no one was arrested and peace was restored.

At least some sense of humour remained in spite of the entire trauma and suffering a war brings to everyone.

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