MR GRAHAM BOYD, of Chipperfield, recalls his days with the American troops when he was a schoolboy, living at the bottom of Parkside Drive.

They were stationed at the far side of lower Langley Way. In those days it wasn't built on. Langley Way was built on the Watford side but it was all open ground on the other side.

The American soldiers came first of all with tents and then they put up huts. They were mainly administration and non-combat troops but they did have a band.

They didn't impress us in terms of their soldierly bearing. They were a lot more casual. There were a lot of fights between the British and the American soldiers in Watford but I did get friendly with one or two of them. I wrote to the sister of one of them.

They were also stationed up in Langley Road. There was a big house on the right going towards the Junction which they had as a sort of headquarters. A lot of the officers were billeted with local people.

I was taught American football. We played football in the evenings. I was taught boxing by one of the chaps there, a guy called Russell de Grace. It was his sister I wrote to. And there was a guy called Murphy. They were a nice bunch of guys. They were very friendly but they didn't take kindly to the fact that British soldiers wore these heavily studded boots. They also thought our soldiers were very small.

All our artillery was stationed up in what is now Beechen Grove. There was an old drill hall in what is now Beechen Grove Baptist Church.

After the American soldiers left, I think the first squat took place there. The man who led it was a chap called John Doyle who was a campaigner. I think he was also a member of an Irish movement. He was quite a nice guy actually but he was quite militant. I think he led the squat.

He eventually landed up in Meadow Studios in Bushey, where I also lived because I'm a painter.

When the American soldiers first came I was about 14. The first American guy I met was called Doug. I was painting the old mill that stood in Cassiobury Park and he was a painter too and he used to join me on expeditions. By the time I reached 16 they had gone.

The mill was by the lockgate by the main bridge. It was a 15th Century mill. It was very picturesque.

Sadly it was taken down like so many other things in Watford.

I do remember one incident when we invited Doug for tea. My mother had put out our cheese ration for the week. I remember the smile on his face as he helped himself to the cheese and he hadn't washed his hands there were his dirty finger marks on the cheese. It was completely innocent. They had no idea. They were very well fed. I remember the difference between their uniforms and the British soldiers.

June 14, 2002 11:00