We moved to my mothers forster parent Karl Schmidt around 1935, who had a 44,000 sqare meter smallholding. At that time he was 74 years old and sold the property to my father. He had two small Icelandic horses and the moving from Lunderskov toke place with his horse carriage. Afterall, they did not have that much furniture.
IMG: Karl Schmidt in front of the property in Hundsbækmark.
At my five-year birthday I got at present from our neighbours daughter: A nice tie pin and a silk handkerchief. I still have the tie pin, but the handkerchief is gone. It soon became time to start school and Anton began in 1936, the same year my sister Karen was born. I started school the year after.
In 1940 Denmark was occupied by German forces and almost everything was on ration. All import stopped and oranges and other exotic fruit were unavailable. Foreign fuel disappeared which led to search for alternative fuel types. In Gammelby and Vejen bogs peat production was started. It was a great industry employing thousand men, maybe even more. There were a lot of engines and peat pressing machines. Rebelsig tileworks had a large locomotive that drag tip wagons from the peat bog up to the field.
My father earned a lot of money in the peat bog and I also had my job driving peat silt out to the ground. Unfortunately we could not use the money to a lot, not even cloth, bikes or bicycle tires. Arne drove the horse in the morning while I was in school. When I came home, I had to hurry out to the peat bog to relieve Arne, as he should attend school in the afternoon.
Anton went into service on Aggersgård and studied on Askov woodwork school in 1943-1944. I joined Askov in the winter 1994-45. My mother made an agreement with our teacher Karl Jacobsen to teach me the violin the last two years on the school. I graduated elementary school in May 1944 and worked in the peat bog all summer and began in Askov woodwork school November 1st, 1944. That was a lovely time and for the first time both boys and girls was teached together in school. I remember the lovely summer evenings where Anton and I rided on bikes to dance school at dance teacher Mrs. Lundgård and Ms. Jacobsen in Læborg. Often we rided through Hundsbæk plantation.
IMG: My father Niels and my mother Elly Jepsen had my forster parent Karl Schmidts smallholding in Hundsbækmark with 44,000 square meter field. On the picture from 1942 are the five kids of us. From left to right are Karl, Anton and Arne. In front Karen and Agnes.
My sister Agnes was born in 1942 a winther with a lot of snow and at least -20 degress. The drama started after bedtime. The delivery was starting and my father ride on bicycle to the neighbour and pour them from bed to call the midwife. Unfortunately the telephone central did not answer in Gammelby as the manager had unpluged the line. He wanted his night sleep. What to do? My father ride on the bicycle to another neighbour who was connected to the Brørup telephone central and called the midwife. The snowdrifts were huge, but no force on earth could stop my aunt Anna. She arrived midnight by bicycle in heavy snowstorm.
We could quite easily hear the course of events. In the morning we saw our newborn sister. She was christened and named after my grandmother (on mothers side) Agnes Alfrida Lauridsen, but my parents did not find that the name Alfrida was nice, so the choose the name Agnes Elvira Jepsen instead.
Denmark was liberated May 4, 1945. It was a sad farewell to the woodwork school and I had to figure out what to do with my life. One thing was for sure: I did not want to be a farmer. My father applied for my apprenticeship at Volkswagen in Vejen and they offered me a position as unskilled child worker. My father did not see that leading to anything so I got apprenticeship in farming at Steffen Steffensen at the pond. It was a tough time. We milked cows by hand and in autumn it was often 10 pm before I was off.
I stayed there until November, 1st and had the opportunity to extend as other farmers wanted to hire me, but I wanted to do something else. My mother and father applied at Holger Henriksen who had Brørup Cykel- & Radioforretning (bicycle- and radio shop) and he gave me apprenticeship in January 1946. Henriksen was chairman of the parish council at the time, actually with the same duty as mayor today. I was on technical school in two winters and three years on business college. In 1950 I graduated and was seeking job. A salesman from the company R. Caspar knew that Steffensen in Gram needed an assistant from beginning of May.