Section2 In Your Own Words
Announcer: And now, at 10:50 it's time for "In Your Own Words", in which we interview people with unusual stories to tell. Here to introduce the programme is Patricia Newell. Good morning, Patricia.
Patricia: Good morning, and good morning everyone. With me in the studio now is this morning's guest, Trevor Cartridge. Good morning, Trevor.
Trevor: Good morning, Patricia.
Patricia: Trevor, you have one of the most unusual stories I've ever heard. Yet, nowadays, you seem to lead a very ordinary life.
Trevor: Yes, Patricia. I'm a dentist. I live and work in London.
Patricia: But at one time you used to have a different job?
Trevor: Yes, I was a soldier.
Patricia: A soldier?
Trevor: That's right.
Patricia: And how long ago was that?
Trevor: Oh, about two thousand years ago.
Patricia: That's right. Trevor Cartridge believes that he was a soldier in the army of Julius Caesar. He remembers coming to Britain with the Roman army two thousand years ago. Trevor, tell us your remarkable story ... in your own words!
Trevor: Well, funnily enough, it all began because I wanted to give up smoking.
Patricia: Give up smoking!
Trevor: Mm, I used to smoke too much and I tried to give up several times, but I always started smoking again a few days later. In the end I went to a hypnotist. He hypnotized me, and I stopped smoking at once. I was delighted, as you can imagine.
Patricia: Yes?
Trevor: That made me very interested in hypnotism, and I talked to the hypnotist about it. He told me that some people could remember their past lives when they were hypnotized, and he asked if I wanted to try. I didn't believe it at first, but in the end I agreed. He hypnotized me, and sure enough, I remembered. I was a Roman soldier in Caesar's army.
Patricia: You didn't believe it at first?
Trevor: I didn't believe it before we tried the experiment. Now I'm absolutely convinced it's true.
Patricia: What do you remember?
Trevor: Oh, all kinds of things, but the most interesting thing I remember is the night we landed in Britain.
Patricia: You remember that?
Trevor: Oh yes. It was a terrible, stormy night. There were a hundred or more of us in the boat. We were all shut in, because the weather was so bad and most people were sick, because it was very stuffy. There was a terrible smell of petrol, I remember. Lots of men thought we should go back to France. It wasn't called 'France' then, of course.
Patricia: And there was a smell of petrol?
Trevor: Yes, it was terrible. The weather got worse and worse. We thought we were going to die. In the end the boat was pushed up onto the sands, and we climbed out. I remember jumping into the water and struggling to the beach. The water was up to my shoulders and it was a freezing night. A lot of men were killed by the cold or drowned in the storm, but I managed to get ashore.
Patricia: You did?
Trevor: Yes. There were about ten survivors from our boat, but even then our troubles weren't over. We found a farmhouse, but it was deserted. When the people read the newspapers, and knew that we were coming, they were terrified. They took all their animals and all their food, and ran away into the hills. Of course, there were no proper roads in those days. Well, we went into the house and tried to light a fire, but we couldn't even do that. We always kept matches in our trousers' pockets, so naturally they were all soaked. We couldn't find anything to eat, except one tin of cat food. We were so hungry, we broke it open with our knives, and ate it. We found a tap, but the water was frozen. In the end we drank rainwater from the tin. We sat very close together and tried to keep warm. We could hear wolves but we didn't have any weapons, because our guns were full of seawater. By the morning, the storm was over. We went on to the beach and found what was left of the boat. We managed to find some food, and we hoped there was some wine too, but when we opened the box all the bottles were broken.