Childhood Memories during the War in South Wales

Avril was born in 1936, she was aged 3 when the war started and 9 when it finished and comes from a South Wales mining family. Father was in the RAF as was an uncle and a cousin. Another uncle was in the army. Mother was WVS - certificate signed by Princess Alice.

There were two evacuees staying with them. They arrived in the town one evening from London. Avril was just 4 and was very upset that no evacuee was allocated to them. Apparently, she was crying and was saying "I want a wackawee" as she couldn't say ‘evacuee’.! Later on, two sisters were brought to their door. Their names were Enid & Susan Wilson and they stayed with them for around 4 years. Enid and Susan were not used to Welsh life. In age, they were between Avril and her older sister Margery, and occasionally they would play together, but not often. Enid and Susan did do a lot of reading.

One time when their mother was visiting them she let the fire go out because the cat was sleeping on her lap when she was at home alone! Therefore no hot water nor heat for cooking! The fire was always kept in, even overnight!

Susan had a knitted doll called Midge and Avril wanted to play with it but Susan wasn’t at all happy with that. So one day Avril stole the doll and put it in the dustbin. Luckily her mother saw her and rescued Midge, got the pattern and made another doll for Avril!

Sweets weren’t readily available so a piece of paper was folded to a cone and filled with sugar and cocoa powder but one day Avril saw “losin dant” being made by a lady who threw the sweet toffee mixture against a clean nail fixed in a door and pulled it back towards her. She did this quite a few times to mix the brown and white colours into stripes and then cut it all into pieces. Delicious, and not rationed, though of course you still had to pay for it.

One girl had a boyfriend who was an RAF pilot stationed in St. Athan and when he came back from an operation he would fly down through the valley. When over her house he would waggle his wings to let her know he was OK. But he was asked to stop because he was waking up the miners who were on night shift!

Miners got a lung disease from the stone and coal dust which affected their breathing. Avril’s father had silicosis and his eyes used to shake in the dark. When he joined the RAF he couldn't be a gunner or a flier because of his eyesight & lungs. He worked in a hospital and on airfields as he held First Aid certificates and had been a first aider underground as well as a miner.

Uncle Ron, Ronald James Andrews, joined the RAF in 1939. He flew until 1944 as a navigator when he used a small light to read and plan the routes. Afterwards, he was asked to teach navigation but while he was waiting to start this, Pathfinders became short of a gunner for a pre D-Day flight and he was asked to fill that post. He went to the doctor to explain the problem with his eyes and seeing in the dark but the doctor wouldn’t believe him (probably no experience of miners) and threatened to put LMC (Lack of Moral Courage) on his papers. Avril’s uncle said he wasn’t having that on his record so he went. June 1st 1944 the plane was shot down over France. Of the five crew one survived - 3 parachutes failed to open, my uncle’s being one, and another opened so late that the crew member died of his injuries. One man survived to tell the tale. Avril heard that it was ground fire that caused it. Uncle Ron is buried in France. As there was only one plane out the person who packed the parachutes was traced and there was an inquiry.

Cousin Albert, also RAF, was in Pembrokeshire with Air Sea Rescue. One Saturday he surprised the family by walking into the kitchen unexpectedly - Avril’s mother thought he was “absent without leave” but no, he was given a 24 hour pass for rowing a bomb disposal team out into Milford Haven harbour to defuse a mine that had floated in on the tide. He had to keep the boat near enough to the mine for the disposal team to defuse it but far enough away from it to stop it blowing them up! Avril’s mother was so cross with him for volunteering but he said he was able to get home for a few hours so it was too good to miss!

Uncle Frank was a soldier in the regular army. He was captured at The Battle of Tobruk and imprisoned in the camp at Leipzig, Germany. On his release in 1945 he looked considerably older. Uncle Cliff met him at Cardiff railway station and failed to recognise him until he spoke. He had also been badly whipped.

Avril’s mother enjoyed The Light Programme on the radio. She also would take Avril to the cinema. One afternoon Avril was caught by an airman in the PICTURES (cinema) as she passed on the way to the “ladies” - her father was home unexpectedly and told by neighbours where they were. Such joy! If you were in uniform you got into the PICTURES free.

Games they played: all outside - rounders, blind man's buff (blindfold), hot rice - similar to cricket, once the ball was hit the hitter ran and dodged about and when the ball was picked up everybody shouted 'hot rice' and stopped. Whoever had the ball threw it at the hitter and if it hit them the thrower took the bat . Also hoop and stick, hopscotch, leapfrog, racing and football. There was a beautiful park for children plus tennis courts, bowling green and soccer pitch. Also the mountains were for exploring especially the Graig the lower part of which was covered in trees. They made dens and explored and climbed. When it snowed they would slide down on trays and sledges plus snowballing and snowmen.

Throughout her childhood, she would see the community mourning, and injured people.

Uncle Richard (Dick) Powell didn't have any primary school education because of asthma. He was shell-shocked in WW1. He would wander off when he heard shells. He had PTSD until he died.

When it was all over and peace declared there was dancing in the next street that night but Avril went home and fell asleep.

A few days later there was a street party held but Avril couldn’t attend as she had contracted German Measles and was confined to bed watching through the window!!

When the street lights were switched on again Avril’s mother took her for a walk in the dark to see them at a distance but Avril was underwhelmed as she had been imagining fairyland and it wasn’t.