War

Home Guard Blaenpennal

Home Guard Blaenpennal

The Second World War Memories

Gwynfor Jones

During the Second World War more than 7,000 children under the age of 16 were killed in towns and cities across Britain. As a result, many youngsters were sent from the cities to safe places in the countryside. Many evacuees came to live with families in the Mynydd Bach area. Instead of the narrow streets of urban areas they came to a different world of open spaces and farms, where men and women worked to grew food, These evacuees were involved in the war effort too, for example the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign. The evacuees iooked fit and well-fed in the countryside and were happy with their foster parents, cailing them ‘Uncle’ and ‘Auntie’. It was little wonder that many of them were reluctant to rejoin their own families when the war was over. 

Agnes Gray was an evacuee from Liverpool and she came to live at Aeron View in Blaenpennai. After four years of living with us she was a fluent Welsh speaker when she returned home.
The United States army trained in Trefenter with their huge tanks and other equipment and guns. Because the roads were so narrow (the width of a horse and cart only), the tanks were responsible for damaging hedges. According to Idris Morgan, Bancilyn, American soldiers brought lots of different sweets with them. He remembers as a child asking “Any gum, chum?”
Many different films were shown during the war, ones