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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Rebecca Hood of The People's War Team in Wales on behalf of Glenys Cross and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The story was gathered at an event held in Abergavenny to mark the 60th anniversary of VE day.

During the war…I left Wales in 1942 to go teacher training to Portsmouth College but we were evacuated to Chichester, 18 miles inland. And of course we were surrounded by forces so we were very conscious there was a war going on. I can remember coming home from the pictures one night and the siren went and we were running along, ducking under a wall with the whizzing of the bombs coming down. I don’t think at that age though…at 18 …we realised to any real depth the danger we were in….it was something that was — I couldn’t say exciting — but it was something new, something…we’d never experienced anything like it and although we knew the bombs were dangerous…if we’d been older I think we’d have been more worried you know! I remember vividly the blackout and the bombing…the signal going that there was to be a raid and seeing so many members of the forces about…you did then realise there was something going on that you couldn’t have imagined. Seeing incoming prisoners of war…we were having our lectures in various places within Chichester town and the station was very near to where our lecture rooms were and you’d see them bringing in prisoners of war and being evacuated to private homes, our host was a member of the Navy but he was a shorebased man, he was an older man, and we were more conscious of what was going on from the other side of the Channel. It was at times terrifying…I’m feeling it more today (May 8 2005 Abergavenny) when I’m hearing the siren going and the rushing of the guns and the bombs it really upset me when I first came in. There are so many memories…it’s a job to remember them all and get them into order. But I don’t think this will do much to teach people about the horrors of war they’re going about and they’re putting a little one about two year old on one of the guns…well he’s not going to remember that he was too young.

I’m going to ring my college friend tonight…because we’re still in touch and its sixty years ago we spent VE day together. We were teaching in Birmingham and our landlady and landlord, he was teaching on our staff and we were living there in digs…but her father was a very well known bookmaker and the wife was in hospital and we had to move there so the daughter could look after the father and us…and in the evening we went out for a walk. We didn’t have the money to go into the city to the pictures….once a month we used to go into Birmingham City to the pictures. And we were looking around watching the bonfires and the fireworks…and where people had got them from it was amazing…so there we were…we went back and the house was full, and it was a beautiful house very big, and it was loaded with the racing community and whatnot….drinks going on and what I remember most of all, we were glad to go to bed out of it…they had a piano in the house and one fellow was playing and he was tight…really tight…and we didn’t know who he was. We were introduced as being the friends and there was this man sitting alongside the piano saying Arth…play Stardust and that was their idea of the evening…we could see the funny side of a sad situation, but you know that was VE day. I’m going to ring her tonight and ask if she cares to come out and watch the fireworks…she’s in Porthcawl now.

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