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This story was submitted to the People’ War by a volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf of Gwen Kirlew .and has been added to the site with her permission and she fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

War memories were having to work down at Fairfield Shipyard. About three girls were driving the gantry, a couple in the stores and others worked in other parts of the yard. The noise of the drilling, rivetting and banging took some getting used to! Working in the tanks was so cold in the winter and so hot in the summer. With clothes and shoes on coupons, some of us bought boys shoes because they were only two coupons instead of five for girls. Also boys shoes were better for climbing ladders and getting in and out of the tanks.

When the siren went at night women, who were a certain age, had to get up at night and meet an air-raid warden and walk around the road and streets in the area where they lived. They didn't come home until the all clear was sounded. One night a bomb was dropped on the field about where the Rugby Club is now, and one in the windmill field at Tutshill.

Most people planted in their gardens as much produce as they could, and others had allotments. We had one in the field behind the Public Hall.

In those days the busses and trains were pretty full. At peak times it would probably be standing room only on the buses. You would have to queue to get into a cinema, and were glad sometimes to get inside!

In those days people of Chepstow gave money to many projects which were posted up on a board in Beaufort Square. The targets were always reached!

Of course there were sad memories of wartime in Chepstow -young, popular men who went away and never returned.

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