大象传媒

My wartime memories started when the sirens went off, and an air raid could be seen over the town of Swansea 18 miles away. At the same time we could hear gunfire overhead. Mother had cleared out the pantry under the stairs and that was turned into a place where sister and I, along with mother could rest and sleep throughout the period. I used to detect sounds of the German plans that flew overhead on their way to dropping bombs, out in the distance. Mother at the time kept us awake with all this noise going on so waited for all clear to sound, we could then nip back up stairs to go back to bed and sleep.

I joined the Great Western Railway at Glynneath Locomotive Shed at 15 years of age in 1943, the shed was at Cwmgwrach in the Vale of Neath. I was an engine cleaner. While working a night shift in the early morning of the 12th February 1945, I was standing close to the side of a locomotive. I heard numerous planes way up in the clear sky. I was amazed when I looked up they all had lights on them, this was very unusual so they could not have been German aircraft. By this time I was approaching 17 years old and thinking what a sight to see. So I started to count them as they flew over the valley mounting from Saren Helen over to Graig-Y-Llyn. I counted, 250 bomber plans flying overhead in formation. Low and behold over came another group, yes, followed by another making a total of 750 all with their lights on. This was extremely unusual. Must be heading for Germany I thought, and wondered as to what type of bomber operation this was to be. Later in life I learned that the squadron came from Lincolnshire on a 12 hour shift heading for Dresden.

February 1945, was when I was made fireman at Slough locomotive shed close to Windsor branch line. I was soon working 12 Hour shifts 7 days a week on goods trains. Towards London there being very long goods trains, queuing up in all the up loops. I remember on one occasion going up to relieve a crew at West Drayton, 10 hours later we were relieved but had never moved an inch, by the time I booked off covering some 12 hours. The following day I booked on duty and was sent up to relieve the same train, which still had not moved! Some 5 hours later when we started to move, managing to get the train to it鈥檚 final destination, we then took the engine to Southall locomotive shed where it would have been prepared for it鈥檚 return journey.

On another occasion working up much closer to London while waiting in a side loop. I was standing on the footplate I could see much further over the adjacent building rooftops listening to the German V2 bombs approaching, then all of a sudden, it went all quiet. Then somehow I started to shiver, as I did not know where it would touch down to explode. Soon came a loud 鈥淏ANG鈥� over the rooftops of the buildings, with black smoke rising high up into the sky. Saying to myself how lucky I was that it did not fall on or near to our locomotive, later, my driver and I could hear another, then to go through the same experience with another similar frightfulness.

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