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This contribution is posted by Torfaen Libraries on behalf of Megan Sweeting, Talywain, South Wales.

I was seventeen when the war began and lived with my parents at Bedwas near Caerphilly, South Wales. My father was a miner but had Silicosis and had to finish work aged 38. He died when he was 52. During the war, he had to work at Caerwent Ammunition Works even though he was ill. He had to get up at 5.00am in order to have enough breath to catch the bus to work!
Before the war, I worked on a farm as a live-in dairy maid, then I got a job cleaning which had better hours so that I could join the St John’s Ambulance Service. One night on ARP duty, you could see Cardiff being bombed — incendiary bombs falling — and one of the superintendents of St John’s Ambulance suggested that I took up nursing.
I passed the exam for Merthyr Hospital but they charged £10 for the nurses uniform, so in January 1941 I started training at Pontypool Hospital where the uniform was provided free of charge.
We were lucky that we didn’t have rations — we were well fed with home-cooked food. The home Sister even got them to make us rhubarb jam!
Before I finished my training we had evacuees from Dover - mostly elderly people and we also had soldiers from the Staffordshire Regiment.
I can remember that there was a mule regiment in Pontypool and we used to have a lift by ambulance to catch the bus. The local police always used to come in and have a cup of tea with us on night duty.
I can also remember listening to lord Haw Haw on the radio.

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