11/11/2022
Shared from Pride Funeral Care Durham's page as Bill's family were from Llandow.
In conversation with …… Bill Rees
Today I had the privilege of having a chat with the lovely Bill, one of the residents of Belmont Grange Care Home. We talked, drank tea and I had a lovely piece of cake. Thank you, June!
It was so interesting to listen to the memories of Bill. He was born in London in 1933 however his family originated from South Wales. In 1937 when there was a hint of war and Hi**er was threatening to attack, Bill’s family decided to move back to South Wales. Was it intuition for Bill’s parents to move their family back ‘home’?
Bill aged six remembers the family sitting around the wireless to hear Chamberlain’s declaration of war. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2qlZHW-fDI
Bill lived a mile from the coast overlooking the Bristol Channel. He remembers the tradesman coming in their vans selling their wares – including bananas. This song brought a smile to Bill’s face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QqkrIDeTeA
Bill’s family looked forward to food parcels from his uncle in Australia. One item was Quince Tea! What a difference to the traditional British tea!
Bill’s father was a bricklayer but also had a job keeping the nearby runaways clear. One such RAF unit was based at Llandow. No. 38 Maintenance Unit RAF (38 MU) was tasked with the reception, storage, and dispatch of RAF aircraft
Three small transport flights were formed here during April 1944 with No. 1312 Flight RAF remaining based until 21 July 1944 with six Avro Anson I's for transporting urgent personnel to and from the Normandy landings area.
So, Bill’s father, although not in the RAF played an important part in the war. The airfield must have been well camouflaged as the enemy was more interested in Cardiff and Bridgend.
Bill’s father and his friends decided to dig a big hole in their garden. They dug deep. Next a concrete roof was added. They covered the concrete with soil. They had made an air raid shelter in the garden! When they heard the sirens, the family would descend into this underground home. It was fitted out with a double bed, bunk beds and a stove to keep them warm.
Bill’s mother made little boxes for her children to carry their gas masks into school. Some of the teachers were absent after being called up to fight so Bill and his friends were taught by people in the village, some of whom were suffering from shell shock from World War One.
The family were quite self sufficient and although rationing was in place even after the war, they didn’t have to have powdered eggs! My own mum said she loved them. I can’t quite imagine what they would taste like.
Too often we don’t think about the men and women that did not serve in the war, but we must acknowledge the part they played in keeping this country going. Be it farmers, miners, or factory workers or women stepping up to work in factories and in the field.
So, on this day of Remembrance, we do indeed remember the fallen. However, let’s give thanks to the people of our land that kept us going.
Thank you Bill for chatting to me. Of our mutual love of archaeology and language especially Latin. Bill taught it and I studied it as an O’Level. Your hunger for learning is inspirational. Your recall of your life is astounding. I’ll leave you with a quote from Latin - Caesar non supra grammaticos Bill as I’m sure you will correct my phrasing of this conversation.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupYes, We Have No Bananas · Louis Prima & His OrchestraBeepin' & Boppin'℗ 1949 The Verve Music Group, a Division of...
