A celebration has taken place for veterans who fought in the Second World War and children who witnessed bombing in Wales, writes Julie McNicholls Vale.

The event on 4 October at Myddfai Community Hall near Llandovery has been described as the largest single gathering of the WWII generation to be held in recent years in Wales and could be the final such event to here of this size.

Veterans aged 97 to 101 years old and at least 12 people who experienced the war as children – now in their 90s – were welcomed by 100 guests including family members, younger veterans, service personnel and charities.

Sara Edwards, the Lord-Lieutenant of Dyfed, provided the welcome and Colonel James Phillips, Veterans Commissioner for Wales, introduced the veterans.

The ‘children at war’ group was introduced by MC for the day Jessica Phillips. This group includes many who then went into National Service in the immediate post-war years, including three Korean War veterans and veterans of the Malayan conflict.

Simon Wright, of Age Cymru Dyfed, said: “It may be nearly 80 years since the Second World War, but their part in ensuring a free world is not forgotten through events such as this and through the West Wales Veterans’ Archive held as part of the People’s Collection Wales at the National Library of Wales.”

Hugh Morgan OBE, who co-ordinated the event alongside Neil Davies and Owen Dobson, Age Cymru Dyfed veterans welfare officers, said the event was a “truly momentous occasion”.

“The stories these veterans conveyed to the audience were remarkable, powerful and extremely moving,” he said. “From witnessing the bombing of Pembroke Dock, Llanelli, Swansea, Cardiff and Newport, to sailing towards the D-Day beaches under intense fire and seeing bodies of comrades; disposing of unexploded shells and mines on Normandy beaches and ports; code-breaking in Bletchley Park and not being able to tell your parents what you were doing; serving as the sole (DEMS) gunner aboard a merchant ship making repeated Atlantic crossings and being powerless to help fellow sailors in the sea whose ships had been sunk; repatriating prisoners form Changi Prison; walking into Hiroshima just six weeks after the atom bomb had been dropped and witnessing scenes of indescribable devastation and human misery – it was a humbling experience for all of us to be in the presence of such greatness.

“Yet these were ordinary people doing their duty, putting their lives on the line every single day and then, once the war was over, returned quietly to their own lives, in many cases never speaking about their experiences, even to their nearest and dearest.

“This unique occasion organised by Age Cymru Dyfed was also notable for the awarding of the Nuclear Bomb Test Medal to Gordon Davies by the Lord-Lieutenant of Dyfed Sara Edwards and the Veterans Commissioner for Wales, Colonel James Phillips. A member of the RAF, Gordon participated in the British Nuclear Bomb Testing programme on Christmas Island in 1957/58 and is one of the first recipients of the new medal issued by the UK Government.”