"I was born in Llwyncelyn and I grew up there till I was about 18 months old then we moved to Coelbren. My father was in the army therefore he was in the war and I can remember as small children we had to do everything that our parents told us. We weren't allowed past the doors after 6 in the night because we'd show light going in and out of the door. From Coelbren, we moved to Banwen. I lived there with my grandparents.
We were sitting out the front one night and there was a big fire in Banwen colliery. Apparently they reckoned it was from the bomb that came down just above the colliery where the Crosses home had been bombed.
I can remember the big fires there. We'd often go up the mountain to the winberry patch. We were coming back one night and you could see Swansea being lit up like a ball of fire. I didn't know it was Swansea until I told my grandfather and he said "That's Swansea burning in the blitz."
I remember my grandmother taking my sister and I down to Swansea, and Swansea was all down, there was nothing there really. But the amazing part of it was that the religious chapels and the very old buildings were still standing as if something had protected them from the bombing. For years after, I thought of that: the feeling that something was protecting us from this war.
Our grandmother told us you mustn't go out in the night. You could hear the German planes - it was a different sound to the British so you knew it was a German plane. We had nowhere to hide; there was no shelter for us.
The only thing my grandmother used to do was tell us to hide under the big table which had a big blanket. We'd all be under the blanket and table with a little candle and everywhere was in darkness. Then you'd hear the siren giving the all-clear and then we'd come out. We'd think we'd been under the blanket for hours. It was the most terrifying experience you could get in the war.
The day it was declared the war was over, I couldn't get over the joy. What is this all about I thought? Then I realised that my uncles were in the war. I remember my grandfather used to say we can be thankful for the little ships - those are the ships which brought our boys home. There were a number of 17-year-old boys from Banwen who went to war, and were never to return.
There was fun for us during the war as well because we didn't always understand what was going on. We didn't realise it was a World War. My sister and I used to go down to Onllwyn to get sandwiches from the canteen because everything used to be on the black market then. A lady from Coelbren would be there waiting for us.
The canteen was in blackout and she'd say 'stand by there now girls and I'll get things for you now'. For two shillings, we'd have a pile of bread and butter, a pile of corned beef sandwiches and a big tray of cake with jam and coconut on top.
We used to walk back to Banwen in the dark thinking how lucky we were: we were getting food even though there were rations. I remember if we didn't have much, I used to eat condensed milk in the sandwich. Another time, when we didn't have much, we'd have sugar and currants in bread.
It was hard in many ways for the older people. My grandmother died aged 63 and she was an old lady. My grandmother looked years and years older then me. It's because of the hard times they had.
The war did take its toll on the people of the time. We never realised until now what really went on. We didn't realise the danger.
When the war finished, we had a huge bonfire and burnt an effigy of Hitler - we thought it was like Guy Fawkes! They were good times, knowing that the war was over.
The war was an experience not to forget. You couldn't get food unless you had your ration books and once your ration book had run out, you couldn't have any till next month - you could be waiting two weeks. We used to have 6 ounces of butter but they cut that down to four ounces. You'd only have an ounce of cheese per person and children weren't included in that.
We'd never seen bananas. I must have been 12 or 13 before I saw a banana. I had seen oranges but no other fruit, and I didn't know what our veg was because as soon as the men would do the allotment something would happen and they'd be running for cover.
One woman she helped a German and he lived with her for about 16 weeks and her husband didn't know he was living there!
We can just be thankful to God that we aren't living in it now."
By Rose Evans from Coelbren.
