From spotting bomb craters in the allotments to queueing for gas masks at Crindau School, there was plenty going on.

Charles and his friends often had time to chat to the different Allied forces stationed in Newport - Americans in Forge Lane, the British in Malpas Road.

He says they were exciting times occasionally tinged with fear, especially when they could hear dogfights in the sky.

On one occasion, Charles says he even saw a German plane come under attack.

"It was so close you could see the swastika," he recalls.

Residents of Newport would also see the flames from afar as Cardiff and Bristol came under sustained attack.

But Charles says they often wondered why Newport, despite the presence of the docks, didn't fare as badly.