Bill’s WarA very ordinary Welshman’s

wartime adventures.

By Philip Edwards:- N.G.F.L. Cymru.

• Lesson Objectives.

• To be able to ask and answer questions about the past.

• To be able to use this presentation as source material in order to use I.C.T. to investigate how World War 2 affected ordinary people.

• This unit could also be used as source material when contrasting the period of the Second World War with another period.

• Teacher’s notes.

• There are three links from this presentation. They link to the bbc.co.uk website and feature extra material on the Battle of the Atlantic, the Battle of El Alemein and on wartime rationing. The rationing link is particularly useful for K.S. 2 . Children. It provides a wealth of information as well as on-line activities and worksheets.

• There are also two activity sheets pitched broadly at Level 3 and Level 4 understanding.

•I’d like to introduce you to my father, Richard William Edwards, or Bill to his friends. He lived in number 3 Prospect Place, Tylorstown in the Rhondda Valley. His father was a collier.

•Along with many men of his age, he took an active part in World War Two. I'm very proud of him, even though he was just an ordinary soldier. No acts of extreme bravery here I'm sorry to say.  I've gathered together some of his photographs and some of the things that he's left behind from that era. Perhaps with my help and guidance, you will be able to find out more about Bill’s war.

•His duties included carrying bombs and torpedoes to the planes. He also drove fire engines and ambulances.       His squadron was sent overseas. Here's an easy question for you. This is a picture postcard that he sent home.

•Try to answer these questions.

•Where was he sent?

•Harder question.....

•What was the British Army doing there?

Bill signed up with the Royal Air Force soon after war was declared in 1939. Just like most young men, he wanted to be a pilot, or at least an air gunner. Fortunately for him, the doctors told him that his eye sight wasn't good enough. He became an aircraftsman, and learned how to drive lorries & motorbikes.

Here's another postcard from Bill's collection. This shows a scene from the city of Benghazi.

•Can you find out where Benghazi is?

•What was happening there during World War 2?

The most interesting part of this postcard is the back. It says "Municipal Square" in two languages.

•Try to find out which languages are used.

•Why do you think the card is written in these two languages?

Here's one of Bill's more interesting photographs. You should be able to use your school's reference books to try to identify this plane. The main clues are:-

•Pointy wings.

•The round marking on the plane's body.

If you find out what type of plane this is, you may also be able to find out about "The Few". •Who  were “The Few” and who gave them that name?

Bill received this Christmas card from Lady Killearn.

•Why do you think he was sent a Christmas Card from such an important person?

•What do you think the Christmas Stocking Fund did?

•Here’s another interesting picture from Bill’s collection. Do you know what this building is? You might have been taught this in an R.E. lesson.

•It’s a mosque.

•Do you know what a mosque is?

•Do you know how the tower is used?

This is the camera that Bill used. It was a free gift. He had to save tokens from a magazine called “John Bull”. It was made around about 1935. It's called a Kodak Hawkeye.Believe it or not, it still works.Can you see a small wire frame sticking out from the side.

•Why did it need this wire frame. What do you think it did?

•Bill returned home in January 1946. Shortly afterwards, he married his sweetheart, May. She lived in Blaenllechau in the Rhondda Valley. Her father was a colliery farrier. They had met before the war. They wrote to each other throughout the war. There are a few interesting things in Bill's collection from the years shortly after the war.

•What do you know about rationing?

•Why were foods rationed?

•Can you find out when rationing ended?

If you’d like to find out more about rationing, click this link to try

Vera’s Rationing Challenge

on the BBC website.

Bill and May’s Wedding Day.

For weeks before the wedding day, the people of Blaenllechau had organised a collection. They collected small amounts of flour, eggs, butter, raisins, sugar and even marzipan. People were happy to give small amounts of these items.

•Why do you think they collected these items?

I found this item inside the collection. A Telegram.

•Do you know what a telegram is?

•Why did people use telegrams?

•What do people use instead of telegrams today?

Bill's medals. As I said earlier, I don't think my father was involved in any acts of extreme bravery or excitement.He was involved in two major battles. You may like to find out a bit more about them. :- El Alamein  and Tobruk.

Click this link to find out more about The Battle of El Alamein (bbc.co.uk)    Bill was one of the lucky ones because he came back alive. He got married, had two children and six grandchildren. For many years he owned a grocery shop in Tylorstown in the Rhondda Valley. Sadly, Bill died in 1998.

Now, Bill’s story could finish here, but there is a rather strange twist to end this tale.

•Bill kept all of his souvenirs in an old, black leather wallet.

•He had kept these precious items for more than fifty years.

•Deep down inside the wallet, I found this newspaper clipping.

•It tells the story of his next-door neighbour, William Killey.

•He had joined the navy at the start of the war. The story tells of his ship being sunk. It says that he was lost at sea.

•Here’s a question for you before we continue with this strange tale.

•What do you think happened to William Killey’s ship?

•Now, let’s finish the story.

Click this link to find out more about the Battle of the Atlantic.

(bbc.co.uk)

•This picture shows the churchyard at Old Town, St. Mary’s, Scilly Islands.•The Scilly Islands are a group of small islands off the coast of Cornwall in England. •St. Mary’s is the largest of the islands, but is still very small. To give you some idea, the local comprehensive school only has about 110 pupils from all of the 5 Scilly Islands.•I visited the islands during the Summer of 2002. On my final day, I visited Old Town, stopped for a cake and a coffee in a local tea shop, then took a walk through the church yard.•As I was walking, I tripped and stumbled. I put my hand on a gravestone to stop myself falling.•When I looked down, I noticed the name on the grave.•It belonged to Seaman W. E. Killey.

•The grave shows his service number :- D/JX 306364.

•He died on the 20th of February 1944.

•He served on the HMS Warwick.

•You can use the Internet to find out more about HMS Warwick. Try to find out how and where she was sunk.

•Thanks to Nicola Smith, Adult and Family Learning coordinator, St. Mary’s I.O.S.

The End.

• The answers are on the next slide.

• How well did you do?

Slide 4 Where was he sent

What was the British army doing there?

Egypt. They were protecting the oil fields and the Suez Canal.

Slide 5 :- Languages. Italian and German. Benghazi had been occupied first by the Italian Army, then the Germans

Slide 6 :- the aeroplane. It is a Spitfire. “The Few” refers to Churchill's famous speech, when he spoke of the bravery of the R.A.F. airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain.

Slide 7 :- Lady Killearn. Lady Killearn, wife of Lord Killearn, British Ambassador to Egypt. They were great friends of the Egyptian King. She set up a charity to send small gifts to servicemen.

Slide 8:- A Mosque. Like a church for the Moslem faith. The faithful are called to prayer 5 times a day by the Mullah who sings from the minaret tower. Also see side 5.

Slide 9:- The Camera. Believe it or not, the wire frame is the viewfinder.

Slide 10 :-Rationing. There is a date on the ration book itself.

Slide 11 :- Ingredients collection. Food items were still rationed. They collected from neighbours to make a wedding cake.

Slide 12 :- Telegram. They were a fast way of sending messages. People hated getting them; they usually carried bad news. Modern equivalent is e-mail I suppose.

Slide 14 :- W.E. Killey. He served on the HMS Warwick. She was sunk on the twentieth of February 1944 by the German U.Boat U413