As I hurried home I wondered whether Joseph S Mayor survived the war. Did he have any children or grandchildren? Would they be at all interested in learning more about their military ancestor, if I could trace them?

The Mercantile Marine Medal was awarded to those who served with the Merchant Navy providing vital support for Britain; importing food and raw materials, as well as transporting soldiers overseas and keeping them supplied.

Recipients had to have served at sea for at least six months with the Merchant Navy and have made a voyage through a war or danger zone during the 1914-1918 war. The British War Medal was automatically awarded to all recipients of the Mercantile Marine Medal.

Following WW1, 133,135 Mercantile Marine War Medals were awarded. The green and red colours of the ribbon represent the starboard and port running lights of a ship, with the centre white colour being representative of the masthead steaming light.

The National Archives (TNA) at Kew in west London is the UK government's official archive, holding those "service and operational records of the armed forces" which are open for public viewing. Their website offers many helpful research guides and so this is where I started my search for more information.

TNA has an easy to navigate catalogue called 'Discovery' into which I typed four words: "mercantile marine medal mayor". I found to my surprise just 11 results; one of which was for a Joseph Samuel Mayor.

The details were that Joseph Samuel Mayor was born in Cardiff in 1882. His medals were issued in 1921 to his home address at 27 Charlotte Place in Barry, south Wales.

Searching through the census records I quickly found him on the 1891 census living with his parents Joseph and Elizabeth. His father was born in 1860 in Lands End and it turned out his grandfather Samuel was born in 1836 in Harwich, so obviously the family had been closely linked to the sea for several generations.

Joseph Samuel Mayor married Mary James in 1903 and they went on to have eight children; seven daughters and one son, also called Joseph. Their eldest daughter Mabel married John Sullivan in Cardiff in 1925. I was able to locate an address for one of Mabel's grandchildren and eagerly sent out a letter enquiring whether they might be interested in learning more about their family history.

While waiting for a reply I searched for more information and was glad to see that the merchant seamen service records are available to view online for a small fee.

I didn't know that I would be able to see the man, the man whose medals I held in my hand. To know that he was born on 7 December, that he was a 3rd Engineer, that he had blue eyes and fair hair, and stood 5 foot 7 1/2 inches tall.

The helpful staff at the TNA confirmed that the discharge number of 894159 could be cross-referenced to identify that he worked onboard the "Promus" and the "Courtown". They also alerted me to the Crew List Index Project or CLIP which contains valuable information about the records of British merchant seafarers of the late 19th century and which has gathered the largest database of entries from crew lists.

Within a few days of sending out my letter Joseph Samuel Mayor's great-grandson, Paul Burniston, replied to say that "Yes, he was very interested in his family history" but "what was this all about?"

Little did he know when he bravely accepted my invitation to join me in the BBC Radio Wales studio on 7 August to take part in Eleri Sion's programme that he would be receiving a photograph of his great grandfather Joseph Samuel Mayor as well as his WW1 medals.

Among the soldiers packed into the assault ships wallowing in the waves off Normandy, all waiting for Operation Overlord to begin, were undoubtedly many Welshmen - hundreds of them, in fact. They were infantrymen, tank drivers, artillery gunners and the like, all spread over a dozen different units. However, only one specific Welsh regiment had been detailed to take part in the invasion, the redoubtable South Wales Borderers.

The Borderers had come into existence in 1689, originally known as the 24th Regiment of Foot. A renowned and distinguished unit, their most famous moment had been during the Zulu War of the 1870s when, during the defence of Rorke's Drift, 11 Victoria Crosses were won in a single day. Most of them were won by members of the 24th Foot, but despite popular belief, it was only in 1881, after the Zulu War, that the regiment adopted the name South Wales Borderers.

The 2nd Battalion of the Borderers already had the distinction of being the first Welsh regiment to see action during World War Two. In 1940 they had been part of the ill-fated Norway campaign. This time, everyone hoped, there would be a better result.

Now, in 1944, the Borderers were part of the 50th Infantry Division. They had been allotted their role as recently as March and had spent two months in feverish and hectic training, in preparation for the operation. In May, along with thousands of other Allied troops, they moved into the assembly area ready for the assault.

The South Wales Borderers' task on D-Day was to wait until the first waves had gone ashore on Gold, Juno and Sword beaches, the British and Commonwealth invasion areas. Then they would land near Arromanches and push inland from the beachhead to high ground north of Bayeaux.

On their way inland the Borderers were expected to capture a radar station as well as the guns and bridge at Vaux-sur-Aure. Finally, they were to link up with American troops coming from their right. It was an ambitious plan.

During the long morning of 6 June the South Wales Borderers sat waiting in their assault craft as the smoke from the battle rose into the air and the sound of explosions echoed across the water. Then, just before midday, came the order to land.

Two men were drowned in the landing – the same fate nearly befell the CO, so eager was he to get ashore. Glad to be out of the rocking landing craft, the Borderers met little resistance at the beachhead and pushed quickly forward. D Company drove the defending Germans out of the radar station and by nightfall on that first day the bridge at Vaux-sur-Aure was in their hands.

At the end of D-Day itself the South Wales Borderers had captured more ground than any other unit involved in the invasion. Their job was not over, however, and 11 months of hard fighting were to follow, with the South Wales Borderers in the van of the Allied drive through France into Germany.

Their war ended only in May 1945 when Germany surrendered. By then the Borderers had reached Hamburg in northern Germany, a long way from those invasion beaches in Normandy. They were to stay on in Germany as part of the Allied occupying force until 1948.

The South Wales Borderers were absorbed into the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969 but their history is a proud and distinguished one. The American Revolutionary War, the Zulu War, the Boer War and World War One – the regiment took part in them all.

Their proudest boast, however, has to come from the second great conflict of the 20th century when they were the only Welsh regiment to see action on D-Day and to take part in the mighty Overlord landings.

Learn more about D-Day at 70 on the BBC: download a free interactive book, listen to first-hand accounts and find out about coverage of the 70th anniversary commemorations.

The crowd cheered and waved. They sang patriotic songs and they all pushed and shoved to get a glimpse of the man who, just a few months before, could have passed unnoticed among them. Not now. Now he was a celebrity.

It did not stop there – the Germans could not wound him but one over enthusiastic young lady threw a box of chocolates in his direction and hit him in the face. Sgt Barter was bruised, his nose skimmed and his eye blackened. He apparently took it all in good humour.

Frederick Barter was born at 60 Daniel Street in the Cathays area of Cardiff on 17 January 1891. Educated at Crwys Road Board School, he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers on 4 December 1908. By the time war was declared in August 1914 he had served his time with the Regulars and was then doing his obligatory stint with the Special Reserve.

After leaving the army Barter worked in the Cardiff area as a collier and as a porter with the Great Western Railway. He was recalled to the Colours in August 1914 with the rank of Sergeant Major and was soon in France with the 1st Battalion of the Regiment.

During a “push” against enemy positions on 16 May 1915 Fred Barter gathered together a party of eight volunteers and attacked the German lines with bombs and hand grenades. He managed this so effectively that three officers and 102 men of the enemy force promptly surrendered.

By his efforts, Barter had captured 500 yards of enemy trenches and also managed to cut the wires on 11 German mines that could have caused undue havoc for advancing British soldiers.

For his bravery, Fred Barter was awarded the Victoria Cross, the award being presented to him by the King at Buckingham Palace on 12 July.

Soon after his return visit to Cardiff, Fred Barter was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant and, after another brief period in France, was seconded to the Indian Army where he served with the 4th Battalion 3rd Queen Alexandria’s Own Gurkha Rifles. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1917 and went on to serve in both India and Palestine.

Barter was also awarded the Military Cross and the Cross of St George, a Russian decoration. In an interesting footnote to his story, on 10 April 1918 he was involved in another award of the Victoria Cross – this time, however, not to him.

In an action at El Kefir in Palestine, Rifleman Karanbahadur Rana of his Regiment was awarded the VC – for saving Barter’s life.

A few weeks later Fred Barter was admitted, full time, to the Indian Army. Unfortunately a serious bout of fever saw him invalided home in 1919 and although promoted Captain in 1920, he retired from the army on 5 November 1922.

Married in 1925, Barter settled in the Home Counties where, during the Second World War, he acted as Major in charge of a Company in the Middlesex Home Guard. After being widowed, he died in a nursing home at Poole on 15 May 1952. His Victoria Cross is now kept at the Museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in Caernarfon Castle.

Fred Barter was a modest and unassuming man who little thought when he was recalled to the Colours in the summer of 1914 that the highest decoration in the land would soon be his. He remains one of Cardiff’s great heroes.

See also:

• Welsh Victoria Cross winners
• World War One on the BBC
• World War One at Home: Wales
• John Henry Williams V.C. honoured

Pembroke Dock at Sunset (Photo:William Hart)

Dockyards have to be protected, however, and if it was anything, Pembroke Dock was a military town. Barracks, forts and gun towers proliferated in and around the place, many of them being still in existence although, these days, long out of use.

Chief amongst these military fortifications were the Defensible Barracks, a huge renaissance style fortification based on an early 16th century design. The barracks still sit - although now in a deplorable state of disrepair - on the top of what is known locally as the Barracks Hill, dominating the town and the site of the old dockyard that they were originally built to protect.

The barracks covered an area of some 6,000 square yards, offering fields of fire to landward and out to sea. Its walls were many feet thick. The purpose of the barracks and fort was the defend the dockyard from landward attack and to this end there were rifle loops in the walls for nearly 700 muskets. In addition, the barracks were equipped with 16 24-pounder cannon. It was originally designed to be garrisoned by eight officers, seven NCOs and 240 other ranks.

Local legend - possibly an urban myth - declares that the Defensible Barracks were completed in just 12 months. Certainly the contractor, Thomas Jackson, handed over the finished product to the military on 25 November 1845, having begun work on them in the late summer of 1844. As official records state:

"Possession was taken at three o'clock in the afternoon and was officially indicated by the hoisting of Her Majesty's flag amidst deafening cheers from the hundreds of spectators. A substantial dinner with a liberal quantity of double strength Welsh ale was given to the workmen."
Vernon Scott : PD Days

Given the size of the barracks, the workmen certainly deserved their "double strength Welsh ale" and if the work really was completed in just one year then it was an amazing feat of engineering and human enterprise. Other sources, however, state that work began in 1841.

It is likely that preparation work, digging out footings and so on, did commence in 1841 leaving just the construction of the walls and buildings to be completed in 12 months. Even so, the mammoth effort required to bring building material to the site and then erect it in such a short space of time was nothing short of miraculous.

The place was first known as Treowen Barracks, after the nearby road, although the original intention was to call them The Prince Albert Barracks, in honour of Queen Victoria's husband. In the end, the name Defensible Barracks was adopted and it stuck.

The first occupants of the Defensible Barracks were the Royal Marines of the Portsmouth Division, transferring from their cramped and draughty quarters on the old woodenwall 'Dragon' which had served as their base for many years. They were soon joined by two companies from the West Yorkshire Regiment.

Over the years many fine and famous regiments were based in the barracks. These ranged from the Pembrokeshire Artillery to the Royal North Gloucestershire Regiment - and, in particular, the 24th Foot, better known as the South Wales Borderers.

In the early days the deep moat surrounding the Barracks was not fenced in. Several soldiers, returning from a night in one of the town's many beer houses, fell into the open moat and were either seriously injured or killed.

It was a fate that also befell Dr Sumpter from the town - returning home late one night after treating a patient in nearby Pennar, he plunged into the darkened moat. The shock to his nervous system and several physical injuries were sufficient to kill him within a few days of the accident.

The most renowned victim of the unprotected moat, however, was an otherwise unremarkable Private in the Royal Marines, one John Harding. He pitched head first into the chasm in October 1850, his gravestone in the town cemetery recording his demise with the following words:

"Except the Lord direct our feet
And guide with gracious care;
At every step we danger meet,
In every path a snare.

Then reader pause, who e'er thou art,
As thus my grave you view;
Remember, thou from life must part -
Perhaps as quickly, too."

The twice daily firing of a blank charge from the barracks cannon became an essential part of the town's customs, alerting those residents without watches when it was noon or 9.30 at night. The 9.30pm gun soon became a signal marking the curfew for those local girls "out courting."

Over the years many famous soldiers served at the Defensible Barracks. None of them was more renowned than the famous Gordon of Khartoum who, although stationed at the barracks, was afforded the privilege of living out "in digs" in the town.

When he left Pembroke Dock to serve in the Crimea it was 1855 and he apparently remarked "I have received my death warrant." In fact Gordon did not die in the Crimean War but had to wait another dozen or so years before meeting his maker at the defence of Khartoum.

Arthur Lowe as Captain Mannering

Another famous resident of the Barracks was the actor Arthur Lowe who later found immortality as Captain Mainwaring in the TV show Dad's Army. He served there during the World War Two with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry.

The barracks were the scene of a major tragedy on 28 April 1942. Nineteen men were killed while practicing to disarm mines, four of them from the Royal Engineers, four from the King's Own Scottish Borderers and four serving with the Pioneer Corps. An officer who had been in the room moments before escaped death when he left the room to answer a telephone call.

When the military left Pembroke Dock in the mid 1960s, the Defensible Barracks were abandoned to their fate. They have subsequently served as a Council Depot and as the clubhouse for the South Pembs Golf Club.

Now, however, they are empty and forlorn. Although they are officially classified as a Grade II listed building, they are privately owned and are slowly crumbling into dust. It is a tragic state of affairs for a wonderful and historic old building.

Victoria Cross medal

Robert Shields from Cardiff was the first Welsh recipient, six months after the medal was introduced, for an act of valour during the Crimean War. However, the one action that everyone considers to be a uniquely "Welsh affair" - the defence of Rorkes Drift during the Zulu War of 1879 - saw only three Welsh VCs.

In total, 11 VCs were won during that battle, the most ever awarded for a single action, but with the South Wales Borderers recruiting in all parts of the country most of the soldiers actually came from England and Ireland, not Wales - as is popularly supposed. Purely on the basis of numbers it was inevitable that Welsh VC winners from the defence of Rorkes Drift, men like Robert Jones and John Williams, were always going to be in the minority.

World War One saw 14 Welshmen win the coveted award. The first of these was William Charles Fuller who came from the tiny village of Laugharne in Carmarthenshire. He had joined the army in 1901 and served in South Africa during the final days of the Boer War.

Leaving the service when the campaign in South Africa finished, William Charles Fuller was still classified as a Reservist when war with Germany broke out in 1914. Like many other Reservists at that time he was duly recalled to the colours.

Serving as a Lance Corporal with the Welsh Regiment, on 14 September that year he went out from the relative safety of his own lines in an attempt to save the life of a wounded officer. Despite being subjected to heavy fire, Fuller managed to bring the officer to safety but the man - Mark Haggard, the nephew of the novelist Rider Haggard - later died of his wounds.

After the war Charles Fuller left the army again and retired back to Laugharne. He had served with great courage throughout the war and been wounded but he had managed to survive. And during the World War Two this man of amazing energy and verve still continued to "do his bit" when he promptly enlisted and served in the town's Home Guard Unit.

William Williams of Amlwch on Ynys Mon sailed as a seaman on the Q Ship HMS Pargust. Q Ships were old merchant vessels, heavily armed with hidden guns and other weapons. The aim was to trap German U Boats into thinking the old vessels were too defenceless and dilapidated to warrant a torpedo.

The lengths that the crews went to in order to disguise the true intent of the Q Ships were amazing. Sometimes sailors even dressed up as women passengers - usually only from the waist up - in order to bamboozle German submariners as they watched through their periscopes.

If the subterfuge was successful the German commander would order his vessel to surface. However, when the U Boats rose to the surface to sink the merchant ships by gun fire, the hidden guns would open fire and, with the tables now well and truly turned, destroy the submarine.

It was a remarkably dangerous job as there was no guarantee that U Boats would actually attempt to destroy the Q Ships by gun fire. And that is exactly what happened to the Pargust. The first the crew knew about the presence of the German submarine was when a torpedo smashed into her side. The ship heeled over, badly damaged, but did not sink.

However, the metal covers that hid the Q Ship's guns were loosened by the explosion and threatened to fall to the deck - thus inviting another torpedo from the watching U Boat. But William Williams and several other sailors, quickly seeing the danger and using all their strength, managed to hold them in place.

When the submarine duly surfaced to finish off its victim, the covers were dropped and the British guns promptly sank the U Boat. It was a courageous action by all concerned but, having been told that only one medal was available, the crew drew lots to see who would take the award. The lucky man was William Williams.

World War Two saw several more Welshmen awarded the Victoria Cross. Perhaps the best known is Tasker Watkins who later became a renowned QC. He was the man who took charge of the Abervan Enquiry in the 1960s and was also, for several years, President of the Welsh Rugby Union.

Born in Nelson, Tasker Watkins enlisted as soon as he was able and was given a commission in the Welsh regiment. He won his VC when, in the days following the D Day landings in 1944, with many of his platoon killed or injured, he led a bayonet charge against 50 enemy troops and then, single handedly, charged a German machine gun post.

Someone who is often forgotten - not because his deed was minor or ineffectual - but simply because he is not considered Welsh, is Captain Warburton Lee of the Royal Navy.

Lee was 44 years old and in command of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla when during the Norway campaign of 1940, he led his ships into Narvik Fjord. Faced by a superior squadron of German destroyers Lee forced home his attack and destroyed five enemy vessels and supply ships before a shell burst on the bridge of his destroyer, HMS Hardy, killing him instantly. For his bravery Warburton Lee was awarded the VC, the first Victoria Cross of the war.

There are many other stories of bravery and courage during times of conflict. Not every soldier or civilian can be awarded the Victoria Cross but that should not, in any way, diminish the enormity of their actions.

General Dwight Eisenhower arrived in Tenby by train.

Wales housed more than its fair share of these exuberant and sometimes brash young men who were, in the opinion of many, "over paid, over sexed - and over here".

The "over sexed" comment was, perhaps, appropriate as there were over 70,000 GI brides in Britain by the end of the war. Even a small south Wales town like Barry produced no fewer than 56 of them!

There was virtually no part of Wales that did not see American troops and the constant children's cry of "Got any gum chum?" was heard on streets in towns as varied as Aberystwyth, Haverfordwest, Abergavenny, Swansea and Cardiff.

And it was not just chewing gum that the Yanks gave away - the Americans were incredibly generous, wherever they were stationed. As D-Day approached they happily presented the locals with cans of chicken, sides of beef or ham and tins of coffee, giving them out almost to anyone in need. For the people of Wales, who had been suffering from food rationing for several years, they were welcome gifts.

Barry, then an important port, became a huge hub for American servicemen, with over 40 ships eventually leaving the port to take part in the D-Day landings. They built a camp in the part of the town known as Highlight and used to take children from Cadoxton to picture shows, picking them up in their enormous six-wheeled army lorries. Never mind the cinema - for many of the Welsh children this journey was the highlight of the whole affair.

It was not all fun and games in Barry, however, and the ugly spectre of racism did rear its head on a number of occasions. Thompson Street in the town was eventually placed "out of bounds" after an American complained that he had seen a black soldier being served in one of the clubs in the area.

The club owners and the town council, well used to serving men of all races and colours - this was a dock area, after all - refused to ban black soldiers, and the American senior staff took exception and refused their soldiers permission to even walk down the street.

Mostly, however, relations between the Welsh and the Americans were much more cordial. Sometimes entertainment provided for the Americans was a little bizarre. As one Artillery Officer, stationed for a while in Denbigh, later recorded:

"Constant entertainment was provided in a public hall in the town or at a mental hospital on the outskirts."

The idea of holding a dance at a mental hospital seems now to be a strange one, but back in the 1940s these huge edifices were communities in their own right and the staff had, for years, organised their own entertainment. In Abergavenny things were a little more straightforward, as Christine Jones remembers:

"Abergavenny was full of Yanks, every night. They all wanted to know where the dances were being held. We used to have concerts every Sunday night in the Town Hall and there were dances every Saturday. In the Angel they used to have a place called a Doughnut Dugout."

Those who knew who and what to look for sometimes spotted famous faces. Rudolph Hess was regularly seen around the countryside, being driven out by his two armed guards, but he was a German and therefore nowhere near as interesting as some of the visiting Americans. Christine Jones was working as a telephone engineer:

"I went to Gilwern Hospital one day and was on this ladder against a pole. I was putting in the wire and Jimmy Cagney walked by. James Cagney! I lodged in Abergavenny at the time and the children where I was staying said 'Why didn't you get his autograph?' But he hadn't seen me and just walked by with two soldiers each side. I never thought of it until I got home and the children asked."

Haverfordwest hosted an equally famous American, one Rocco Marchegiano, better known as world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano. Rocky was stationed in the area and while his boxing career only took off after the war, locals from the town still talk about fistfights between Rocky and his Welsh counterparts.

The nearby town of Pembroke Dock had an even more famous visitor when, on 1 April 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower - later President of the USA but then Supreme Allied Commander - paid an unexpected visit to the American 110th Regiment in the town's Llanion Barracks.

Eisenhower arrived in Tenby by train and was then taken by fast military convoy, complete with howling sirens and motorbike outriders, to Pembroke Dock. Despite chilly, damp weather he climbed into the back of a jeep to address the men, promising to have a drink with them on the day they crossed the Rhine.

Famous visitors were one thing but for most American GIs the brief period they spent in Wales was an interlude before the real business of war began in earnest. It was an experience most of them never forgot.

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7 Victoria Cross medals went to the South Wales Borderers, the most ever presented to any single Regiment in one day.

Few people will have studied the battle in any great depth but many will have seen the film Zulu with Stanley Baker, Ivor Emmanuel and Michael Caine defying the might of the Zulu nation.

In many respects the battle is typical of the skirmishes and actions fought during Britain's Empire-grabbing at the end of the 19th century.

Tension had been building for years between the British, the Zulus and the Boer farmers of South Africa, and when King Cetshwayo of the Zulu nation failed to agree to a deliberately harsh ultimatum his land was invaded by three British columns of infantry, artillery and cavalry.

On 11 January 1879 the armed column led by Lord Chelmsford crossed the Buffalo River and established a field hospital in the Mission Station of Rorke's Drift.

Chelmsford moved on to camp below a rocky hill called Isandlawana, leaving behind just a small garrison and several sick and wounded men - as well as a few engineers - at Rorke's Drift.

When a huge Zulu army swept down onto the camp at Isandlawana they caught Chelmsford's men totally by surprise and massacred them - one of the worst defeats ever suffered by the British in any of their colonial campaigns. Then one wing of the Zulu army, about 4000 warriors, moved on to finish off the station at Rorke's Drift. Facing them were just over 150 men.

Soldiers engaged in the defence came not just from Wales but also from across the whole of Britain. Many were from London, others from Ireland, large numbers from the border country around Warwick and Leominster.

The man who is credited with being the youngest defender of the isolated Mission Station was, however, most certainly Welsh. He was Thomas Collins and he came from Pelcomb near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire.

Collins had enlisted in the army on May 22,1877, aged just 15. He lied about his age, however, claiming to be 22 and, standing at five feet six inches tall - most soldiers on enlistment at this time were under nourished and small - this was readily believed.

Collins sailed for South Africa in February 1878 and was just 17 years old when the Zulus attacked Rorke's Drift.

The defence of the Mission Station is too well known to describe here. Suffice to say that, led by Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead - played by Baker and Caine in the film - the Zulus were kept at bay throughout the long and dangerous night. In the morning they simply lost heart and marched away, leaving the Mission Station battered and burned but the defending soldiers largely intact.

The defence of Rorke's Drift was an example of incredible bravery, just 17 defenders being killed while over 500 Zulus were cut down as they - with equal bravery - stormed the hastily erected defences around Rorke's Drift.

Sixteen gallantry medals were awarded to the defenders, 11 of them being the Victoria Cross, the medal instigated by Queen Victoria in 1856. Seven VCs went to men of the Borderers, the most ever presented to any single Regiment in one day. It could so easily have been many more as the idea of a posthumous award was not realised until the early 20th century.

Thomas Collins was awarded the South African Medal (with the 1877-78 -79 clasp) but his future life was not as idyllic or as pleasant as he might have hoped. He served in the army, in places like India, until his discharge in 1891.

Then he returned to his native Wales and settled in Newport where he worked as a labourer.

However, his health, physical and emotional, deteriorated and in 1901 he was admitted to Newport Asylum. He died in the asylum on 17 April 1908 at just 47 years of age.

The defence of Rorke's Drift was an example of selfless courage and devotion to duty, particularly in the face of the overwhelming defeat at Isandlawana. It would have been so easy for Chard and Bromhead to order a retreat and flee the camp. Instead, they stayed and fought. And men like the young Thomas Collins, still a teenager, stayed with them.

The men, including Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson, are synonymous with wartime heroics. They reflect misty-eyed at Bentley Priory in Middlesex, the home of RAF Bomber Command as the decision is made to disband the legendary unit.

Sir Frederick Rosier offers his views on the day's events; reflecting on the changing face of the RAF since those dicey days of 1940 when the future of Europe hung in the balance and, whilst offering an insight into the valiant aerial combat he also laments the curtain being drawn on Bomber Command.

Sir Douglas Bader (left) and Jonnie Johnson

This fascinating clip also shows the legendary Bader and Johnson talking candidly and nonchalantly, pipes in hand, about their experience at the sharp end of the Battle of Britain.

Leicester-born Johnson fought alongside Bader, enjoying a similarly heroic and much decorated RAF career; emerging from World War Two as the top-scoring RAF fighter pilot.

Undoubtedly, these men look and sound every inch the archetypal battle-hardened heroes straight from not only the history books, but also the comic books - their speech and mannerisms very much of a bygone age. For example, It is hard to imagine the word 'gay' being used in a similar context today on camera.

Rosier joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1935. His role in World War Two began in France with No.229 Squadron where he was shot down over Dunkirk in his Hurricane and badly injured.

Sir Frederick Rosier

Following his recovery he rejoined 229 and took command of the squadron for the final few days of the Battle of Britain. As the RAF's claimed a decisive victory in 1940, he was promoted to Wing Commander where he led No. 262 Wing with the RAF's Desert Air Force squadrons.

Post-World War Two, and following his award of an OBE in 1943, Rosier spent time amongst the highest ranks of the RAF. This included a spell with the United Sates Air Force, a period as Group Captain at RAF Fighter Command, and in 1958, Rosier became Director of Joint Plans for the Air Ministry.

Later in his career Rosier was appointed Deputy Commander in Chief for Allied Forces in Central Europe from 1970 to 1973.

Despite his illustrious globetrotting, as World War Two morphed into the Cold War he always remained close to home. Rosier's wife also hailed from Wrexham, and they married in 1939. In his autumnal years the retired ace moved back to the village of Trevor near Llangollen where he passed away in September 1998 aged 83.

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Frieze from the Picton Monument. Image provided by Carmarthenshire Museums Service.

You can read more about the frieze from General Picton's Monument and view other objects from history contributed by the people of Wales on the website for A History of the World.

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13 August is officially designated as Adlertag (Eagle day). On this day five waves of the Luftwaffe bombers and fighters attacked nine airfields from the coast of Kent in the east, to Weymouth in the west.

Since 30 June 1940, the Luftwaffe had threatened to break through Britain's defences as they pummelled airfields and runways. However, the Royal Air Force regrouped, aided by radar and a rapid influx of pilots.

The RAF's high performance fighters, the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfires were piloted by men from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and from central European countries overrun by the Germans, in particular Poland and Czechoslovakia. They combined to thwart the waves and waves of German Heinkels and Junkers.

These men would be deemed the famous "few" by prime minister Winston Churchill. The heroic pilots included a few notable Welshmen. Wrexham-born Fred Rosier is arguably one of the most decorated Welshmen to have been on the Battle of Britain roll call. He was educated at Grove Park School in Wrexham and, in 1935 at the age of 19, joined the RAF.

Rosier was a Flight Commander in France, leading No. 229 Squadron as the country fell suddenly in May 1940. His Submarine Spitfire was shot down on 1 May. He bailed out of his burning plane with considerable injuries and, despite spending the crucial period of the battle in convalescence, he rejoined 229 Squadron just before the Blitz in September.

Post-1940, Rosier joined HMS Furious in the Middle East, piloting his Hurricane in the Mediterranean, and was awarded the OBE in February 1943. He went on to become Chief Air Marshall and retired from the RAF in September 1973.

Similarly illustrious is the story of St Asaph-born Denis Crowley-Milling. The Denbighshire man, educated at Malvern College in Worcestershire, was called up to the RAF on 1 September 1939 and, like Rosier, was eventually posted to France before returning to be based in Coltishall, Norfolk.

During the Battle of Britain Crowley-Milling claimed a succession of kills. On 30 August 1940 he destroyed a Heinkel He 111 and in early September claimed further victims before his badly damaged Hurricane P3715 was downed over the Thames Estuary and he was forced to land at a disused aerodrome.

Crowley-Milling's post-Battle of Britain escapades included crashing in France, receiving help from the French Resistance, and being awarded the CBE in 1963.

Ten years previously Crowley-Milling had the prestigious honour of leading the Odiham Meteor Wing in the 1953 Coronation flypast in the company of the legendary Douglas Bader.

Perhaps one of the better known Welsh stars of the summer and early autumn of 1940 is Frederick William Higginson. Born into a Welsh speaking family in Gorseinon near Swansea, 'Taffy' Higginson joined the RAF as an apprentice, aged just 16, in 1929.

Higginson was one of the other Welshmen who went to France in May 1940 as German troops overwhelmed the country, where he claimed a hat-trick of German planes including a brace over Dunkirk on 29 May 1940.

This policeman's son thrived amidst the shrapnel and dogfights of August 1940. In the cockpit of his Hawker Hurricane he destroyed a Dornier D017 on the 16 August; the start of a purple patch that lasted between then and 30 September and amounted to no fewer than ten Luftwaffe aircraft being downed or damaged by Higginson's hand.

After the Battle of Britain, this ace's story entered the realms of a 'boy's own' silver screen fantasy. Higginson was shot down over France in June 1941 and attempted to escape to non-belligerent Spain before being arrested at the Franco-Spanish border. During internment in Perpignan he escaped.

Equipped with false papers and posing as a priest, he reached British-controlled Gibraltar. Following the war, he became sales and service director of the Guided Missiles Division in the Bristol Aircraft Company and also played rugby for London Welsh, Richmond and Surrey until he was 40.

Rosier, Crowley-Milling and Higginson faced death every day in the darkness and uncertainty of 1940. They, as well as many other pilots, went on to be decorated and held esteemed roles in the post-war world.

A glance at the remarkable and comprehensive book Men Of The Battle Of Britain by KG Wynn (CCB Aviation Books) reveals accounts of many Welsh pilots.

Edward Graham from Ebbw Vale joined No. 72 Squadron in March 1937 as Europe began its slide towards war. Following his role supporting the Dunkirk evacuation in his Spitfire, his squadron moved from Gravesend to Biggin Hill.

On 31 August 1940, amidst a mass Luftwaffe offensive Graham shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110. After taking command of 72 Squadron at the tail-end of the Battle of Britain, Graham became an RAF Group Captain, retiring in December 1958. Some Welshman weren't so lucky, and paid the ultimate price along with so many other pilots.

David Francis Roberts from Penylan, Cardiff joined No. 25 Squadron in September 1939, as Germany invaded Poland, becoming a sergeant in June 1940. Roberts survived the Battle of Britain, but was killed the following April, aged 32.

Similarly, Cedric Watcyn Williams, educated at Maesyddywen County School entered the RAF in September 1926, passing out as a fitter in 1929. Williams was offered a cadetship, a common route for would-be pilots, and eventually joined 32 Squadron.

Following service in Iraq and training throughout the 1930s and settling into the Hawker Hurricane, Williams was briefly stationed at Aston Down in Gloucestershire in late June 1940 before commanding No. 17 Squadron at Debden in Essex.

In the heat of battle throughout August 1940, Williams claimed a number of enemy aircraft. However, it was to be his final kill that led to his own demise. On 25 August 1940, Williams was killed following a head-on attack. His Hurricane R 4199 hurtled into the English Channel, the graveyard of so many aircraft in 1940. He was 30 years old.

On 17 September 1940 Hitler cancelled Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of the British Isles. German strategy was now split between bombing cities and the invasion of the Soviet Union. Having heroically fended off the might of the German Luftwaffe, the British nation now had to face the Blitz.

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From July 1940 Britain's cities burned as the Luftwaffe's incendiary bombs fell from Heinkel bombers and repelling the German threat was imperative to national survival. The main RAF bases in Wales included RAF Pembrey in Carmarthenshire, St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, RAF Hawarden and RAF Sealand near the Dee estuary.

As raids on Britain increased, RAF Hawarden and Sealand, situated just a few miles apart and separated by the River Dee near Deeside were integral cogs in the Battle of Britain - a fact underlined by aviation historian and author Mike Grant.

"They couldn't have won the Battle of Britain without RAF Sealand and RAF Hawarden and places like it," states Mike. "They were training stations, but sometimes whole squadrons were moved to these places to regroup. They would be on the alert. We were the back up service."

Throughout 1940, the whole of North East Wales was populated with a variety of aircraft, airmen and ground crews. As Liverpool was blitzed in July 1940, the land mass of North Wales came under the command of the RAF's 9 Group which incorporated Lancashire and parts of Cheshire.

Mike's co-author and fellow historian Derrick Pratt alludes to the ways and reasons North Wales became increasingly defended.

"It was a resting place," offers Derrick, "all the squadrons that came into Wales were battle weary...shot to pieces and farmed into back areas to maintain a defensive presence, but also to rest.

"The bombs that fell on Merseyside are as vital to the make up of the Battle of Britain as the bombs that fell on the East End of London," says Derrick. "9 Group, which was very late being formed covered north Wales and that wasn't formed until August 1940; half way through the Battle of Britain.

"However, it wasn't formed in response to the Battle of Britain," continues Derrick, "it was formed in response to the attacks on Liverpool. Airfields in France fell with France, and the Germans were gifted 30 to 40 French military airfields and instead of attacking via London and South East England (where 11 and 12 Group were waiting for them), they flew from France, across the English Channel and across the south West peninsular where hopefully they would be intercepted by RAF pilots."

The exploits of 11 Group have, historically, become the focus of memory. It was the airmen of this group and their planes that faced the brunt of the Luftwaffe threat during the summer and early autumn of 1940.

A couple of hundred miles away from the Kent airfields of Biggin Hill and West Malling some of 'the few' that would win the Battle of Britain cut their teeth at Hawarden and Sealand.

"Since 1920, pilots trained in three ways," confirms Mike. "Trainees started off on a Tiger Moth and after your basic training, you'd move on to an elementary flight training school where you were taught the basics of flight. The first aircraft you would have been introduced to, would have been a Tiger Moth or a Miles Master.

"If you managed to survive the initial training, you would now know how to fly a fighter aircraft," adds Mike. "The type of fighters trainees commonly used were the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Trainees would then be transferred to an operational training unit, and if you were lucky enough not to have to travel far, you would pass over the river to Hawarden and fly Spitfires, or a Hurricane in the early days."

The training at Sealand and Hawarden was, in many ways, as dangerous as the combat that pilots were training for. Thousands of young pilots faced using the much more powerful Spitfires and Hurricanes for the first time, and many wouldn't make it.

"They were taught total aerobatics at Sealand and expected to do it with the Spitfires at Hawarden," adds Mike, "and, the horrific number of accidents involving our own aircraft...over 4,000 were damaged ranging from just the undercarriage to complete write offs."

"If you went into the elementary training school at Sealand, you would have been introduced to the Master, which was a duplicated, down-rated Spitfire or Hurricane. During the training the losses in this particular area were heavy; especially during night exercises where there were some horrific accidents."

There will be more insights into how the bombs and destruction affected Wales 70 years ago on BBC Wales History, including Dewi Griffiths' personal recollections.

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Many remember the Battle of Britain as a series of dogfights and duels thousands of metres above the White Cliffs of Dover, with Spitfires and Hurricanes duking it out with Messerschmitts and Heinkels in the skies over Kent, Sussex and the English Channel. The reality is that between June and September 1940, the whole of the United Kingdom suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe. Wales was no exception.

Between 28 August and 1 September 1940 Wrexham suffered a sustained period of bombing, a by-product of German raids on Liverpool. In fact, German planes had been sporadically bombing the border area of what is now Flintshire, Cheshire and Shropshire from the end of June 1940, and it was not until August 1940 that a defensive group of aircraft was dedicated to defending north Wales.

Derrick Pratt, author and historian who specialises in the histories of the Wrexham area provides an insight into the ease with which German fighters could attack north Wales in the summer of 1940.

"The first bombers followed the Bristol Channel, up the Severn River, that would appear like a silver thread at night - they could follow it," says Derrick. "Then they made the little hop from Shrewsbury where the Severn starts to flow back into Montgomeryshire and they picked up the River Dee. Then they followed the Dee to Shocklach and either took the River Mersey to Liverpool or headed right towards Crewe."

During the early phase of the battle the German aircraft could find their target by following the rivers and railways that criss-cross the Welsh border, relatively uncontested, to unload their deadly cargo.

"People speaking from Oswestry and Overton can remember half a dozen Heinkels flying very sedately in the dusk towards Liverpool and not a thing being done," stated Derrick. "They just flew up very steadily, following the River Dee towards Liverpool with nothing to shoot them down."

And it was these twin-engined Heinkel He 111 bombers, one of the Luftwaffe's workhorses during the Battle of Britain, that passed over Flintshire and Denbighshire to bomb Liverpool and her docks for three nights from 28 August 1940.

Mike Grant, who co-authored Wings Across The Border - A History Of Aviation In North Wales And The Northern Marchers with Derrick, sheds some light on how Wrexham and the surrounding area was caught up in the first German raids on Merseyside.

"Liverpool took quite a hammering, but the Wrexham area took a massive hit as well," said Mike. "That part of the world was absolutely peppered during those three days. For the inhabitants of those areas, the Battle of Britain was a wake up call."

The Liverpool attacks have been described as the first major night attack on the United Kingdom, and also marked a switch in strategy by the Luftwaffe as they began night time raids. German records state that some 446 tons of high explosive and 37,044 incendiary bombs were dropped on the Merseyside area in four nights. Many of these bombs fell on the Ruabon Mountains and the areas surrounding Wrexham.

"Llay Main Colliery was nearly hit by a lone bomber," says Derrick. "It was 3.30pm on a Monday in early September. Kids had just started back at school and mums were collecting their kids form Llay Infants School when a Heinkel 111 passed low overhead. It was so close that everybody started waving, and the pilot nonchalantly waved back. As the aircraft passed the crowd, they suddenly saw the cross on the tail, and the Luftwaffe livery and the awful reality dawned."

The lone bomber - a frequent and dangerous reality during the early phase of the battles in the sky - headed along the Pen-y-Ffordd road on that autumn morning and dropped two bombs near the gates of Llay Main Colliery.

"If the bombs had gone 70 yards further south," continued Derrick, "it would have hit the winding gear and trapped 900 men underground, and you would have had a disaster worse than Gresford."

Derrick's own childhood memories overlap with these tumultuous times. Born in Acrefair, near Wrexham he witnessed the bombs and burning borderland, shaping his career and lifelong interest in teaching, language and local history.

"I remember crying my eyes out!" revealed Derrick. "Lewis' department store in Liverpool was bombed. There was a Lone Ranger toy and a rocking horse. It was all burned! The toys, the pets corner. All these charred parrots and pets... oh, I cried my eyes out."

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