Bills War

1
Bills War

• A very ordinary Welshmans
• wartime adventures.

By Philip Edwards- N.G.F.L. Cymru.
2

• 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.
• Teachers 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.

3

• Id 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 Bills war.

4
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.

• 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?

5

• 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?

6

• 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?

7

• 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?

8

• Heres another interesting picture from Bills
  collection. Do you know what this building is?
  You might have been taught this in an R.E.
  lesson.
• Its a mosque.
• Do you know what a mosque is?
• Do you know how the tower is used?

9

• 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?

10

• 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 youd like to find out more about rationing,
click this link to try Veras Rationing
Challenge on the BBC website.
11

• Bill and Mays 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?

12

• 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?

13
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, Bills story could finish
here, but there is a rather strange twist to end
this tale.
14

• 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.
• Heres a question for you before we continue with
  this strange tale.
• What do you think happened to William Killeys
  ship?
• Now, lets finish the story.

Click this link to find out more about the Battle
of the Atlantic. (bbc.co.uk)
15

• This picture shows the churchyard at Old Town,
  St. Marys, Scilly Islands.
• The Scilly Islands are a group of small islands
  off the coast of Cornwall in England.
• St. Marys 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.

16

• 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. Marys I.O.S.

17
The End.

• The answers are on the next slide.
• How well did you do?

18
(No Transcript)