Story of a hero (From Penarth Times)

Story of a hero

THE 60th anniversary of VE Day this Sunday brings back bitter-sweet memories for a Penarth man who was part of the Normandy landing invasion force.

Wally Wells, aged 82, of St David's Crescent, was an infantryman with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Wally was injured during an assault on the town of Falaise as Allied forces pushed their way through France.

Wally remembers Tuesday, May 8, 1945 very clearly. He said: "I was back in the UK recovering from a shrapnel wound. I was having a pint in a pub in Brighton owned by Welsh boxer Tommy Farr when the news broke.

"I had a few more pints that night I can tell you."

Wally's regiment landed in Normandy in the summer of 1944 and made their way through Arromanches, Caen and Bayeux before gearing up for a push on Falaise.

Wally said: "We were under heavy artillery fire and we were also under attack from their airforce. I was hit in the leg by a piece of shrapnel.

"A friend of mine bandaged the wound with a handkerchief. The next time we met he asked for his handkerchief back!."

Wally was transported back by jeep to the coast of northern France where he received treatment aboard a hospital ship.

Wally and his wife Glenis travelled back to northern France last year to take part in the D-Day commemorations.

Earlier in the war Wally's regiment had been posted to the Orkney Islands and Ireland to guard against a Nazi invasion of British shores.

As a teenager in Penarth, Wally was also part of the Local Defence Volunteers.

He said: "It's quite funny looking back. We used to use stones as practice for throwing hand grenades and broomsticks for rifles.

"To sound the alert warning of enemy attack we would cycle to churches in Penarth to ring the bells. Our bicycles would be camouflaged."

Wally married Glenis in April 1947 and worked in construction after the war.

He has two children, Frederick and Margaret, and five grandchildren.