US sailor relives his days of war (From Penarth Times)

US sailor relives his days of war

LAST week saw the visit to Penarth of a veteran United States sailor, Mr Arthur La Chance of New Hampshire.

He was a member of the 81st Naval Construction Battalion, Company B which spent a lot of time in Penarth - mainly building a hospital in Victoria Road on a site which is now part of Stanwell school field.

On this site there had been a house called Raithwaite and the hospital, which was built to accommodate casualties from D-Day, was built on the ruins of the house. Luckily the hospital was not needed and the single storey buildings became a training school for Post Office engineers.

Mr La Chance, aged over 80 years, reminisced over the days he spent in Penarth with Glenn Booker, from Barry,long-time researcher and collector of the stories of GI Brides in Penarth, Barry and south Wales.

Mr La Chance had a photograph of a three-storey house in which he was billeted, eight to a room he remembers, and also had some military documents which mentioned Victoria Avenue.

He thought the house overlooked a park. The house turned out to be in Victoria Square overlooking All Saints' grounds and matched up to the photograph in every respect.

He was also stationed in Clive Crescent and remembers the Air Force personnel in Briar Bank around the corner. There was an Officer's Mess there and a WAAF girl was injured in a bombing there.

The RAF connection with Penarth was that new recruits were stationed here, equipped and given some training before being posted elsewhere.

They were billeted in private houses and no doubt older readers will remember some of them.

For some time Mr La Chance was billeted in huts on Penarth dock near the Pierhead buildings. The sailors there had to climb a wooden staircase to get up into John Street where the Clive Arms public house was, and still is.

After the war the bar of the Clive was surrounded with glass cases containing numerous American armed forces colourful insignia and badges of rank. Sadly they are no longer there. Does anyone know what happened to them?

The Battalion landed in France on June 6 and assisted the subsequent landings of the invasion force. Mr La Chance was injured in a Channel storm and was invalided back via England to his home country.

Ironically he wasn't sent to the hospital he helped build!

Two Penarth girls went to the States near the end of the war from marriages to men of the same battalion. They were Frances Edwards of Cawnpore Street, Cogan, who became Mrs Roy Spencer, and Valerie Richards, of Dock Road, Penarth who became Mrs Harry Smith.

The latter's granddaughter Dawn has made several visits to Penarth since, to stay with relatives here, and she herself has joined the US Navy.