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YMCA & the Swansea Museum Collection

Phil Treseder is the Learning and Participation Officer at Swansea Museum and also a Trustee of YMCA Swansea.

Currently researching the history of YMCA Swansea, these blogs highlight objects in the Swansea Museum collection linked to the YMCA along with a few from West Glamorgan Archives.

The eleven blogs will act as a pilot for a potential series of blogs on the YMCA from the substantial history and archive material that belong to the YMCA and provides a fascinating social history of Swansea, which hopefully will begin later in 2022.

Each blog will start with a reference to the collection and a description of the object or document as it appears on the museum or archive record.

YMCA Library Catalogue 1900

Swansea Museum Library Collection

The small A6 booklet is twenty four pages long, with another three pages of adverts. It lists the 699 books available in the lending library of YMCA Swansea in the year 1900.  At this time the YMCA was based in Dynevor Place, prior to moving to the purpose built YMCA on the Kingsway which opened in October 1913. The catalogue is divided into seven sections including theology, biography, history, fiction, poetry, voyages and travels and miscellaneous.

The 19th Century saw a considerable expansion in education and learning.  Swansea Public Library opened in 1887 on Alexandra Road following the donation of a significant book collection by Deffet Francis.

Prior to this, access to borrowing books was through subscription libraries.  In 1815 there were six subscription libraries in Swansea.

The most prestigious library and reading rooms in Swansea would open in 1841, at the Royal Institution of South Wales (RISW), now Swansea Museum.

In 1835 the Swansea Philosophical and Literary Society was formed, which soon gained a Royal Charter to become the Royal Institution of South Wales. In 1841 the building was opened.  The downstairs consisted of a lecture theatre, reference library and library and reading room. The reference library is currently staff offices and the main exhibition gallery was the main library and reading room.

This image of the main RISW reading room is from the early 20th century and is now currently the gallery where the natural history collection is displayed.

The initial Swansea YMCA library and reading rooms would have been similar but no doubt smaller, less grand and less books.  Unfortunately we are not aware of any surviving photograph.

YMCA Swansea was established in 1868 (or it could be argued 1857, to be covered in a future blog).  The primary aim at the time would be to divert young men form the temptations of the town of Swansea such as public houses, theatres and brothels towards Christianity and salvation through Jesus Christ.  The police report for example for Swansea in 1888 records nine brothels and sixty five prostitutes in the town.

The primary method would be the provision of a library and reading room. Today the majority of YMCA Swansea staff are Youth and Community Workers, so it may come as a surprise to know that the first paid staff post advertised in the Cambrian Newspaper was for a Librarian in 1872, salary £20 per annum.

The formal opening of the Reading Rooms is described in detail in the Cambrian newspaper on the 19th August 1870.  The location in the article is given as the corner of Dillwyn St and Herbert Place.

The report describes them as;

“The very handsome and commodious reading rooms and news club erected by Mr. Henry Jack, the spirited proprietor for the YMCA were formally opened on Monday evening last.  The principle room is capable of accommodating upon an emergency some 200 or 250 members and has not only been comfortably but luxuriously fitted up.  Through the whole width of the principal room runs a massive mahogany reading table and the comfortable lounges or seats are covered with rich velvet.  The fire place is of polished marble and the grates elegant in design”.

The report also quoted the Mayor John Jones Jenkins, Esq as stating;

“There was practically no room in which the young men of the town can congregate together for mental recreation and improvement. The only room which existed was the Royal Institution (Swansea Museum)… and the fees were rather above what the young people could afford to pay”.

The newspaper goes onto record the following newspapers and periodicals which have been subscribed to for the reading rooms.  National papers include The Times, Standard, Telegraph, Pall Mall, Punch and Judy.  Local papers include the Cambrian, Western Mail, Herald and Journal.  Periodicals to include, Sunday magazine, Good Words, Christian Observer, Christian World, Leisure Hour, Edinburgh Quarterly review and the English Mechanic.

The total income required for the reading rooms per annum would be rent £40, taxes £20, librarian £25, light, heat and cleaning £15 and subscriptions £25.

Unfortunately I have not been able to trace a photograph of the original library and reading rooms.  Actually identifying the building the rooms were located in was a challenge in itself.  The address described or given varied including Herbert Place, St Helens Road and the junction of Dillwyn St and St Helens Road. Herbert Place was the lane running first left off St Helens Road and ending behind what was Peter Allen Estate Agents. Obviously it was in the block of building opposite the current YMCA building.

However, recently a two page leaflet from 1968 celebrating the 100th anniversary emerged with a photograph of the location.  The original library and reading rooms was directly opposite and is still there. The upper floor above what is currently Subway and the Lifestyle Express shop.

The YMCA in Swansea the 1870s appeared to have struggled at first. Research is ongoing but it would appear that the aims of the founders were not matching up with the aims and needs of the young men. A new management committee however appears to have turned matters around by the mid-1870s.  By the end of the decade they were looking for new and larger premises which they found in the former Normal College building on Dynevor Place in 1882.  The new premises had a hall, gymnasium, lounge and of course the library and reading room. The formal opening of the new building by the mayor is reported in the Cambrian on the 2nd February 1883.

In a YMCA newsletter for 1884 `The Record’, a description of the new building is included as follows;

“Young men are most welcome to visit the YMCA in Dynevor Place which adjoins the Tramway Terminus, Gower Street.  Open from 9.30am to 10.30pm.  The commodious building includes:

Reading Room, light, bright and pleasant, well supported with newspapers, magazines and easy chairs. Lending library, stocked with books on biography, fiction, history, poetry, travel and bible studies

Sitting Room, cosy and comfortable, provided with piano, harmonium, writing tables, chess and draughts

Bagatelle Room

Ping-Pong Room

Secretary’s Office, where lists of lodgings and apartments can be seen.  Letters of introductions can be obtained to all parts of the world

Members Bath Room, supplied with hot and cold water and shower bath

Gymnasium, large and well equipped and fitted with hot and cold showers, baths, dressing room and lockers

Social gatherings, lectures etc. take place from time to time.  A literary and debating society started last month”.

The library and reading room would continue to be a feature in the current building on the Kingsway opened in 1913.  Research is ongoing as to the date of the closure of the library and reading room but it was still a feature during WW2.

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`The Record’

Swansea YMCA newsletters early 20th Century

One of the drawbacks with visiting archives is you find a lot more information than you expected.  It can result in extra research or a new line of enquiry or both.

The YMCA archive has no newsletters from the 1st WW period but West Glamorgan Archive Service do. There are one hundred names on the YMCA Swansea Roll of Honour (those members who served) and I was hoping I may find some extra bits of information and hopefully identify some of the many Evans, Jones and Thomas etc. Instead I ended up with another seventy individuals to research. Former members that were mentioned but not listed on the Roll of Honour and a whole load of names on the list of junior section members and scouts serving. This no doubt will result in another week or two of research.  Further information in future blogs when I look at the WW1 period in more detail.

The bundle of newsletters in archives also had some which overlap with YMCA archives for 1911/12 period. Looking through them again, I made a note of the name Arnt J Morland, who wrote a few letters back to his friends at YMCA Swansea and who was now back residing in Arundel, Norway.  The letters themselves were of no significant interest, a little update on how he was getting on, at this point undertaking his national service. The fact that he was involved in a much smaller YMCA association in Arundel and words of encouragement to keep up the good Christian work in Swansea. However, a quick google of his name and the town and this resulted in yet another story of interest to record.

Arnt Jacobson Morland was born on the 23rd June 1888, son of a merchant.

In 1907 he secured some form of Norwegian state sponsored trade placement in Britain and obviously ended up in Swansea. The placement was shipping related but as yet I have been unable to identify with whom exactly.

Judging by the date of the letters he would have been in Swansea for maybe two or three years and being very religious I would guess a member of the Norwegian Church. By 1911 he was definitely back in Norway.  The last mention of him is news of his engagement to Miss Thomsen of Arundel.

In 1916 he started his own shipping company, named Agdesidens Rederi, followed by two more companies, Morland Rederi in 1927 and Morland Tankederi in 1930. 

Morland became a very prominent citizen of Norway, he chaired the Regional Ship Owners Association and for a number of years was a member of the Executive Committee for Arundel City Council. In 1953 he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament but died in 1957 before the end of his term.  Morland was also prominent in the church becoming Vice Chair of the Diocesan Council for Agder.

In 1940 Norway was occupied by the Nazis. A puppet government was installed led by the collaborator Vidkun Quisling, whose name would become a byword for collaborator or traitor. Following the war Quisling was found guilty of murder and high treason and was executed by firing squad on the 24th October 1945.

The resistance in Norway like most countries included both passive and aggressive resistance.  One of the passive resistance measures was led by the church. Local church leaders in Norway were employed and paid for by the state.  Church leaders therefore refused to take the salaries in protest at the occupation and the collaboration of the Quisling government.

Morland in partnership with Hans Sande, the General Secretary of the Joint YMCA and YWCA in Norway organised the network for raising money for what was effectively a strike fund.  Money would be raised and collected to support the local church leaders to enable them to continue to work but refuse their salaries from the Norwegian state.

Morland was arrested on the 24th February 1944 for resistance activities and initially held at the Arkivet building in Kristianstand.  Arkivet is Norwegian for archive.  Built in 1935 for the local archive service, the building was taken over as Gestapo Headquarters for Southern Norway.  It is now a museum to the Norwegian occupation and the names of those killed in concentration camps in Norway are listed on a memorial outside the building.

Moreland was later transferred to Grini Concentration Camp, his prisoner number was 11696. Numbers killed at Grini are unknown but we do know they included British Airborne troops who survived Operation Freshman, the attempt to destroy the Norsk Hydro Heavy Water Plant, vital for any potential development of a hydrogen bomb by the Nazis. The surviving British Airborne troops from the operation were held at Grini before being taken to nearby woods and executed by the Gestapo.

Finally Moreland was transferred to Berg Concentration Camp in February 1945.  Berg was a transit camp where many Jews and political prisoners were kept before transfer to one of the death camps in Germany or Eastern Europe. It is possible that he was due for transit but the war at this point was nearing the end and he survived. 

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YMCA Jubilee Campaign Poster 1919

West Glamorgan Archive Service reference SL WL 5/9/1

The poster is advertising a week long campaign to raise £20,000 to build a new support centre in Swansea for those veterans who served in WW1.  The end of the Great War coincided with the 50th anniversary of YMCA Swansea. 

On the right of the YMCA Red Triangle logo is a notice which seems rather odd.  It states;

“The balance sheet of the National YMCA is published every six months, properly audited and is a document representing a marvel of enterprising work for God and humanity”.

The reason for the rather odd notice was that the appeal had already been effectively sabotaged and from a most unexpected quarter.

As well as providing YMCA huts at the front line, a considerable amount of work was being undertaken to support troops in Swansea.

50,000 meals had been served at St Andrews Hall (now Swansea Mosque), and where YMCA operated from May 1917 to March 1919. 80,000 sheets of writing paper given out to troops, sleeping accommodation provided to over 250 soldiers and sailors and

7,000 to 8000 free suppers provided. Food and accommodation provided also to 129 survivors of the Rewa, a hospital ship torpedoed in the Channel.

At an Executive Committee of YMCA Swansea on 1st October 1917 Mr. G. P. Cook-Davies stated that the number of Bit Badge Men in the town was about 900 (Bit Badge Men was a term for men who had done their bit but whom now were invalided out through illness or injury).  After discussion it was decided to appoint a delegation to meet with Sir John Llewelyn (YMCA Swansea President) to consider what could be done.  One idea considered was a hostel for soldiers and sailors and the need to investigate potential need.

In early 1919, the Red Cross notified the YMCA was that the building which had been turned into a hospital was expected to be handed back over on the 30th March

It was agreed to hold an open meeting and in the meantime that the ground floor be used as a club for past and present members of H.M Forces.

A Jubilee planning meeting was held on the 15th March.  The minutes are difficult to read but discussion involves a possible extension to the hostel as well as a new build erected to the men who have fallen in the war, on the model of the Red Triangle huts.

At a special meeting in March 1919 the appeal was launched with a target of £20,000

Ward lists were produced to target 20,000 houses via 260 canvassers and the Rev. James would target markets and businesses.

Newspaper adverts were also to be placed.  The appeal weeks would be the 28th April to 10th May. 300 posters and 500 window bills printed.

The appeal started well with the following promises:

Mr. Napier £200

Mr Cook £200

Richard Lewis £200

J. P Giles £100

S Palmer £52

W J Watkins £50

Total £802

The first indication of the appeal running into trouble comes in a minute dated 1st April, under a heading the Bishop of Swansea.  The minute states:

“Mr Napier gave a brief report on the meeting of the National Council in London and stated that the Bishop of Swansea would be given an opportunity of substantiating or withdrawing his charge against the YMCA before a Commission appointed by the Council”.

A special meeting of the Executive Committee 16th April minute states

“The Chairman referred to the Bishop of Swansea attack on the YMCA in the Times Newspaper.  In reference to the Bishops letter, Mr Highman gave exact information with regard to the Association building at Brecon and the success of that enterprise”.

The Cambrian newspaper reported on the allegations and subsequent inquiry by Lord Askwith on the 23rd May 1919.  The central allegation by the Bishop was that the YMCA national body was competing with existing social organisations and that money subscribed for war purposes was now being used for peace schemes. It would appear that the criticism was triggered by something to do with Brecon YMCA but it is unclear what.  The report by lord Askwith rejected the Bishops criticisms. 

Although the Bishops letter to the Times had nothing to do with YMCA Swansea, the publicity effectively sabotaged the campaign.  The appeal was pretty ambitious anyway, particularly when it was only eight years since a similar appeal had raised the £20,000 for the cost of the building on the Kingsway.

In June the Rev Newton Jones reported that Len Palmer had succeeded in collecting £131, the highest amount secured by a member. The campaign figure now standing at £4548 with another £100 promised from Messrs Baldwin’s.  Another £250 was promised by the Butchers Association.

The minute’s state:

“Mr Napier moved thanks to Rev Newton Jones for his service as the campaign manager.  The campaign had not reached its target.  The attack upon the YMCA by the Bishop of Swansea and prevailing industrial unrest had doubtless influenced events.”

Mr Cook endorsed Mr Napier

“Campaign efforts had been largely controlled by unfortunate circumstances”

The appeal was finally closed with a total figure raised of £5692, well short of the £20,000 target.

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Board Game, to raise awareness of issues facing Young Carers

Swansea Museum Collection

Board Game, cardboard, ink, plastic, and wood. ‘I care – do you’?. Board game, produced by Swansea Young Carers as part of an ABMU (Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board) funded project to raise awareness of issues facing young carers.  Used by Swansea Museum Education team as part of ‘Eye of the Storm’ activities in 2017. Game consists of board, 4 counters, dice, two packs of pick-up cards, one blue pack and one white with instruction sheets. The aim of the game is to raise awareness about young people carers; their lives and the issues they face on a day to day basis. The objective of the game is to go through the game on either the path of the young carer or the path of the young person, each step is another aspect of each of their lives. The ‘pick up’ cards are uncontrollable events that either have a positive or negative outcome for each player.

`Eye of the Storm’ is a musical theatre production by Theatre na Nog, a production company based in Neath. The production, aimed at schools, revolved around a female young carer who dreams of becoming a scientist.  Each autumn the performances are held in the Dylan Thomas Theatre along with workshops in Swansea Museum and the National Waterfront. The productions are usually set in a historic period but this production was present day.

In developing the storyline Theatre na Nog consulted with the same group of young carers who later would produce the game.

In a previous life, I was a children’s rights worker, specialising in involving children in decision making processes and consultations. In 1993 to 1995 I was part of the team that co-ordinated the voluntary sector report to the United Nations on the UK Government implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (or to be more accurate how the UK Government was failing to implement it).

Young carers groups were few and far between at that point, but I do recall the main fear of young carers was a worry that if they asked for support from anywhere official, they may end up being taken into care.  As a result it was at the time still a hidden problem and a there was a lack of awareness.

There has been a considerable amount of progress since then but still a long way to go.  Recent data shows that there are approximately 800,000 Young Carers aged 5-17 in the UK and research by the Children’s Society suggests that 1 in 5 secondary school students are providing some care in their home, with a third of these providing high levels of care.

YMCA Swansea Young Carers project is a bespoke provision that increases young carer’s resilience towards their caring role and improves their health and well-being.

Young carers participating in the project are under 18 and care for someone affected by; a long-term illness, physical disability, mental health illness or substance and alcohol use.

Young carers are unlikely to have opportunities that other young people may have. So the project gives young carers opportunities in a safe environment, where they are encouraged to be young people, have fun, make friends, relax and focus on themselves.

Young carers miss out on a lot of experiences and life opportunities due to their caring responsibilities and so the young carers project provides vital support and services that aim to reduce the barriers to young carer’s development.

The difference that is witnessed and is evident in young people from participating in this project is truly inspirational and the transformational changes in young people has an overall impact for the entire family.

Commissioned to deliver the Young Carers Service in Swansea on behalf of City and county of Swansea, YMCA Swansea is providing tailored support to young carers between the ages of 8-18. This includes face to face, online, one to one, and group sessions, as well as trips, activities, advocacy, and signposting.

YMCA Swansea recently launched 4 new programmes on National Young Carers Action Day:

• National Young Carers I.D Card Scheme

 • Online PSE Sessions

 • ‘Understanding Young Carers’ – Agored Cymru Accredited Qualifications

 • Young Carers Awareness Animation Films

The National Young Carers I.D Card scheme is led by Welsh Government, Carers Trust Wales, Local Authorities, and Professional Bodies across Wales.

YMCA Swansea & Swansea Council have been selected by Welsh Government as an early adopter, of the Young Carers Card scheme in Wales.

The Young Carers Service is funded by City and County of Swansea, Children in Need, Waterloo Foundation and Swansea Bay University Health Board Integrated Care Fund.

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Prisoner of War Diary

Swansea Museum collection

Exercise book, used as a diary, blue paper covers, white lines paper. The diary of Swansea man John Healy, while prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. Front label on cover reads ‘Sgt John Healy, 1837362 POW Barth Stalag Luft 1 7610 Germany’. Flt. Sergeant John Healy (1922-2018) was in the RAF from 27th December 1943 to 5th March 1947. John joined the service as a rear gunner, flying Lancaster bombers with the 90 Squadron of the RAF. He was shot down in January 1945, and captured at Mutterstadt, Germany and was interned at Stalagluft 1, a prisoner of war camp in Barth, North Germany until May 1945 when he was released after their German guards deserted. In the diary he kept whilst in the camp, he wrote of meals he hoped to have on his release. John wrote in his diary some of the meals he longed for when he returned home- faggots and peas- lumps of cheese with plenty of bread and butter and cups of tea! On the cover of the book are the words YMCA Sweden.

Whist Swansea YMCA was active in on the home front as highlighted in blog 7, they were also supporting troops at the frontline.  Many mobile units were sent overseas to support troops. Initially many of them in France were lost early in the war with the Dunkirk retreat.  Later, another mobile unit paid for by Swansea YMCA was dispatched to North Africa.

Other services for soldiers overseas was organising the delivery of presents to loved ones or organising flowers for example for a wedding anniversary, all undertaken in Swansea by the Ladies Auxiliary.

The Ladies Auxiliary annual report for 1944 gives a flavour of their activities.

“Almost entire work was war work.  Up to the end of 1944 we did duty on 6 static canteens and 5 mobile canteens.  Due to the movement of troops Crymlyn Burrows is now closed.

Gifts to Home scheme – 100 bunches of flowers delivered along with other requests such a doll, a teddy bear, gramophone records and tickets for the pantomime.

Entertaining wounded soldiers at YMCA Central and £800 raised and sent to Cardiff for overseas work.

It was very hard work but I know we have derived much joy in the knowledge that by giving a little help and comfort to those in the services who are willing to sacrifice their all for us”

Another important role undertaken by the YMCA on an international level was the welfare of Prisoners of War (POW) held in Germany and other locations. John Healey’s diary was provided by the YMCA in Sweden.  The work undertaken was similar to the Red Cross. Sweden being a neutral country during WW2, therefore YMCA Sweden would have been allowed to support British POW in camps.

A minute book for the Ladies Auxiliary in December 1945 records that Mrs Elliot Seager’s son reported missing was in fact in a POW camp in Germany, news of which had come through the YMCA.

Following the end of the war, the work quickly switched to the rebuild. A donation for example was given towards the rebuilding of Rangoon YMCA in Burma.

Reconciliation was also part of the agenda, already by 1948 a group of new German YMCA staff were at Swansea YMCA on a study tour.

Mr. D. L. Davies who ran the canteens (see blog 7) was later involved in refugee resettlement.  Acting on behalf of the YMCA World Council in Geneva he negotiated the placement of 5,000 refugees to Canada. 

The YMCA of course was not the only body raising money and supporting front line troops through mobile canteens.  Post War Mr. Davies also visited the headquarters of General Montgomery at Fontainbleau. Outside the headquarters was a mobile canteen still in use and presented by the people of Llwcher (Loughor).  The staff were apparently delighted to finally learn how to pronounce the name of the area, and find out where Llwcher was actually located.

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Swansea Blitz Photograph

Swansea Museum Collection

Photograph, black & white. Photograph of fire fighters using hoses to douse a fire caused by German incendiary bombs that fell on the Ben Evans store in Swansea during the 1941 Three Nights Blitz. View in photograph shows fire fighters subduing the blaze from Castle Square. The high buildings in the background are Burtons, David Evans, and Castle Cafe Kardomah which all were damaged by bombs and removed as the buildings were dangerous. There is a YMCA ‘tea cab’ visible on the bottom of the image, presumably this mobile canteen provided workers with sustenance.

Whilst a significant amount of members were serving in the armed forces during WW2, many older members and the Ladies Auxiliary of Swansea YMCA were serving on the home front. Money was being raised to support troops in the front line not with static huts as in WW1 but with mobile vans serving refreshments and offering reading material and stationary for letters home.

As the year 1939 progressed and war seemed more likely, the YMCA Wales National Council was busy setting up tents for recreation and refreshments in various training camps across Wales.  Following the declaration of war in September, many commanding officers were requesting YMCA support and a further seventeen were established in the first few weeks following the declaration of war. A War Emergency Committee was established and all other standing committees suspended. By 1940 it was apparent that permanent buildings would be required to replace the temporary premises at an estimated average cost three to four thousand pounds each.

It was also clear that refreshments and accommodation would be required for travelling troops at the main railway stations and mobile canteens to cover more isolated units such as barrage balloon units and anti-aircraft batteries.

The mobile canteens would also be used to support towns under bomber attack. During the three night blitz on Swansea, the YMCA mobile canteens were supported by several others including one from Porthcawl and six from Cardiff which had arrived by 2.45 am in the morning.

The Air Raid Precaution Controller report to the Council on the Blitz – 19th March 1941 stated.

“The mobile canteens also come in, as I have told you to help…the organizer of the WVS got the kitchen in the Guildhall going from which a quantity of food was prepared and loaded into the mobile canteens for delivering food around the Borough, and the YMCA rendered similar service”.

In several photos of Swansea in the February blitz, you can see a YMCA canteen in the picture.

Swansea YMCA had several mobiles to serve troops on anti-barrage balloons, anti-aircraft batteries and military camps scattered around Swansea.

Swansea YMCA committee member Mr. D. L. Davies volunteered to oversee all the YMCA canteens in the Swansea area, this would include those provided by Swansea and though the national umbrella body.  Mr Davies owned a clothes shop on Gower St (now the Kingsway) which was destroyed in the Blitz.

In Swansea, as well as the mobile canteens, there were canteens and recreational facilities at Fairwood, Crymlyn Burrows, High St Station and Mumbles and canteen and accommodation at the main building, the armed forces club on Alexandria Road and Officers Club on Gore Terrace. Most of the running and activity was undertaken by the Ladies Auxiliary, who also provided other services including meeting every train arriving with wounded soldiers at Swansea and issuing each with a parcel.

Fundraising was also required for facilities and mobile canteens at the various fronts.  Swansea contributed the second highest total in Wales, a sum of £5,000.  The majority of the work was being undertaken by the Ladies Auxiliary

On June 3rd 1940, L S Jenkins give a report of last week’s work when a number of refugees were given refreshments and then late one night a train load of British Expeditionary Forces men came in tired and weary straight from Dunkirk.  The next meeting it was reported that between 16th to the 22nd June, 1,778 cups of tea were served. The record day was 13th June, 462 cups of tea served.  Arrangements had also been made in the Ebenezer Schoolroom which now had eight beds for troops stranded on late trains.

At the AGM of the ladies Auxilary for 1940, Miss Dillwyn Llewelyn the president stated,

“Since our last annual meeting, the scope of the Ladies auxiliary has been greatly extended doing canteen work and these efforts have been the means of increasing our membership considerably, thanks to the many ladies who have come forward to give their services unstintingly to the work of the YMCA in this capacity.  It may interest some of you to know that we have the honour of being the oldest YMCA ladies auxiliary in the country and happily we have several members who did similar war work 25 years ago who are still active today”

The report of the Chair later outlined the canteen work and then goes onto state;

“At the beginning of September, you all know what happened at the station, our canteen was closed for 12 days but we do not forget those ladies who were on duty on the night of 1st September and who endured the hardships of that raid and the ladies who turned up for duty at 7.30am the following morning”.

The chair of the ladies auxiliary was in fact being typically understated for the time. September 1st 1940 was the first major raid on Swansea and High St Station was hit.

The women on duty that night were lucky not to be killed or seriously injured.

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Force G, “Operation Neptune Orders”.

“Operation Neptune” was the code name for the naval operation for D Day, under Operation “Overlord”. 

The orders run to a few hundred pages all marked “top secret”.  In large bold type on the front cover it states;

“To be taken on charge in accordance with article 39 of C.B. form U.2D and destroyed by fire on completion of the operation.”

As you can imagine, those orders were usually obeyed to the letter and therefore this is a rare survivor.  They belonged to Kenneth Hartree Davies, who joined the Navy in 1942 at Swansea YMCA. In 1944 he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and was appointed to the tank landing craft ‘Copra’ in time for the D. Day landings, which he took part in under the operation name of “Neptune”.

The operational orders survived as their tank landing craft developed engine trouble on D day and was forced to return to port. Kenneth finally delivered his tanks on D Day plus 6.

The impact of war can last a lifetime on an individual, even if not injured physically. An example of this is SM 2018.14.1, an electric hair restorer kit from the late 1940s.

This electric hair restorer belonged to Mr Walter Stockdale. He served in the Pioneer Corp in World War 2 and was one of the soldiers to enter Belsen Concentration camp. He lost his hair due to the shock of what he saw and later purchased the hair restorer to aid with this.