Ken Rees

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Biography

'Early Years Ken was born at Corner House Camrose Pembrokeshire in 1922, but had to register his own birth in 1939, because his mother, didn't register at birth.

School As far as I can recall, Ken attended Camrose South At the time it had a very forward thinking teacher, who allowed the kids to read comics on the Friday afternoon. But the downside was they had to debate the article they had read. They could do with a bit of that in school now! Although quite bright, well let’s put it this way his teacher thought he was good enough to take an entrance exam for the local grammar school. He on the other had had a different idea, he just put his name on the top of the paper and left it like that. He was determined not to become an academic. He loved the outdoors too much, so much so that when his mother apprenticed him off to Bowlers shop in Haverfordwest, he made such a fuss that his mother delegated his elder brother the task of finding a suitable outdoor job. It was found and he never looked back.

Early working life In the 1930’s Ken worked in the saw mill situated at what is now the County Hall in Cartlet Haverfordwest He joined the TA (Militia) before the outbreak of world war two, as it was plain to anyone with an ounce of scene that Hitler was hell bent on having a re-run of WW One. And although not too enthusiastic about the prospect, he like many others thought if there is another one then, you had a better chance of going into a unit of your choosing rather than being put in any old unit.

Army Service 1939-1947. Kens Military Serial number #927238 Enlisted 13th August 1939 TA Pembroke Yeomanry RA aged 16. Transferred to; Hampshire Carbineer’s (AA regiment)

Early war years in 1941 Ken like so many was desperate to get to grips with the enemy, and bored with endless drilling he Volunteered for Special Service Group. Were he Trained for an explosives attachment He was Attached to No 6 Commando, for approximately 4 months, and took part in an aborted raid on Bayonne, Easter Sunday 1942. The raid was called off at the last minute due to bad weather. The only action was when the German search lights were turned on and all the ships in the flotilla opened fire to put the lights out. The only casualty on the British side, was when the ships dog was thrown overboard by the recoil of the broadside. On the way home, they listened to German propaganda on the radio “how all the ships were sunk and the survivors were taken prisoner” On returning back home to the UK he joined his old unit, and then was Transferred to the Royal Engineers and served with No 607 railway coy until wounded, (shoot in the groin by blank cartage at short range) and on recovery was posted to a new coy

1944 D-Day onwards Ken did not take part in the initial landings, instead he arrived some days later but still had to land via Landing Craft, and almost drowned by stepping off too far out, At the time he was only 5 foot 1 inches tall, and found himself in 6 foot of water. This was bad enough but you must remember the fact that he was weighed down with all his equipment. He hated the sea from that time onwards.

He Served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany until the end of the war. Although the war ended in 1945, he and all the other engineers were kept on to help rebuild the infrastructure, so for him the war dragged on for another 15 months, by that time he had had enough, and all he wanted to do was get back home to his new wife, not forgetting his 18 month old son Alan.

Love at first sight Whilst on leave in 1945 visiting his mother, he met his bride to be for the first time. He was on a bus in Monmouth Wales, and saw Olwen, and offered her his seat, and before they both knew it they had a date. He maintained latter life, that he thought she was with a man from the RAF, and only offered her his seat to start an argument. But I take that with a pinch of salt as that was typical of his sense of humour. It must have been love at first sight because Olwen sat through King Kong. She was scared stiff poor thing. But didn’t let him know that. Next time he had a 48 hour pass they got married, and stayed together for the next 50 odd years

After the war As far as Ken can recall he was demobilized, in May or June of 1946. That was 6 years and 10 months of Army life behind him, and he was still only 24 years old. It must have been a culture shock, his first son Alan was conceived on the wedding night, and her he was home with a wife he hardly knew, and a son he had never met.

Early married life 1950's By 1950 Ken and Olwen had moved to Haverfordwest, and lived in barn Street and Prospect Place, a short while later they moved to Broad Haven, were they spent the rest of their lives.

Work years 1950's onwards By 1955 Ken was working on the sewer line in Broad and Little Haven, up to that point there had been no sewerage system. Around about that time they moved once more, but this was the last time they moved. They moved into a new house with all mod cons, water and electric. I know it sounds strange to the youth of today, but prior to that, most houses were lucky to have a water supply. We had a total of five plugs, and eight lights. Wow progress

The 1960’s saw the coming of several oil refinery's to the Milford Haven and Pembroke area, Like many men from the area, Ken worked on the Esso and Regent oil refineries. His other major contract was building what is now the Trafalgar Road estate, which was originally a married quarters for the naval base at Brawdy. This also included a large number of social housing. Another one of Kens projects was the extension to Brawdy in the 1970's, by this time it was a joint RAF and US Navy base. Ken continued to work in the construction industry well after he retired, and did the occasional odd job when he was in his 70's. He didn't have to, but he liked the outdoor life. If Ken wasn’t working he would be found in his garden. He lived in Broad Haven until his death a few months after his 85th birthday

1922 Birth record Haverfordwest District Pembs UK

Army Service Record 1939

1939 Registration Pembs UK