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This contribution was submitted by Viola Stevens to the people's War team in Wales and is added to the site with her permission.

At one time the police in Porthcawl thought my sister was a German spy! My sister lived in Porthcawl and used to take a notepad and pencil on her bike around the lanes sketching. And over the hill was the aerodrome at Stormy Down….and someone must have told the police that there was a woman sketching the area. So a policeman came on his bicycle and took her to the police station and said “We believe you are a German spy” and asked to see what was in her sketchbook. They thought there were maps. They had to telephone the school in Bridgend to verify she was a teacher there!

There was a large prison camp in Bridgend…about 180 prisoners were there. Nobody escaped because …over the channel, it was quite a swim. Well about once a month on a Sunday they would have a concert and the public were invited. And I didn’t know but my sister fancied one of the prisoners and he fancied her…. I knew nothing of that at the time. Well the whole camp escaped one night and I was home in the shop in Skewen near Neath with my mother, my sister was in Porthcawl where she lived. And there was a knock at the door in the middle of the night — the shop door!….I woke my mother and she said : “oh go on down and see who it is”. So I shouted through the door “Who’s there?” and I thought the reply was “Police”. So I opened the door, recognised the prisoner - who was still in his uniform — and what he had said was: “Open the door please”. So I shut the door and then I was sick straight away with shock. All the prisoners were caught eventually….every one of them.

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