Amazing story of war evacuee who survived Valleys bombing
Thomas Learmont was one of around 110,000 children evacuated from London to Wales because it was believed he would be safer there. Cathy Owen reports
BEING evacuated from London to Wales was supposed to keep Thomas Learmont and his sisters safe – but the shock bombing of a village shattered those hopes.
Cwmparc was meant to be a safe haven during the Second World War but a German bombing raid changed all that, and Thomas’ story of survival is nothing short of miraculous.
Then aged 10, Thomas had been sent to live with the Williams family at their home in Treharne Street and on the night of April 29, 1941 he was sharing a room with their 10-year-old son Gethin.
Thomas was to survive that fateful night, but Gethin was among the 27 people who died.
The family had no warning of the air raid Hitler’s bomber pilots were about to unleash on the mining village.
It’s believed the Luftwaffe failed to reach Swansea docks or Port Talbot, so the pilots ditched their bombs to lighten their load before returning to base, with those bombs landing on the small community just outside Treorchy.
Twenty-seven people, including several children, died. It the biggest loss of lives in a single night in the Rhondda. The youngest victim, John Williams, was just 18 months old.
Other evacuees also lost their lives that night. The Jameson children – George, 13, Arthur, 11, Vera, 10, and Joan, eight – had been evacuated from East Ham in London to avoid the Blitz there.
The children were living with a Cwmparc family in Treharne Street but, sadly, their house was hit during the explosions. Vera was the only evacuee to survive.
The first thing Thomas remembers after going to bed that night was waking up under a pile of rubble.
He said: “We were originally sent to Felixstowe but they realised that there were docks there that could be a target, so it was felt that we would be safer in Wales.
“I can remember getting on the train and when we arrived we were put in a large hall where we bedded down for the night before being sent to the houses where we would be staying.
“I was billeted at 14 Treharne Street with Mr and Mrs Williams and their son Gethin, who was also aged 10. There was not much room with us all, so Gethin and I shared a bed and on the fatal night the house was bombed.
“All I remember was going to sleep then waking up and being covered in rubble. I was really fortunate to be dug from the rubble, but sadly Gethin died when incendiaries were ignited by escaping gas.
“We had to get away from the scene and me and other survivors took shelter on the mountain above the village until dawn. Someone had supplied a blanket to keep us warm and my injuries were treated. We were then taken to a vicarage to be looked after.
“Then I was rehoused in Treorchy with a woman whose husband was off fighting in the RAF.”
Thomas’ sisters Mary and Anne were both in the town and they were later evacuated to a camp for children nearer to London and reunited with their family after the war.
Now 91, Thomas has never forgotten his time in Wales and when his family heard that a lasting memorial was finally being unveiled in the village, they brought him from Milton Keynes to Wales for the event.
In 2019, after years of campaigning, a memorial to remember those killed in the Blitz bombing was given the go-ahead.
The Cwmparc Blitz Memorial Project was given permission to build a memorial on land off Park Road in Cwmparc near Treorchy in memory of those who all lost their lives.
After some delays due to coronavirus, it was unveiled at a special event on April 30, the 81st anniversary of the bombing.
“We had been following the plan for a memorial,” said Thomas.
“My sisters had read about it and we kept track of what was happening, so I really wanted to come back to Wales to see it.
“I was overwhelmed by the kindness that people showed us and it is good to see that there is finally a memorial there.
“It was just sad that one of the main people behind the setting-up of the memorial, Robert Leighton Davies, died before he got to see it. “
During the visit, Thomas was told that Gethin’s older brother, also called Thomas, was still alive and still lived in Treharne Street and a meeting was quickly organised.
“It was good to meet up with him and to share our stories,” said Thomas.
“It was very emotional but I am so glad that I got to meet him again and to see the memorial to all the people who died that night. It is important they are never forgotten and that people remember our history.
“I just wanted to say thank you to the people of Cwmparc for making us all feel so welcome, back then and now.”