War hero behind the bench with the most stunning view on Gower
Keith Bailey dreamed of this spot while held by the Japanese as a PoW and always vowed to return. Alice Suffield reports
THE coastal path between Langland Bay and Caswell Bay in Swansea is arguably the most-walked and best-loved coastal path in the area.
Anyone who is familiar with this route knows that the views of the coastline are simply spectacular, almost unparalleled – and one man has the bench with the best view on the path.
Keith Bailey is commemorated by a seat on the coastal path between Langland and Caswell bays. His son Clive says Keith dreamt of this spot while being held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and vowed always to return. His ashes were scattered there.
Keith – founder of the Austin Bailey Foundation, which has given more than £1m to causes in the Swansea area and overseas – grew up in Langland.
In 1942 he found himself a long way from home as a prisoner of war in Thailand and until 1945 he worked on the infamous Burma Railway.
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, is a 258-mile ea railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built by prisoners of f war of the Japanese from 1940-44 to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. During its construction, around 90,000 south-east Asian civilian labourers died, along with more than 12,000 Allied d prisoners.
Clive Bailey spoke of his s father’s experiences, saying: “My father in the Second d World War had the misfortune, well, first of all to be e evacuated from Dunkirk, and then he ended up in the e Singapore when it fell to the e Japanese in 1942.
“He was then transported d on the train up to Thailand, where he was based on the e Burma Railway which the e Japanese were building, basically by slave labour, and d he was in the prisoner of war r camp for three and a half years.
“I think he was always confident that he would get home, providing his health stood out. He had malaria a couple of times and had a couple of injuries from the Japanese, but he talked very little about his experience in the prisoner of war camp.
“I think that that’s fairly common, that prisoners of war can only really discuss their experiences with other people who’ve been through something similar. So he spoke a little about it, there was the odd snippet, and one of the things was that he was always thinking of Langland Point and dh the fact f that hh he would ld return to it at some stage, which indeed he did. He got home and in, I think, a lot better health and physical state than perhaps many of his colleagues.
“So I think he always felt that, although it was a horrible thing that happened, he was luckier than most of his colleagues, because an awful lot were either in a very bad physical shape or a very bad mental shape. And in those days, there was no concept of the mental consequences of something like that.
“So I think he saw himself as being very lucky. And that is why when, a bit b later in life, he had some financial success, he wanted to start the foundation, which he did in 1984, and I’ve been a trustee since the start.
“When my father died in 1990, I became chairman.”
Over the past 30 years, the Austin Bailey Foundation has given more than £1,200,000 to causes in the Swansea area and overseas. Clive is proud of the legacy his father has left behind and is keen to carry it on.
“I think it’s extremely important. I mean, I’m in my 70s, I’m still working, but I’m working less so I’m putting more effort into the foundation.
And like my father, I regard myself as being incredibly lucky in life. So anything I can do to put something back is very satisfying.”
The Foundation meets three times a year to give away grants to charities both in Swansea and overseas.
In 1995 Clive visited the YMCA in Calcutta to learn more about the project that the foundation supported there. Mother Teresa was invited by the YMCA and Clive was lucky enough to meet her.
Since then the ABF has continued to support charities around the globe even throughout the pandemic.
Clive said: “We will typically give away something like £50,000 at each meeting, two-thirds of it to causes in Swansea and about a third of it to overseas causes.
“I’ve lived and worked a lot of my life overseas, so I tend to look after the overseas side and have been the Swansea trustees take care of the of the local grants. I think my father would be pleased to see his legacy continued like this.”
■ You can find out more about the work of the Austin Bailey Foundation at https://tinyurl. com/2p8jmvn8