PRESIDENT David Thomas was pleased to welcome one of Narberth and District Probus Club’s own members, Roger Penn, as guest speaker to the club’s latest meeting. In a fascinating talk Roger traced the footsteps of Prime Minister Winston Churchill who visited West Wales, secretly, during World War II.

During spring 1941, a little-known wartime journey, shrouded in secrecy, and by a special train carried Churchill through Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea, to West Wales amidst the turmoil of surrounding ongoing bombing.

Britain stood under the shadow of invasion and endured relentless bombing. Moving quietly through threatened industrial cities and coastal communities, Churchill witnessed firsthand the damage, resilience and determination of people fighting for survival.

In his recently published book, Churchill’s Secret Wartime Visit, Roger Penn reconstructs this remarkable Easter tour, with vivid storytelling to bring readers onto the platforms, into the streets and alongside the citizens who greeted Britain’s wartime leader. The book reveals a more personal dimension of Churchill – not only the statesman directing the war, but the observer drawing strength from the courage of ordinary people.

Roger’s in-depth research revealed that Churchill in 1941 travelled to Whitland by train but was also accompanied by a chauffeur driven car. He boarded the Cardi Bach Railway and reached Cardigan before being driven to Aberporth to witness a much-anticipated rocket display - a display which, unfortunately, turned out to be less than satisfactory.

The mansion at Cilwendeg had been commandeered for locally-based troops as accommodation, and it is possible that Churchill’s wife Clementine stayed here whilst her husband carried out his duties elsewhere.

Roger’s research included tracing contemporaries and others who furnished him with anecdotes involving the great man. It seems that Churchill slept in a carriage in the sidings at Whitland and on at least one occasion enjoyed a bath in a house on North Road in Whitland.

Roger G K Penn was born and educated in Whitland before joining Lloyds Bank Ltd in 1976. Shortly before his retirement in 2010, he returned to Dolycwrt, where his father Dr George Penn, the much-respected General Practitioner, was practising, and where Roger’s unswerving passion for the old surgery and its proud traditions inspired him to document the building’s one-hundred-year medical history.

Today, Roger has several major titles to his name including Wales and the All Blacks and Beyond the Call of Duty. After retirement as a rugby player, Roger went on to be a fully qualified referee.

Roger’s book, ‘Churchill’s Secret Wartime Visit’ is available online with Amazon or can be ordered through any reputable Bookshop.

The next Probus Club meeting will be on October 29 when the speaker, another club member, Mike Richards, will talk about The Senghenydd Pit Disaster. To join, contact Patrick Jones on 07846 660904.