AN ARMY veteran who spent his childhood years stowed away in Powys after being evacuated during the bombing of Liverpool, is to return to Mid Wales for the first time in 80 years – after suddenly remembering where he stayed.

Les Nabb was sent away to the relative tranquillity of the Radnorshire countryside along with his brother Sid when he was just nine years old upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

Liverpool, with its famed port, was a main target for German bombers during the war and many of the city’s children were smuggled out to more rural parts of the UK in order to keep them safe.

Mr Nabb, now 90, fell in love with his new surroundings, developing an affinity to the idyllic and industrious farm lifestyle and has always yearned to return to the countryside, but with his memory fading over the years he couldn’t quite place where he’d stayed. But several weeks ago he had an epiphany in the middle of the night and remembered the Pugh family, from Nantmel, near Llandrindod Wells, who had taken him in.

While younger brother Sid, who was six at the time, couldn’t quite take to farm life, Les thrived in his untamed yet peaceful new Powys surroundings.

Now, he is preparing for a poignant Powys homecoming with his niece in September and hopes his memory will be stirred. It will be a perfect early birthday present for Les, who turns 91 in October. And he is taking the trip seriously – revealing he and his niece have been learning a new Welsh word every day in preparation.

“September can’t come quickly enough,” said Les, who spent about two years in Radnorshire before returning to Merseyside around the end of 1941.

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Even though he can only remember the head of the household being a Mr Pugh, Les can recall all the names of the four Pugh children vividly, with the whole clan embracing the brothers.

Mr Pugh had four children – Trevor, Blodwyn, Leonard and Miriam. Miriam’s was a name that had eluded Les until his memory was jogged in the middle of the night recently.

“I was absolutely in love with the farm,” said Les, whose brother Sid has since passed away.

“My brother wasn’t the same as me, he wasn’t at all keen on farm life, but I loved every minute of being there. I seemed to take to it from the word go. I loved going out fox hunting and snaring rabbits.

“I remember there being bacon hanging on the sides above the fire and Mr Pugh had the most beautiful horse that I’ve ever seen in my life. Trevor was such a big, friendly guy, maybe in his 20s and he accepted me and my brother without any effort; there was no element of bullying or questions about ‘why are you here?’.”

Les isn’t expecting anyone to remember him when he makes his emotional pilgrimage to Mid Wales, but he is hoping he will remember things and recall memories of a place for which he reserves such affection, even all these decades later.

“Many times over the years I’ve wanted to go down there just to see if I remember things, as my memory is fading pretty quickly,” added Les, who now lives in Bootle on Merseyside.

“I’m looking forward greatly to seeing everyone, not that people will remember me, but hopefully I will remember places. I do try to picture the school we went to but of course there were no cameras then so I have nothing in the shape of photographs.

“Hopefully, I will see things when I come down and it will jog my memory.

“I always remembered where I was but couldn’t remember names. I did remember Blodwyn and Trevor and one night recently I just woke up and said ‘Miriam’.”

Les may just be in for a surprise, however, as someone does indeed remember him. Leonard’s wife, Frances, is still alive and is just a few years younger than Les, at 89.

She has been helping Les’ niece with piecing together her uncle’s past and remembers fondly the two Scouse stowaways.

With the two minor details of remembering Mr Pugh and the names of his children, as well as recalling that it was Nantmel he was evacuated to, Les’ niece took to Google a few months ago to set about finding the needle in a haystack.

However, with just these limited facts and against all odds, she managed to track down the descendants of the family, namely Frances and her children, who still farm locally today.

Another element confusing Les over the years was that he knew he had been evacuated to the Rhymney area, located in the south Wales valleys. However, it turns out the name of the farm he called home for two years was called Upper Rhymney.

The Pughs today own holiday lodges and will be homing Les once again for his September stroll down what he hopes will be a packed memory lane.

The war undoubtedly had a huge impact on the rest of his life as, when he returned home, he later enlisted in the Army. He worked initially with his father as an Albert docks lorry driver, going into plant work later in life after entering the forces at 17. He also worked for the prison service and at Ashworth Hospital before retiring.

If it wasn’t already apparent how much this trip means to him, Les has even taken up learning Welsh.

“In preparation for the trip we’ve been learning a new Welsh word or phrase every day,” he said. “I’ve got them all written down somewhere. My favourite one so far is ‘Nos da’ (‘good night’).”