On Wednesday, the children were entertained to dinner and tea. After dinner, the children formed up, and headed by the Silver Band, paraded the village. They were joined by adults, and in the parade were the standards of the British Legion men’s and women’s sections. The children returned to the New Hall for tea, and later, sports were held until dark, when they returned to the Square for dancing and community singing until midnight. Great praise is due to all who helped, to the band for their services, and to those who donated food etc. The officers were: chairman, Mrs. M. Jenkins; vice chairman, Coun. W.J. Payne; treasurer, Mrs. A. Ballard; secretary, Mr. Bryn Davies.

In June 1945, on a Monday, a large number of evacuees returned to London (Hackney and Sheerness)after being at Fochriw for some years. They had become very much attached to the village and people.

During and after WWII, large convoys of trains loaded with soldiers and military equipment such as tanks and guns, made their way through Fochriw from and to the army training ranges in mid Wales and the barracks at Brecon. Substantially smaller convoys returned which contained wounded soldiers, always in blue suits, on their way back home.

Edward Chapman, V.C., B.E.M.   It was with great joy that Fochriw people heard, in July 1945, of the award of the V.C. to Cpl. Edward Chapman of Pontlottyn. The greater part of his schooling was received at Fochriw School. Hundreds from the village joined in his welcome home at Pontlottyn on Sunday. The procession was headed by the Fochriw Silver Band, conducted by Mr. A. Mantle, assisted by Mr. E. Lewis, deputy bandmaster. Link for poem

219 Petrol Depot (P.D.), R.A.S.C

The depot was probably established in the very early years of WWII, possibly in 1940/41, since, from the War Diaries, work on the construction of latrines, various Nissen huts, roadways, plasterboard huts, cookhouse, etc., were being carried out early in 1942.

The depot was manned by the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C), with other work being carried out by a detachment of 247 Coy, Pioneer Corps and 608 Railway Construction Coy. The Royal Engineers (R.Es) Construction Coy attended to carry out repair work and the laying of new sidings.

The depot was situated at the site of the old Fochriw Colliery, on a flat area of about half a mile in length and, following its closure and dismantling in 1923/24, some of the sidings were left in situ in order to facilitate the movement of the coal being produced by the Brithdir Level on the other side of the valley opposite Penybank. The single track rail connections to the joint GW/RR railway at Cwm Bargoed and the Brecon & Merthyr railway at Fochriw Junction also remained in situ.