0:00:02 > 0:00:07Actor Charles Dale is on a journey into his family's history in Wales.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Brought up in Tenby, Charles's voyage starts in Pembrokeshire.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16I'm looking forward to getting the answers
0:00:16 > 0:00:21to some questions that have intrigued me for several years.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Charles rose to fame in Coronation Street
0:00:24 > 0:00:28and is currently in the nation's favourite hospital drama, Casualty,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31as Big Mac, the porter.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35I'm very interested in finding out about my grandfather,
0:00:35 > 0:00:37who served in the First World War, as a very young man,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40which I know but that's about the size of it,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44that's about all I know really, so I'm really looking forward to it.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Later in Coming Home...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Charles discovers some new ancestors...
0:00:52 > 0:00:54What did you do with the money? Where's it gone?
0:00:54 > 0:00:57..searches for a man who disappeared...
0:00:57 > 0:01:02He's the first of the bad ones that we found in the Dale closet.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04..and wonders who he's related to.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07All I'm saying is, my uncle Hugh
0:01:07 > 0:01:10had the best afro I've ever seen on a white man.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Charles's journey starts in South Pembrokeshire
0:01:14 > 0:01:17in the seaside parish of Llanstadwell.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22I never knew I had any relatives in this neck of the woods.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25But Charles is in for a surprise
0:01:25 > 0:01:28when he meets genealogist, Mike Churchill-Jones.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31- Would you like to take a seat? - Yes, definitely.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33The tree!
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I've been researching your family tree
0:01:35 > 0:01:39and I'd like to start burn here with you, Charles Thornton Dale,
0:01:39 > 0:01:45born in Tenby, to Laurence Arthur Dale and Edith Marian Hall.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Now, your mother gives you your Welsh roots.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54She was born to Thomas Edward Hall and Beatrice Mary John,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57who actually turn out to be first cousins.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Yes. I knew they were first cousins.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Which at the time, I suppose, was quite something but obviously,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06it was legal, otherwise it would never have happened.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I always knew that and I don't have six fingers on one hand
0:02:09 > 0:02:13or anything strange, so it's all right.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Sadly, Charles's mother died 20 years ago, but he's delighted
0:02:17 > 0:02:21to find that her family, the Halls, come from Pembrokeshire.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Hugh Edward Hall was born in the parish you're in at the moment.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30- Llanstadwell.- So, that's why you're here.- Right.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Hugh Hall and Jane Roch married in this very church
0:02:32 > 0:02:35and this Roch family goes back to circa 1730
0:02:35 > 0:02:39in a village called Walwyn's Castle.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44- Pembrokeshire through and through. - Indeed, indeed.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I've always known that my family was from Pembrokeshire
0:02:47 > 0:02:53but what I've never really known is the extent of Pembrokeshire.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Charles is about to learn more about the Halls from museum curator,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Simon Hancock, who has been poring through the parish records.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07Of course your ancestors, Charles, William Roch and Hugh Hall,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12in their turn, were both members of at the organisation called the Parish Select Vestry.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14In those days, there was no local government.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Everything was administered by the parish, so the men of property,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22you had to be male and you had to be a landowner or a prosperous tradesman, did everything -
0:03:22 > 0:03:26they found people for the militia, they repaired the highways
0:03:26 > 0:03:31and of course, perhaps one of the most important things they did was social welfare.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37So, Hugh Hall would literally collect all the money in cash from all the local landowners
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and then he would disperse it to those who were destitute, ill,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44and basically, people who were unemployed.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47In 1824, on 14th July, Hugh Hall
0:03:47 > 0:03:53refused to hand over the sum of £7 11s 7d,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57which was the balance in cash that he was holding being the parish poor account.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02I think he must have fallen out with the person who succeeded him, a Mr Gwyther.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Mr Gwyther was moaning, saying, I haven't had the money, Mr Hall is holding on to it.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10I think they had to get a couple of magistrates in.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Do we know how it was resolved or where that £7 went?
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I think the £7 was probably soon returned to the Parish Treasury
0:04:16 > 0:04:20because the minutes make no more reference to it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25So, Hugh hall was a rich man of standing in the parish.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29But this is one that I'm sure will be of great interest to you, Charles.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35And Mary... Oh, Jane Hall. Right.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- And of course, Hugh... - Who's her husband.
0:04:38 > 0:04:45- ..outlived her by 10 years, and he died in 1853 and he lived to the ripe old age of 82.- Very good.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- Which was very old in those days. - Very old in those days.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54I'm pleased to see going through the family tree that there's quite a lot of longevity in this family.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- And that augurs well. - I'm hoping. If the heart holds out.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And it shows, of course, the family had money and were people of substance
0:05:01 > 0:05:06because they could afford to erect a very substantial tomb slab like this.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12Hello, sir. What did you do with the money? Where's it gone?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15I never really thought that my ancestors
0:05:15 > 0:05:21would have been anything other than little farmers, things like that possibly.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26So, to know he was sort of running the parish is very interesting.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28It's quite something.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32'We have two cliched versions of landowners, don't we?
0:05:32 > 0:05:34'We have the benevolent,'
0:05:34 > 0:05:38looking after the poor people, giving out alms
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and then you have the money-grabbing, "get off my land" kind of landowner.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47I never know. And also, in the story of Hugh Hall at the moment,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50there appears to be possibilities for two types of people.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Charles is now going to learn about the Dales,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55his father's side of the family.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57You father was born in 1928 and he was born
0:05:57 > 0:06:03to Eric Sydney Charles Dale and Alice Mable Wiggin.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09Charles's grandfather, Eric, was the son of Sydney Alfred Dale.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Sydney Alfred Dale is quite elusive to me at the moment.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18- He gives us his father's name of Samuel Stephen Dale, but that's all I have at the moment.- Right.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21While the trail runs cold on Sydney Alfred Dale,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Charles learns about another paternal ancestor.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- Now, William Fletcher Roberts was a surgeon.- Oh!
0:06:29 > 0:06:34And he was married one, two, three,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37which is your direct line, Eliza, four times.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- Hey, good boy!- Yeah.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43I'm loving this boy already, he's fantastic, he's married four times.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46And he was a surgeon.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Charles is delighted to learn that his great-great-great grandfather
0:06:50 > 0:06:54was a hit with the ladies and an apothecary surgeon.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Dr Alun Withey has been dissecting the records.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01William Fletcher Roberts is a surgeon apothecary in the 19th century
0:07:01 > 0:07:05and he's what we would today think of as a general practitioner, GP.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10They'll minister running repairs, things like lancing boils, sometimes pulling teeth.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15They'll do minor operations but this is before anaesthetics and antiseptics.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19An interesting character, who's been married four times.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21His 4th wife survives him.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25William Fletcher Roberts, in his time as a doctor,
0:07:25 > 0:07:32actually has three partnerships and actually has three partnerships dissolved.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36A letter I have for you to read here relating to a defamation case
0:07:36 > 0:07:41- might help us shed some light on what William Fletcher Roberts was like to work with.- Right.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Eminent surgeon, George Moore, has clearly fallen out
0:07:46 > 0:07:49with his junior partner and accuses him of acting above his station.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51May, 1832.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56"Sir, for some considerable length of time past I, ie, George Moore,
0:07:56 > 0:08:02"have understood that you have been in the habit of giving yourself very unjustifiable airs on my subject.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06"I now warn you to be careful in the extreme how you meddle with me
0:08:06 > 0:08:09"otherwise, my horse whip shall teach you fondness
0:08:09 > 0:08:11"if not the manners of a gentleman.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14"Waiting your wishes I remain yours, etc, George Moore."
0:08:14 > 0:08:16So, he's not a happy bunny!
0:08:16 > 0:08:20No, a partnership gone sour there and it does seem that William
0:08:20 > 0:08:22has out-stayed his welcome in the partnership
0:08:22 > 0:08:29and might help us shed light on the reasons why two other partnerships as well as this were dissolved.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34And according to this letter, he was a name-dropping arse, really.
0:08:34 > 0:08:41It does seem that he was what my other grandfather used to call "fly".
0:08:41 > 0:08:44He was a bit fly, a bit up himself
0:08:44 > 0:08:49and are not averse to a bit of self-promotion.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53While Charles has been learning about the wayward doctor,
0:08:53 > 0:09:00genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones has been pursuing the trail of the mysterious Sydney Alfred Dale.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Do you recall from our earlier tree reading,
0:09:02 > 0:09:08I was telling you about your great-grandfather, Sydney Alfred Dale?
0:09:08 > 0:09:10- Yes, mysterious Sydney. - Very elusive man.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14This is his marriage certificate in 1895 to Evelyn Breakspeare.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19Sydney Alfred Dale, age 22, bachelor, piano forte tuner -
0:09:19 > 0:09:22oh, family history - carriage proprietor.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Indeed. So, he's basically elusive.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28I've realised why - he's changed his name.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- Ah!- He's still a Dale
0:09:32 > 0:09:37but if you have a look here, this is an 1891 census listing.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40The guy at the top is Samuel.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43There's a man there called Abel Dale.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46He's 16 years old and he's a...
0:09:46 > 0:09:48..piano forte tuner.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53OK. So, that's him. He was born in 1875.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57- Right.- He's lied about his year of birth on the marriage certificate.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00So why did he change his name and lie about his age?
0:10:00 > 0:10:04- Couldn't tell you at all. - He's a bit dodgy, obviously. I'm liking him already.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- Good, good.- And he was a piano tuner.- He was indeed.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- As was my grandfather, as was my father.- Indeed.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- He's married Evelyn in 1895.- Right.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19They've had two children, your grandfather Eric and his sister, Doris.
0:10:19 > 0:10:27And some time before 1901, he's left his wife and his two children.
0:10:27 > 0:10:34Mike Churchill-Jones has been talking to the family and a letter has come to light.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39- So, he's changed his name and now he's done a runner from his missus. - He's done a runner from missus.- OK.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44What we have here is this transcribed letter
0:10:44 > 0:10:48that Evelyn wrote to Syd.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52"Dear Syd, why when you do not want me should you ask me to return and why this cruelty?
0:10:52 > 0:10:55"I cannot imagine.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59"You could refuse this woman, whom you say is a terror and a devil.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02"She has no claim on you and don't prevaricate."
0:11:02 > 0:11:04That's a family trait!
0:11:04 > 0:11:10"I have not refused to return. I asked what was only reasonable - for time.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16"I have told you and I tell you again, for the last time, that I will not divorce you."
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Go, girl!
0:11:18 > 0:11:24"Well, you have chosen goodbye and in the long, lonely years, spare a kind thought in friendship.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27"Yours sincerely, Evelyn." Bless her.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30- He's run off with someone else. - He has.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The next time we manage to pick up Sydney, Abel,
0:11:33 > 0:11:40whatever you want to call the man, is he goes off to Australia in 1913.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- This is the name of the boat.- Orama.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48- Where is he on there?- There's his name there.- Sydney Alfred Dale.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53- Off to Australia.- Indeed.- Very good, how's that? Very interesting.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55The last thing I can really offer you,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00we're looking at an electoral roll in 1914 for Victoria, New South Wales.
0:12:00 > 0:12:08- If you come down to there... Dale, Sydney Alfred, Heidelberg... - Road, I think it is.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- Ivanhoe. Traveller. - Described as a traveller.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Interesting. So there you are, Syd.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And he's only, what, 39 years of age?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20- Very frustrating.- Very frustrating.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- So maybe he's changed it again. - Maybe he's changed it again - Abel! - Abel!
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- He was obviously a bit able, wasn't he?- Indeed he was.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Here, the trail really does go cold on Sydney Alfred Dale.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36I think the letter from Evelyn is lovely, because right at the end of it,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40she just basically says, don't be horrible to me, don't do this to me, it's not fair
0:12:40 > 0:12:45and then she says, but I hope you'll be all right and basically, ever your friend.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50It's an extraordinary thing for somebody to do who's been treated that appallingly.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55He's the first of the bad ones that we found in the Dale closet.
0:12:55 > 0:13:01I've always felt that the Dales have something of the dark side about them.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07I think as an actor it's always been useful to kind of draw on that dark side.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The Dales are quite acerbic, they're quite ruthless,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15they're quite sarcastic, they can be, and usually it's done with love
0:13:15 > 0:13:18but occasionally, it comes out the other way.
0:13:18 > 0:13:24As I say, it's very useful to have that kind of thing to draw on as an actor,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28because occasionally, you will come across those people
0:13:28 > 0:13:34that are through and through bad and I always rather enjoy that.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40Smashing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Now that could seriously damage your health.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Another Dale that Charles is curious about is Sydney's son,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Charles's grandfather, Eric.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05I'd like to find out more about Eric's war service, I think. I know very little.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10I know he was a gunner and I know he fought during the First World War.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16There's a sort of family rumour about some kind of decoration but nobody really knows the whole thing.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18He didn't generally talk about it.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23But Mike Churchill-Jones has opened Eric Dale's war record.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27He volunteered. He went to the territorial office in Kidderminster in 1915
0:14:27 > 0:14:32and he volunteered and they put him in the 2nd South Midland brigade.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36That regiment, one of the battles it was in was the Battle of the Somme.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41On 9th July, Eric was sent on a signalling course, till the 22nd.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44While he was away, this occurred.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47The 2nd South Midland Division.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53The first major action in which the Division was engaged turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58An attack was made on 19th July 1916 at Fromelles.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02The division suffered very heavy casualties for no significant gain
0:15:02 > 0:15:06and no enemy reserves were diverted from the Somme.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Such was the damage to the division and its reputation
0:15:09 > 0:15:14that it was not used again, other than for holding trenches, until 1917.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18- So it was a disaster. - Absolutely was. - But he was on a course at the time.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23- Wasn't his fault!- No, not his fault. Glad he wasn't there. Gosh.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27It's a strange feeling because I've read quite a lot of military history
0:15:27 > 0:15:30about the First World War and while I would,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34from my perspective, I would say he's one of the luckiest men in the world,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38I'm sure from his perspective, he felt otherwise because all his mates
0:15:38 > 0:15:42would have been there and they would have died and he would have been...
0:15:42 > 0:15:46A lot died and I think it would have affected the rest of the unit a great deal.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50There's one more thing I can show you - his conduct sheet.
0:15:50 > 0:15:56Absent from 9am Parade until 9:15am. 15 minutes!
0:15:56 > 0:16:02- Deprived three days' pay. 15 minutes. That's it.- That's it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07That's all he did, all through the First World War, and he got docked Three days' pay.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10So, my conclusion there is,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14yes, he won his medals and he was a brave man in that respect
0:16:14 > 0:16:19- but there's no distinguished service. - There's no distinguished service.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22But these are Eric Dale's actual service medals.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27I really don't think...
0:16:27 > 0:16:33It doesn't matter, because if the regiment was used again in 1917,
0:16:33 > 0:16:38that would have still been another year till the end of the war
0:16:38 > 0:16:41so he still would have seen the most extraordinary things
0:16:41 > 0:16:47and to come out of that the other side is still a fairly phenomenal thing to do.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53The Great War for Civilisation.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59My grandfather could be quite... He could be quite a cold man.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02He was quite... I don't know if the right word is stentorious,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05he was quite strict, almost Victorian sometimes.
0:17:05 > 0:17:13Um, and...finding out about Fromelles, I think,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18being sent home just before the Battle of the Somme,
0:17:18 > 0:17:22to come back to find all your mates are dead,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27I think that's probably going to fill him full of what we would call now survivor's guilt
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and you can't go through those things,
0:17:29 > 0:17:35both the survival and the horror of what was a truly awful and terrible war,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39without being deeply, deeply affected by it.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45Eric moved to Tenby after the First World War to work as a piano tuner.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50He married Mabel in 1924 and presumed his military days were over.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55For Charles, there's another relative that has always intrigued him.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59One of the things I'm very keen to find out about is
0:17:59 > 0:18:04in this old family album, there is this gentleman here.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07And we need to find out
0:18:07 > 0:18:10whether he was a visitor
0:18:10 > 0:18:12or a member of the family.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16And I don't know, but all I'm saying is,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20my Uncle Huw had the best Afro I've ever seen on a white man.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22So...
0:18:22 > 0:18:25If genealogy can't make the connection,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27there may be something that can -
0:18:27 > 0:18:29DNA.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33This tiny sample will be enough to identify Charles' ancestry.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38It's sent to Oxford University for analysis.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42This swab can reveal Charles'
0:18:42 > 0:18:44exact ancestral make-up.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49After volunteering for duty in World War I,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Charles' grandfather, Eric Dale, was too old for active service
0:18:52 > 0:18:54during World War II.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58But the war came to Tenby, and veteran John Tipton remembers.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00- How are you, sir?- I'm fine, thanks.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- I've come down here to tell you something about World War II in Tenby.- Ah, lovely.- Yes.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09- And really about an exercise called Exercise Jantzen.- Mm-hm.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Operation Jantzen was in preparation for the D-Day landings.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17The plot was to land two divisions of 16,000 men
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and maintain them for 14 days.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Tenby was the take-off point,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26- so the harbour here was full of landing craft.- Yep.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29And Tenby itself was closed down.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34There was censorship of mail and nobody was allowed in and out.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37While all this excitement was going on,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40your grandfather was in the Home Guard.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42And what did the Home Guard do?
0:19:42 > 0:19:46For example, one of the things they did was to make little attacks
0:19:46 > 0:19:51on the troops that were on the beaches, merely to keep them alert.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And I think the Home Guard probably did quite a few things
0:19:54 > 0:19:57to do with the organisation
0:19:57 > 0:20:00- of this closed-down, secretive Tenby.- Yep.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03And in fact, I've got something here to show you...
0:20:04 > 0:20:09..to indicate that your grandfather was not only there
0:20:09 > 0:20:11but was quite important.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12"Dear Lieutenant Dale,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"it was principally due to your organising and hard work
0:20:15 > 0:20:17"that this sub-district was able
0:20:17 > 0:20:20"to build up a workable system of communication
0:20:20 > 0:20:22"that was..."
0:20:22 > 0:20:25something, "by D-Day.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29"This was not an easy achievement considering the difficulties
0:20:29 > 0:20:30"which had to be overcome."
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- Had you ever seen that before? - No, never.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36By this time, the Home Guard was really very efficient.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38- There's no Dad's Army about it at all!- No, no, no.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40And they were not called upon
0:20:40 > 0:20:43but they made a very good account of themselves.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Of course, absolutely.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Charles is proud of his grandfather's contribution
0:20:48 > 0:20:49during World War II,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51and is about to discover more.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54A few miles from Tenby, volunteers have restored
0:20:54 > 0:20:59former RAF Carew Cheriton Airfield to its original state.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02John Brock has news for Charles.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05- Hello, sir.- Charles! How good to see you!- How are you?- Good to see you.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Pembrokeshire played a vital role in the coastal defence of Britain.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Pembrokeshire, you see, had to have nine airfields
0:21:12 > 0:21:16and their main job was to cover the convoys
0:21:16 > 0:21:19coming into Milford Haven and Liverpool.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23I was 13 when war broke out here.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28I well remember them practising, the Home Guard, here.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30And as youngsters, we used to laugh about
0:21:30 > 0:21:33because originally they didn't have any uniform
0:21:33 > 0:21:36but they had on their arms this LDV,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39because they were called Local Defence Volunteers.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43And as boys we were very cheeky because we used to call them
0:21:43 > 0:21:45the "Look, Duck and Vanish".
0:21:45 > 0:21:47We used to watch them in the evenings practising.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51They were great people because a lot of them were old or very young.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- We never shot any German aircraft down here.- No.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58But I know that when there were some of the raids here,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02that the Home Guards took pot-shots at them to see if they could bring them down.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06October 12th, 1941.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10German bombers dropped four bombs on Tenby.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Several houses were damaged.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Charles' grandfather, Eric, made his way into No.1 Queen's Parade.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Putting his own life at risk,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21he managed to bring out Mrs Annie Thomas.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Sadly she was already dead.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30John Brock has some documents which Charles has never seen before.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32"Dear Sir,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36"my committee wishes to bring to the notice of the powers that be
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"what they might consider very brave conduct
0:22:39 > 0:22:42"on the part of one of their members after a recent air raid here,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46"who worked immediately among the debris of the bombed house
0:22:46 > 0:22:48"where he knew someone was buried,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51"and actually found the person although dead."
0:22:51 > 0:22:55And that was from the British Legion. Isn't that wonderful.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59I knew that there was a bomb in Tenby which did kill the lady
0:22:59 > 0:23:04but I had no idea that Eric was one of the people that pulled her out,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08so that's completely new and it's sort of nice in a way,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11because after all the revelations about the First World War,
0:23:11 > 0:23:16to know that he would've been able to feel like he was doing something that was worthwhile,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18having missed out on the Somme and things like that.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22So that's very pleasing, it's very nice.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25When you listen to stories from people who were there,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27it just brings it home, really, you know,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30how fortunate we are that we've never gone through it.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33You've just got to be very grateful to them, really. Look after them.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36These stories have challenged
0:23:36 > 0:23:39some of Charles' ideas about his grandfather.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42He would dearly love to be able to speak to Eric now
0:23:42 > 0:23:45but Eric died aged 90 in 1987.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49But Charles' father, Laurie, is very much alive,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and Charles is keen to share what he's found out.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- I knew about the bomb that dropped... - Yes.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58..but I never knew that Grandpa Dale was the guy that pulled
0:23:58 > 0:24:02- Mrs Thomas out...- Mrs Thomas out, yeah.- I never new about that.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05But I just wondered, they showed me this today,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07and I just wondered whether you'd ever seen that?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14- No! Well, at least if I had, I'd don't remember it, you know.- Yeah.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17- Oh, that's lovely.- It's the letter from King George.- Yeah.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20But where were you that night when the bomb went off?
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- In an air raid shelter...- Right. - ..which we had in the garden.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- What, on St John's?- Yes. - Ah-ha, right!
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It was a very primitive thing
0:24:28 > 0:24:31with a sort of corrugate iron roof covered with earth,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36and it was all leaking with water so we sat there with water up to our ankles.
0:24:36 > 0:24:37Right, yeah.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41See, I remember when I was young,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43I always used to try and ask him about stuff
0:24:43 > 0:24:46and he would always deflect it and he would never...
0:24:46 > 0:24:48- No.- Did he ever say anything to you?
0:24:48 > 0:24:50He never did. He was a sort of private man.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52But of course, his mother,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55her husband left her with these two children
0:24:55 > 0:24:58and she had him fostered out to these friends of hers
0:24:58 > 0:25:01who were very Victorian and very strict.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And I think maybe that's what made him the way he was.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09I think what I've learnt about Eric has been very interesting
0:25:09 > 0:25:12because he was not always an easy man by any stretch of the imagination.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Not a sort of cuddly grandfather type.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18But when you see all the things that he's been through,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22that's going to form you, especially at that young age.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27So maybe I feel a little bit more kindly disposed towards him...
0:25:27 > 0:25:32because nobody'll ever know the things that he saw and what he went through, really.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Except people who were there, and there aren't many of those left.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Charles was brought up in Tenby and his sister Linzi still lives here.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Er, Mrs Haverson?
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Charles is almost at the end of his journey.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Good morning! Fine, thank you. How are you?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52- There's a bit of a surprise! - It is. Come on through...
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Linzi has something for her brother.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Right, what's this, then?
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Well, this has come for you, so I know not what.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03All right, let's have a look. Let's see what they've sent me this time.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06A surprise... Ah, right, I know what this is.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09THIS will be the DNA results, a summary.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15"Both the maternal and paternal ancestral lines are early "Northern European",
0:26:15 > 0:26:20right, "with a high concentration of Celtic ancestry only.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26"Your DNA sequence shows you to be a direct maternal descendant of Xenia,"
0:26:26 > 0:26:28the Warrior Princess, perhaps,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32"and a paternal descendant of Oisin, Celt."
0:26:32 > 0:26:35So, Celt, Celt, Celt
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- with a bit of Norse Viking.- OK.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Oh, is it...
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Yep, little bit of Norse Viking.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46- And a little bit of Anglo-Saxon. 95.9% Celt...- Woo!
0:26:46 > 0:26:48..which, sadly...
0:26:48 > 0:26:51removes any connection to this gentleman here.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Some in the album are famous and nothing to do with the family.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57So it's possible this gentleman might have been
0:26:57 > 0:26:59a visiting preacher...
0:26:59 > 0:27:04- That would make sense...- ..and in those days pastors were famous people.- Yeah, very highly thought of.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Brilliant. Oh, well. There we are.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09So we're Vikings, Linz, but very Welsh Vikings.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- Yeah, well, that's good to know! - HE LAUGHS
0:27:11 > 0:27:15While I'm very happy to be related to a warrior princess,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18and I think I'd look very fetching in buck skin, er...
0:27:18 > 0:27:22No, seriously! Er... I'm very pleased.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26I'm pure Celt, which is great and I've always liked that,
0:27:26 > 0:27:27with a bit of Viking thrown in,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31which perhaps explains some of my drinking habits in the past.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33With his journey over,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36how does Charles feel about coming home?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'I'm always glad when I come home.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44'I've made some of the best decisions in my life sat on this rock.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47'It's a place where I can come
0:27:47 > 0:27:50'and have a bit of peace and quiet to think.'
0:27:50 > 0:27:53How does he feel about his Welsh ancestry?
0:27:53 > 0:27:56I hear people say that they're proud to be Welsh.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Well, to me, that's like saying I'm proud to be a man.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01I AM Welsh.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04There's nothing I would change about that.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06I love what Welshness gives me -
0:28:06 > 0:28:11my passion, my fire, my lyricism... Erm...
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Just everything I am, you know, and those are all fantastic Welsh qualities.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22I'm really pleased to see that solid Pembrokeshire line
0:28:22 > 0:28:24going back through and down...
0:28:27 > 0:28:30..because that's what I am.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I'm a Pembrokeshire boy, that's what we'll say.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Pembrokeshire-through-and-through boy.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:43 > 0:28:46E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk