Rolling back the years for heroes (From Barry And District News)

Rolling back the years for heroes

BARRY'S war veterans will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings with Spam and dried egg sandwiches, in a good, old-fashioned knees up.

The RAFA Club, on Porthkerry Road, will be marking the historic day in style.

They are dressing up in second world war costumes and the upstairs function room is being turned into an air raid shelter, complete with sandbags.

Alan Keedwell, of St Paul's Avenue, is on the entertainment committee, along with his wife Carol.

Alan, 46, said: "We're expecting between 80 and 90 people coming to pay tribute to our heroes, Roy Rastin, Keith Mayor and Ray Deakin. All three will definitely be there and we might have one or two others come along."

Even though the party is not until Saturday June 5, the tickets have already sold out.

The entertainment starts at 7.30pm and the soon-to-be revellers plan for it to go on late into the night.

But the survivors of the Normandy battle will not have to put their hand in their pockets at all.

Train driver Alan added: "These three are the stalwarts of the club and they are very popular men. This night is all about giving them a treat."

The committee, which also includes Malcolm Young, John Orton, George Waddell and Roy Clark, has been planning the event since December.

Alan said: "Roy has been itching to get his paintbrushes out since he decorated the club in an Indiana Jones theme for the carnival years ago.

"So he's going to make cardboard cut-outs of military figures and make the function room look like a shelter.

"He's got the two weeks before the party to do it, but only in the nights, because he works as a British Airways engineer through the day.

"We're all looking forward to it - it promises to be a fantastic night."