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A US #Military hospital in Gilwern, near Abergavenny, was brought back to life for one weekend only to mark 80 years since soldiers left the quiet Welsh village. They left to assist with post-war efforts on the continent, never to return to Wales.
Transcript
00:00I'm at the Heads of the Valleys training centre in Gilwyn, but not because I'm doing my HGV licence.
00:07That is indeed right. This in fact used to be a US military hospital during the Second World War
00:13with local historian Richard Perkis telling us why he and his group have brought it back to life.
00:18It is 80 years, almost to the week that the Americans left the camp.
00:23It's tucked away, so it's rural, it's not too busy, it's got local infrastructure.
00:31The railways came to Abergavenny, it's not too far to Abergavenny.
00:35The hospital was a specialist site for soldiers requiring skin grafts and amputations,
00:40which makes the transfer of them from Normandy on the eve of D-Day to the south coast,
00:45and then via rail to Abergavenny, then by road to Gilwyn, all the more impressive.
00:50And I'd love to thank the Military Vehicle Trust and the local enthusiasts for letting me come along.
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