00:00David Chadwick.
00:03Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
00:05Eighty years ago, when the guns fell silent,
00:07the long and bitter war against tyranny in Europe was over.
00:10Britain's peace was marked not only by celebration,
00:13but by gratitude and reflection on all that had been sacrificed
00:16to make it possible.
00:18Across my constituency of Brecon, Radnor and Kumtawa,
00:20that peace had been fully and faithfully earned,
00:23with courage, with resolve and at great cost.
00:25From every corner of the constituency,
00:27men and women stepped forward to serve.
00:29In the air, at sea, on the front line and at home.
00:32Their names are etched into memorials across our communities,
00:36not only to remind us who they were, but of what they gave.
00:39Brecknickshire, with its long-standing military tradition,
00:42stood as a proud centre of that service.
00:45But the uniform was worn across the constituency,
00:48in the hills of Radnisshire, in the valleys of Kumtawa and beyond.
00:52Among them were those who served with distinction in local regiments,
00:55such as the South Wales Borderers and the Welsh Regiment,
00:58both of which sought action across Europe, North Africa and the Far East.
01:02The Royal Navy also bore our town's name with pride.
01:05HMS Breckn, a Hunt-class destroyer,
01:08served with honour in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean,
01:11carrying the name of Breckn wherever she sailed.
01:14Others served in different ways, but with equal resolve.
01:17In the Swansea Valley, local men were conscripted as bevan boys,
01:23sent into the deep and dangerous scenes of the South Wales coalfield
01:27to mine the coal that powered our fleets and fuelled the wartime economy.
01:31Their work was exhausting and often overlooked, but vital to victory,
01:36and many of them were not released until 1948.
01:39In the fields of my constituency, the rhythms of farming did not cease.
01:43Amid rationing and relentless shortages,
01:46Welsh agricultural workers and the land girls who stood beside them
01:49kept the nation fed.
01:51Across the constituency, women took on vital responsibilities
01:54in munitions factories, in hospitals, in civil defence
01:57and at the heart of their communities.
02:00Their contribution was lasting.
02:03It shaped the peace that followed and the freedoms we live by today.
02:07I was proud to attend the commemorations last Saturday in Ustra-Gunlice,
02:11organised by Jade and the Swansea Valley Armed Forces Club,
02:14where that contribution was honoured.
02:16Let our remembrance be a promise to live up to their example,
02:20to work together for the public good
02:22and never to forget what was given in the hope of a fairer future.
02:25And finally, I'd like to pay tribute to RAF war veteran John Gwynn,
02:29a worthy guest of honour at recent VE Day celebrations in Talgarth,
02:34age 104.
02:36stagft!
02:37Yee, yee, yee.
02:40Yee, yee...
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