COMEDIAN Stan Boardman has talked of the happy times he spent as an evacuee in Wrexham – and the tragedy that engulfed his family after returning to Liverpool.
Stan’s older brother Tommy was killed during the war when the family went back to Liverpool believing their home city had escaped the bombing.
A frequent visitor to Wrexham, he is now giving his enthusiastic support to the growing We Love Wrexham campaign.
He joins the likes of Olympic gold medal winning rower, who comes from Coedpoeth and the popular TV and film actor Ricky Tomlinson, who also lived in Coedpoeth for many years.
Backing for the campaign has also come from TV heart-throb Tim Vincent and the Sky Sports presenter Bryn Law – both of whom were raised in the Wrexham area – along with local MP Ian Lucas and local AM Lesley Griffiths.
The We Love Wrexham campaign has been organised jointly by Town Centre Manager Isobel Watson and Kevin Critchley, the manager of the Eagles Meadow shopping complex.
They want to highlight the fact that Wrexham is a “great place with great people and has a great deal to offer shoppers”.
Stan recently went back to the place he once called home for the first time in the company of his close friend, Neville Dickens, a prominent local businessman.
He said: “I was talking to Nev of a memory I have of the time we were in Wrexham.
“I could remember a bridge and a stream and he said he knew exactly where I meant and took me there,” said Stan.
“I was just two and a half when we were evacuated to Wrexham with my mother in 1940.
“My sister was just a baby and my brother Tommy was six and half.
“I remember my dad in army uniform watching us from the riverbank while we played in the stream.
“My mother must have been in the nursing home at the time because my sister had just been born.
“It was very emotional and I think it must be one of my earliest memories.”
Sadly, the family returned to Liverpool only to be bombed.
“When the bombing didn’t start in Liverpool we returned but then the bombs began to fall.
“We were in the shelter and it was hit. A young girl who I think was our babysitter was killed, she was probably protecting me.
“But Tommy was killed. It was so tragic.
“It wouldn’t have happened if we had stayed in Wrexham.” Stan is a regular visitor to the town and has performed in many of its clubs.
“I feel very fond of Wrexham. I go up there often and go to the clubs and bars.
“I follow Wrexham football club and always look for their results.”