Two lifetimes and ten thousand memories ago, the two boys in the world famous photo were my fathers best friends. The boy on the right was "The Swede". The boy on the left had a Disney nickname, I think it was "Cricket" after Jiminy Cricket which he got in High School. I do remember my father saying he was never without the hat as it hid the fact his folks were too poor to afford a decent haircut. To see a picture of my Old Man seven years later with the two lads image search Lou Mc Hugh. Find the WWII picture of the sailor posing with the Nanty Glo football team. "The Swede" is standing to my fathers right. The other boy is front row second from right. They were saying good bye to my dad as he shipped out for Atlantic Fleet convoy duty. To verify my dads Depression Nanty Glo credentials, click on the Lou Mc Hugh picture of the sailor in helmet posing next to the naval cannon. See the inscription on the barrell. Nanty-Glo. Now subtract 8 years from a 1943 sailor and you get an eleven year old boy. I met the Swede at my moms funeral in 1988...

Nant Y Glo is Welsh for Coal Valley