I was talking to aphotographer whowas shooting scenes for aproposed book. Hehad been to various beauty spots in Pembrokeshire butwould not be returningalone tothe Preseli Mountains. One year, just after asnowfall, he went up to capturethestillness and isolation of the region.There wasno other living soul around and that was the trouble. He felt spooked.

Drive from Eglwyswrw, over the mountains to Haverfordwest when the moon is full, and you will sense something other worldly.

I was thinking of this today and remembering a plane thatcrashed in the Preselis on 19th September, 1944. The plane was a Liberator EV881, number 547 squadron, Coastal Command. It had a nine man crew, six of whom were killed. Each year a service is conducted on Carn Bria, the site of the crash, anda plaquehonours the memory of the dead.

Not only thespirits of humans return toa place, but that of animals, too.A brown dog haunts RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Itis said to have belonged to the leader of theDambusters squadron, Wing Commander Guy Gibson.

A large part of the C20th has been about remembering those who fought for us.A friend, now dead, attendedPrendergast Junior School, Haverfordwest,during the 1920's. The children marched down to the Cenotaph for a service each November 11 and the teachers who had fought in the Great War wore their uniforms that day.

In the Model School, Carmarthen, which I attended in the late 1940's, there was a plaque in one of the classrooms with the names of 'old boys' who were killed in World War 11. Each class had to march past the'memorial' and salute.

Following this service in school, one night Ithought of the horrors of war and couldn't sleep. My mother, to cheer me up, showed me the doll I was having for Christmas. It was just a quick look, but I went back to sleep again.