Clifford's biography is entitled 'G.I. LIMEY: A WELSH AMERICAN'S SECOND WORLD WAR', written by Geraint Thomas, an Evening Post Reporter, is available from Amazon.

G.I. LIMEY - A biography by Geraint Thomas

Clifford Edwin Guard was born in 1923, in the South Wales sea town of Swansea, into a life of abject poverty. By the age of 15 he sought escape through joining the merchant navy and set about exploring the world.

When the Second World War broke out he took part in the Atlantic convoys before joining the US Army after finding himself in New York soon after the Americans entered the war.

Having landed on Omaha Beach, as part of the 3rd Armoured Division, he and his pals spent the next 11 months at the forefront of the battle to push the German Army all the way back to the heart of Germany.

GI Limey is a rags to riches tale of triumph over adversary, a real-life Boy’s Own adventure, laced with friendships forged in the heat of battle that only a soldier can truly understand. With its shockingly honest description of combat, at times brutal to read, you are left in no doubt how death and destruction can haunt a soldier for the rest of their life.

In May 1944 - He also had a leave and visited Swansea before he left for action in Normandy. He remembered 'I got off the train at High Street Station and my brothers and sisters met me.

I was in my uniform and Edwina said, 'You have to be careful in case someone thinks you are impersonating a Yankee soldier'. I told her, 'Not to be so soft.'

I got home and gave mother a hug and unloaded all that food, she was amazed. It was just one night and I had to go back, but it was one of the nicest moments that I remember with my family.

I had discovered that one of my best friends  had been killed in the Swansea Blitz, so I was determined to get my revenge and that's a story which is told in my book, GI Limey.