£600 RAISED FOR MEGAN’S STARR FOUNDATION AS COMMUNITY SPIRIT SHINES THROUGH

A CHARITY football match at the Ogi Bridge Meadow brought together players, businesses, volunteers and supporters from across Pembrokeshire on Friday night, raising more than £600 for a local charity supporting young people and families.

The match saw a Pembrokeshire Select XI take on a Valero Pembroke Refinery XI under the lights at Haverfordwest County AFC’s home ground, with the Select side comfortably winning on the pitch — but organisers said the real victory was the community effort behind the event.

By the end of the evening, an impressive £605.28 had been raised for Megan’s Starr Foundation, a Pembrokeshire charity which supports young people and families facing difficult circumstances.

For Nicola Harteveld and the Megan’s Starr team, the evening was about far more than football.

Speaking after the match, Nicola said: “As the final whistle blew, the score almost became irrelevant.

“Last night was about community, kindness, generosity and what can happen when people come together to support local young people and families.”

She added: “Last night showed the very best of our county. We are incredibly grateful, incredibly proud and above all proud to be Pembrokeshire.”

The charity thanked Valero Pembroke Refinery for nominating Megan’s Starr as the supported cause and fielding a team led by Steve Parks, while also recognising the refinery’s volunteers who helped behind the scenes.

Credit was also paid to Chris “Sully” O’Sullivan and everyone involved with the Pembrokeshire Select XI for organising the county side, along with players from clubs across Pembrokeshire who gave up their time during the close season to take part.

Haverfordwest County AFC opened the Ogi Bridge Meadow for the match, while Pure West Radio helped create the atmosphere and promote the event across the county.

Darth Marty Media captured the evening’s action, while officials from the Pembrokeshire Referees Association volunteered their time to ensure the match was played in the right spirit.

On the field, spectators were treated to an entertaining encounter featuring quality football from both sides despite the summer break.

Jimmy Wilkes proved the star of the show, scoring a hat-trick to earn Man of the Match honours for the Pembrokeshire Select XI.

However, organisers stressed that the event highlighted something far bigger than football — the willingness of Pembrokeshire people to rally together when it matters.

Megan’s Starr Foundation said it receives no core funding and relies heavily on the generosity of local people, businesses and volunteers to continue its work.

Photos: Darth Marty Media / Megan’s Starr Foundation

A COMMUNITY appeal has been issued in Pendine after a serious emergency incident prompted a large response from the emergency services.

The incident happened in the Carmarthenshire coastal village on Saturday, with witnesses reporting that a casualty was transferred from an ambulance to a helicopter in view of the beachfront.

Pendine Community Council has now urged residents and visitors not to share photographs, videos or unverified information online.

Council chair Andrew Shaw said: “Following the emergency incident within the village today, I would like to respectfully ask members of our community to refrain from sharing photographs, videos, or unverified information on social media.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected, along with their families, friends, and everyone involved in responding to the incident.

“At a time like this, privacy, compassion, and respect are especially important.”

Mr Shaw added that people should consider the impact online posts may have on those directly affected, and allow the relevant authorities to provide information where appropriate.

The appeal was echoed by local business owner Julia Rea, of Bistro on the Bay, who said she had witnessed the emergency response from the beachfront.

She said: “Whilst we appreciate people are concerned and interested, what I can’t understand is filming, photos etc.

“I witnessed a large public interest where the injured person was transferred from the ambulance to the helicopter.

“The amount of people filming and photographing what was so sensitive, life-altering and hopefully not final moments of an individual, someone’s family, was awful.

“I hope and pray that sensibility and privacy prevails and nothing is shared online.”

No official details about the nature of the incident, or the condition of the person involved, have yet been released.

The council’s appeal has been widely shared locally, with many residents supporting the call for restraint.

Pendine Sands is a popular visitor destination, and emergency service responses in the area can quickly draw public attention because of the open beachfront and busy public spaces.

The Herald understands the appeal is not intended to restrict legitimate concern, but to remind people that those involved in emergency incidents are entitled to dignity and privacy at one of the most difficult moments of their lives.

Residents are being asked to avoid speculation and wait for any updates from official sources.

Our thoughts are with the person involved, their family, and all emergency personnel who responded.

Forgotten wartime operation saw thousands of troops storm Pembrokeshire beaches in rehearsal for D-Day

LONG before Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, Pembrokeshire witnessed an invasion of its own.

In the summer of 1943, the coastline around Tenby, Saundersfoot, Wiseman’s Bridge and Amroth became the setting for one of Britain’s largest secret military rehearsals of the Second World War — a huge amphibious exercise known as Operation Jantzen.

Today, few outside military history circles know the name. Yet historians believe the operation played an important role in preparing Allied forces for the largest seaborne invasion in history — D-Day.

As the world marks the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy landings, Pembrokeshire’s hidden role in helping shape victory deserves to be remembered.

The county became a military playground

By 1943, Britain was preparing for the eventual liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe. The challenge facing Allied commanders was immense: how could tens of thousands of men, tanks, trucks and supplies be landed on hostile beaches?

The answer was practice — and lots of it.

Military planners needed coastlines that resembled northern France, with beaches, cliffs and sheltered waters suitable for landing exercises. Carmarthen Bay and the south Pembrokeshire coast proved ideal.

Large stretches of coastline were suddenly transformed into military zones.

Local people saw roads crowded with military convoys, camps springing up almost overnight, and beaches sealed off under strict wartime controls.

Troops from Britain, Canada and the United States began arriving in huge numbers.

Operation Jantzen: Pembrokeshire’s secret invasion

Between July 22 and August 5, 1943, thousands of Allied troops rehearsed amphibious warfare under conditions designed to simulate the future invasion of Europe.

Landing craft came ashore at beaches around Tenby, Saundersfoot, Wiseman’s Bridge and Amroth, unloading soldiers, vehicles and equipment.

The scale was enormous.

Military vehicles clogged narrow Pembrokeshire roads. Troops bivouacked in fields. Warships gathered offshore. Aircraft circled overhead. Coastal communities found themselves at the centre of preparations for what would later become Operation Overlord.

Some historians estimate that as many as 100,000 military personnel were involved in the wider exercise and associated build-up, although precise numbers remain debated due to wartime secrecy.

The exercise focused on critical lessons that would later prove essential in Normandy: beach organisation, unloading vehicles under pressure, command structures, logistics, communication and moving men inland quickly after landing.

Put simply, Pembrokeshire became a testing ground for D-Day.

Beaches that looked like France

Military planners selected the area because the coastline bore similarities to sections of northern France.

The long sands, changing tides and varied terrain offered ideal conditions for practising beach assaults.

At Wiseman’s Bridge and Saundersfoot especially, troops learned difficult lessons about bottlenecks, beach exits and moving heavy equipment quickly.

These lessons mattered.

On D-Day itself, delays or confusion on the beaches could mean catastrophe. Tanks, ammunition, fuel and reinforcements needed to land rapidly.

Exercises like Operation Jantzen helped commanders understand what worked — and what did not.

Locals watched history unfolding

For Pembrokeshire residents, the operation was unforgettable.

Children watched endless military traffic. Farmers found soldiers camping on land. Villages suddenly filled with unfamiliar accents and uniforms.

American troops particularly left an impression on local communities.

Many residents remembered soldiers handing out sweets and chewing gum, while local pubs and dance halls briefly became social hubs for young servicemen waiting for deployment.

But wartime secrecy meant few knew exactly what was taking place.

Rumours spread, but people were warned not to ask questions.

The true significance of the operation only became clearer after June 6, 1944, when the tactics practised on Pembrokeshire beaches were seen for real in Normandy.

The road to D-Day began here

When Allied troops stormed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches on D-Day, many of the procedures had already been tested countless times.

Among those rehearsal grounds was Pembrokeshire.

The county’s role was not just symbolic. It was practical.

The beaches of south Pembrokeshire helped train soldiers in how to land under pressure. Milford Haven prepared landing craft. Pembroke Dock’s flying boats protected convoys. Airfields across the county guarded shipping lanes and the western approaches.

Victory in Normandy was built not only on courage, but preparation.

Part of that preparation happened quietly, in a Welsh county far from the front line.

A forgotten chapter of local history

Unlike Normandy, there are few memorials marking Operation Jantzen.

Many Pembrokeshire residents are unaware that their beaches once played host to a rehearsal for one of the most significant military operations ever undertaken.

Yet, without exercises like the one held here, D-Day may have looked very different.

Eighty-two years after the Normandy landings, Pembrokeshire can rightly say it helped prepare the path to liberation.

The invasion of Europe may have begun in France.

But some of the planning — and practice — happened on the sands of Pembrokeshire.