AN American journalist is seeking help from people in Pontypool to build up a picture of the forgotten black American soldiers based in Torfaen in the 1940s.

Linda Hervieux, a journalist based in Paris, is writing a book about a forgotten unit of black American soldiers.

This unit spent a several months in Pontypool and the surrounding area in late 1943 and early 1944.

She began her search after one member of the unit received the Legion d'Honneur medal in France in 2009.

After this, the journalist began trying to find survivors and tracking their journey from the United States to Britain and then on to France.

She explained that these men were heavily involvedin the D-Day landings, raising the barrage balloons in a protective curtain over Omaha and Utah beaches, while their medics saved scores of dying men.

But before they boarded ships and headed off to war, they spent a few happy months in and around the Pontypool area.

She said: “Local people welcomed them with open arms, often inviting the men to their homes.

"Girls danced with them at the Palais de Danse on Main Street, and the GIs raised pints in the pubs alongside local men.

“Many of the Welshmen sympathised with the black soldiers, who were treated as second-class citizens by the white American soldiers, who often abused them.

“To the black soldiers, the warm welcome they received from the people of Pontypool, Abersychan, New Camp Inn, Griffithstown and other towns and villages was a revelation.

Hundreds of men from the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion and other all-black units boarded a converted British ocean liner in New York and headed for a port in Scotland.

They arrived in Wales not knowing what to expect, and to their surprise and delight they got a memorably warm reception.

Ms Hervieux said: “A medic from the unit who would go on to save many lives on D-Day recalls dancing with the Pontypool postmistress and then raising a glass with her husband when he came home on furlough. One veteran in his 90s remembers being billeted in Trinity Methodist Church, across from the Co-op, and being taken in by a local family, the Priors, and treated like their own son.”

As their memories are incomplete due to the passage of time, this inspired She is now searching for anyone in Torfaen who can recall life during the war, and may be able to help by recalling any information or stories.

She said: “I’m looking for personal stories, or stories related by parents to children and grandchildren. Any details of the soldiers’ living situation, where they danced or blew off steam, is very helpful.

“Did they march through town? Stage concerts? Were there fights with the white soldiers?

"Any of these memories would help me a great deal.”

To contact her, email lindahervieux@yahoo.com