As part of West Yorkshire's events to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Donald Goodge, an ex-coalminer from Huddersfield, has taken a trip down memory lane by visiting the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield.

Watch Ex-'Bevin Boy' Donald Goodge taking a trip down memory lane when he visited the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield You'll need REALPLAYER to watch this)

Donald was a 'Bevin Boy' - a young man called-up to work in coal mines by the Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin. He remembers being sent down the pit at the end of World War Two, but says despite its harshness it made him a better person.

It was dirty and it was dusty and it was miserable! It was not an enjoyable experience at all.

I was hoping to go into the armed forces, but unfortunately we had a shortage of coal in the country, so Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, decided he'd hold a ballot for one in ten conscripts to come down the mine - it was the first raffle in my life that I've ever won!

The coal face used to be called the 'gob'. We got a lot of coal out, but it broke a lot of bodies and spirits.

Donald: "I was so pleased to get out and by the time I did get out, it was early in 1948."

My job was taking trucks away from the coalface. You were on your own and if the pin dropped off the rails you had to find a way of getting it back on. I used to get my backside against it and lift it up.

I couldn't manage it on my own so I had a pit pony called Rex. The day I started at that pit, Rex also started. He and I would stand there and lean on each other so we'd have the warmth of our bodies together and there was a togetherness.

I was so pleased to get out and, by then, the War had been over for quite a while. By the time I did get out it was early in 1948.

Within a few days of me leaving, there was a runaway and Rex was on the end of it and was killed. I was very sad. Having thought about it since, I wondered if he was better working or better dead because the conditions were cruel.

To some extent I've got to be grateful for my life down the pit because it made me more understanding and tolerant of people and now I wouldn't like to think I had a job where I wasn't working with people and trying to help them.

If you or your family have a World War II story to tell, call the BBC Yorkshire People's War line on0845 3004475?

You can find out more about the People's War in West Yorkshire on BBC Look North, weekdays at 1800.