Eighty years ago this month (May 2021), Penryn was the scene of tragedy and devastation on an epic scale as the town suffered one of Cornwall’s most lethal bombing raids in the Second World War.
Eighteen people were killed, many more died later from their injuries and buildings in the Borough were reduced to rubble.
On the 30thanniversary of probably the deadliest event in the proud town’s long history, I spoke to several of the survivors and the man who led the local fire brigade’s response.
Mrs Sadie Jennings told me: “The bombs dropped at about one o’clock in the morning. They dropped five sticks in all, and one fell on the corner of our front garden at 10 The Green. A second dropped at the top of Quay Hill, a third on The Square and two more on Norman Dale’s fields.”
Mrs Jennings said it was usual for her family to go down to the air raid shelter, but they didn’t go on that night as her three-year-old son Terry (later to be a Penryn town councillor) had been ill with bronchitis.
She recalled: “We heard the whistling and then the house came down on top of us. We didn’t have time to be frightened. There was my father, my brother, my husband, Terry and myself in the house.
“As soon as we realised what had happened, we heard people trying to dig us out. We are lucky to be here as it could have been much worse. It was the beams that saved our lives.
“My father had his arm badly injured, but Mrs Violet Blank, who lived opposite in Mill Lane, saved his life by giving him aid before he went to hospital.”
Mrs Ida Lobb, who was living in Dunvegan Road, had four members of her family killed in the raid. She recalled the sound of the bombs dropping and initially thought they had fallen on Mabe.
Accompanied by her young daughter, she walked down into the town to see if there had been any damage. She found ARP (Air Raid Precaution) workers desperately trying to rescue people from damaged buildings. She called out to them: “Is The Green all right?”
In response, there was a deadly hush. Then one of the men recognised her and said: “Far from all right.”
Mrs Lobb’s mother’s house at 3 The Green, where her sister, niece and brother-in-law also lived, had suffered a direct hit and all its occupants were killed.
“All that remained of the house was a kitchen chair and a few pieces of crockery,” said Mrs Lobb. “It was grim and life stopped for a couple of years.”
Harold Curgenven, chief of Penryn Fire Brigade, said: “We found the streets crowded with people who were digging in the rubble to try and find the survivors.
“I went down to the bombed area with 13 other local firemen and we dealt with two small fires that resulted from the bombing. Some of the firemen returned to the fire station in case of another alarm, while others remained to assist the air raid wardens recovering bodies from damaged buildings.
“It was a terrible thing to happen to a small town.”
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