Tragic Accident

This story has been written onto the BBC People’s War site by Cornwall CSV Storygatherer, Martine Knight, on behalf of Delores Banks. Her story was given to the Trebah WW2 Video Archive, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2004. The Trebah Garden Trust understands the terms and conditions of the site.

I lived opposite Falmouth docks, in Marine Crescent.
My older sister became friendly with an American serviceman whom she invited home to tea one day. Our family watched in horror as he put the whole week’s butter ration (2oz) on one piece of bread! As he was a guest we couldn’t say anything and just had to go without for the rest of the week.

After one air raid a bomb landed right outside the family home. It didn’t explode, but left a huge crater that, in turn, caused a fatal accident when a jeep carrying four servicemen went straight into it. Only the driver survived and he was so shocked that he handed me his revolver saying, “I’ll be back for it”.
He did later return for it, but the image has stayed with me to this day.

Embarkation had to be delayed for a day, due to bad weather, and the troops were stuck, fully equipped, where they were in Falmouth. My mother, who was in the WRNS, tasked my sister and I to look after the soldiers nearby and make them coffee from her hoarded store.
I got the feeling that the troops just wanted to get on and ‘do the job’.

VIDEO DETAILS CWS180804 16:56:30 — 17:18:0

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.