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This story is being told on behalf of Mrs Eileen Roberts by Ann Wedgwood. Mrs Roberts fully understands and abides by the regulations of this site.

It was a sunny morning and our family, mother and father Bassett and my sister Mildred had not gone to Chapel as we were
waiting in trepidation for Mr Chamberlain to speak and of course war was declared. My sister was 30 years old and I was 18. We were quite excited as we did not realise what war was really like. We lived in a lovely quiet town.

We had been going to St John Ambulance for quite a while in case it was needed and as members we were ready to help. Dr Michael was the instructer and was very good. He won the cup for shooting at Bisley when he was younger. He was my patient for pressure points at the top of the arm and he said my grip was perfect.

I volunteered for the Civil Defence and the driving of ambulances locally. I took a driving test and had to learn to drive with no lights or little slit lights in case there were planes around. I was also on duty as a telephonist at the Civil Defence Headquarters (just across the road from us)for three days a week and often put off the air-raid siren. This was on the roof and was bedlam until turned off.

We ambulance drivers (two of us) had to wear trousers. Neither Mrs Milne nor I had done so before. We had to go on a course on repairing and maintaining the engines. We stayed in a beautiful mansion overlooking the River Fal at Trellisick and slept on trestle beds with a blanket over us. We also had to wash at the pump in the yard. Luckily it was a fine weekend.

We had combined practises with the Fire Brigade for emergencies for when the bombs were supposed to have been dropped. The Fire Brigade had to go up to the top of the old mine working ruins near Bassett Mine. Rather them than me! There was plenty of tomato sauce and and we had to take care of broken bones and burns etc.

We did have to go to a real bombing at Coverack once when one lady was blown to bits. We also brought back four patients in the ambulance which was a converted grocery van with four iron poles in the back to strap the stretchers to. Coverack hill is very steep (approximately 1 in 4) and being the heaviest member of the crew was told to stand at the back to make sure that the stretchers did not slip. I did too.

I went down with jaundice a little later. Mother said it was fright. There was a house blown up at Godolphin Cross but there were no survivors. Bombs dropped on Helston, flew across the town and dropped just beside the lake at the bottom of the town.

Believe it or not, Helston's Flora Day legend says that St Michael fought the fiery dragon in the sky and the dragon fell in about the same place and therefore missed the town. Everyone still dances in and out of the houses on the 8th May St Michael's Day.

My sister joined the Wrens and was a PO driver. She saw the men come back from Dunkirk but would not talk about it. She drove everything and one day was taking officers to Scotland when she got stuck on a level crossing. They nearly all jumped out but she managed to shift just in time!

One of her stations was at Brighton, billitted at Rhodene Girls School on the front so she used to say that she went to Rhodene School after that! Eventually it was a home for St Dunstans Blind Men. She was stationed at Southampton and somewhere in Sotland and other places but luckily the bombs did not get her. Her fiance however was killed at Dunkirk.

My parents were on Hayle Towans, a very open sweep of beach, sitting having breakfast when they saw a boat unloading. It was a little army boat full of troops. They were very frightened. It was, however our boys practising coastal landings.

On one occasion when we were on Hayle Towans the sirens went off and a single plane was flying over the sea towards St Ives. Suddenly we saw the bombs dropping on the town. A station and gasometer were hit with many casualties and I was jumping up and down shouting and waving my fists. My aunt lived there, and luckily was safe. One night a bomb dropped on the towans just behind our chalet, but being sand it only made a large hole.

I visited my sister in Brighton one weekend and as my parents had a house there I could get a permit. I forgot it was only for Saturday and Sunday and I went back on the Monday. All was fine at Brighton Station but when I got out at Paddington all passes had to be checked and of course the police picked mine up. I got a real telling off and had to be taken to Bow Street Police Station where I was told I could be imprisoned. They went back through the family history.

My great uncle was in the Queen's Lifeguards (Victoria)and rode by the side of her carriage. He told us that he often 'bummed' her up on her horse when she rode. Disralie was the father of two children of an aunt of mine and my father was in India in the First World War, then sent to Russia - all of them in summer kit. Two nurses were buried at sea outside Vladivostock but the troops survived, eventually going on the Russian Railway in cattle trucks to Siberia. In skirmishes with the enemy they were very lucky. When dad was on guard duty one night he challenged for a password. There was no reply so he shot at the noise (a crack shot) and found he had killed a poor donkey! They did a lot of showing the flag in the border towns of China and in the larger towns, but could not get home until a year after the Great War was over, having sailed pretty well all around the world.

When a Special Constable (during WW2) went into the local police station a German Air Force Officer was brought in. He whipped out a pistol but fortunately the Sergeant managed to jump at him and knock him out cold. The police only had their truncheons at that time.

The Home Guard did actually train with broom handles, rakes, etc in the area. Brave men and resourceful. They lay on the tops of cliffs to push off or blind invaders in a raid scare.

Rations were very difficult. We had a shop and house opposite which had been taken over for a Sergeants' Mess and when they were moved on they passed over bacon, fats and jam, etc which should have been buried. We were very lucky around here.

We had four of the East Yorkshire troops in for a bath and meal once a week and they said they never knew a chicken had four legs! Many of them went to the chapel canteen in the evenings for food and recreation, and a concert once a week on Sundays. We heard later that many of the boys had been killed. Wonderful men. A few married local girls.

When the Americans were billitted in Helston it was much more lively. They had a canteen in shop premises, paid for by the regiment. The cooking was done by local people, volunteers, and doughnuts were a favourite as well as a fry up with eggs done 'sunny side up'. They were not so well behaved as our boys, but had more money, sweets and nylon stockings. Our boys were often passed by in favour of the Yanks.

We had dances twice a week and they all got on together pretty well. We had Polish Airmen out at Predannick Aerodrome so it was a pretty hectic time in the evenings. Lovely dancing though - we loved it. One evening we went to a dance at Porthleven in a jeep, but never again. Coming home I told them the story of the place we were passing through, the bottom of a valley, which in those days Porthleven people would not go through after dark. It was the old hanging site and supposed to be haunted. We only went to Porthleven once as one had to be careful of ones reputation, especially with our boys in town as well.

I liked jitterbugging but also preferred our own dancing style. There were some very good dancers. I had a wonderful dancing partner in the East Yorks, and I later found out he was champion dancer of the Regiment. He wasn't too tall and as I hadn't reached my full height we fitted well together. My sister was also an excellent dancer and had a lovely tall partner, but no giddy goats for either of us!

My sister came home after peace was declared. She was asked to stay on but wanted to be back home. I had married an English soldier - a Pay Corps Corporal and lived in Falmouth. He had been invalided out of the army due to nerves, through too much bombing in London and Exeter. He was a firefighter in Exeter Cathedral at times and finally could not go into an air raid shelter.

Peace was declared and it was a terrific night. All the ships in the harbour sent up their rockets, it was a wonderful sight. Next day we heard the Commander had asked all ships to report what rockets they held! The final peace celebrations were lovely, with outdoor pavement parties, games and dances, but it was an awful finish really with the atom bomb on Japan. It had to be done I suppose. We had very moving church services with many attending. Thank God for peace for a while at least.

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