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This story was entered onto the Peoples War site by Rod Sutton on behalf of William Richardson with his full permission. He fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

Having spent my early childhood in Par, overlooking the beach where my parents and I lived, I recall having seen the Motor Fishing Vessels being launched from the shipyard at High Tide. This went on throughout the war years.

We had a number of personnel billeted with us viz. 2 A.T.S, 2 soldiers, 2 Land Army girls, an evacuee boy from Plymouth and a boy from Bristol. Our only spare bedroom had been home to these people who did not stay long, and were fed by my mother, at odd times of the day.

Various bombing incidents are listed in ‘When Bombs Fell’ by Mrs P. M. Rowe and Ivan Rabey. ISBN 0 9500 235 5 8.
I saw results of bombing on Par Harbour, where the blast blew feathers off chicken at Spit Cottages, which resulted in them running around naked. Par Moor clay dry was hit, and council houses at Tywardeath.

Just prior to D-Day the area was teeming with Americans, and I saw a landing pontoon laid from Par Beach into the bay to practice beach landing nearly swept away on Boxing Day 1943 until a small boat towed it to the safety of the harbour.

An American truck was backed down the slip at Whitehouse, Fowey, and the driver got out without setting the handbrake. As a result the truck ran into a woman sitting on the lighthouse wall. My mother took me away from the scene so I was spared the sight of the injuries.

V.E. Day came, school was closed for the day, and I recall the street lights being switched back on.

At the very start of the war I remember going to the beach, with a horse and cart, to remove our beach hut, along with many others, having had 24 hours notice to clear the whole area prior to mines being laid and tank traps set, with what seemed liked miles of scaffold barriers, as the beach would have been an ideal landing ground for invading forces, had they come. At the end of the war the Americans cleared the obstructions and bulldozed the whole length of the beach and slowly it returned to normality.

Many nights were spent in our air raid shelter during the war, situated in the back garden. As soon as the siren sounded the rush was on to get into the steel braced pre-cast concrete single room. This was fitted with all the various items thought necessary to survive some days, if ever the bungalow was destroyed, which thank goodness never happened.

Many times we watched our bombers setting off on night raids over Germany, and listening to the news reports next day as to where they attacked and the results.

During the time that the Americans were occupying the Carlyon Bay beach buildings, they brought D.U.K.W.S. across to Polkerris and gave rides to people on the beach until an officer arrived on the scene and gave the drivers a ticking off, which spoiled the fun!

To this day a house at the bottom of Rose Hill, St Blazey, bears the scar of a bomb which fell on the opposite side of the road, the blast from which, blew the roof off, and was replaced with a corrugated one.

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