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This story has been put on the website by 大象传媒 Radio Cornwall Action volunteer, Olivia Davey, on behalf of the author Jean Winnan who understands the site鈥檚 rules and regulations.

Everyone was issued with a gas mask. For babies it was a large incubator like contraption into which the baby was placed. For school children and adults it was a smaller type which fitted over the face in black rubber with Perspex eye piece and a metal snout piece through which we breathed. They had to go with us everywhere, and were worn over the shoulder in leather look cases. I remember mine was in bottle green leather. Regularly school children had to have 鈥渄rills鈥� to see how quickly we could get them on in the event of 鈥渢ear gas鈥� being dropped. I vividly remember one such drill with the whole school down on the green, in Quay Hill Penryn 鈥� now The Bowling Green. Tear gas was given off and we had to get our gas masks on very very quickly. I can still remember the foul smell and the awful stinging sensation on the skin and the smarting of the eyes.
Later the green was bombed and several people including 2 lovely children were killed. A whole row of lovely houses 鈥� which over looked the green, were brought to the ground. That was the saddest night of the war for Penryn 鈥� not only the total devastation of that lovely area, but the loss to the community of so many of its loved and valued members. Little did I know then, that my husband now, was at that time home on leave from the navy, and with his family in one of these houses. Thankfully they were saved.

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