大象传媒

Home Guard, Pentwan, Cornwall

Story of Tom Combe recorded by Keith Atkinson.
I was called up on 8th March 1944, to join the Fleet Air Arm, but was immediately sent home again to Pentewan in Cornwall, because of a surplus of air-crew. I had to join the Home Guard at Pentewan where I was brought up, I moved there when I was eleven.
Life in the Home Guard was interesting one night we went out on patrol, it was pitch-dark, we were lead by the Captain and navigated by compass. We walked out in single file towards Black Head, I was at the back and new the coast well, I said, 鈥淚f we carry on this route we will fall in the quarry鈥�, I was told to shut up, this was repeated several times, shortly after the Captain fell into the quarry, but was lucky that he fell onto a ledge. After this I was elected to be at the front with the Captain as I knew the coast so well as had grown up playing there.
Shortly after I joined the Company , cases of Canadian rifles arrived, of First World War vintage, we had to clean them off as they were packed in grease, as we were on the South coast we had rifles but the Home Guard on the North Coast only had pitch-forks.
In St Austell at the time there were two great camps of American Troops they were based at Pentewan with 50 DUKW amphibious vehicles, and a Beach Assault Battalion, there were dances for the Troops, which were called 鈥淲hite Nights鈥� and 鈥淏oogie Nights鈥�.
Pentwan Beach was covered by a mine field of anti tank mines, one of the mine layers was blown up during the laying of the mines, there were Bren guns on traverse to cover the beach, day and night, the legs of the guns were into the ground, with 40 guns covering the whole beach.
One Night an American coming off duty with his Garand M1 rifle failed to clear it, and shot an American Sergeant who was inside a Nissan Hut.
The battalion had a mascot, which was a Racoon, but one night it escaped but was never seen again.
The camp had a big cookhouse, and on the camp they kept 40 pigs which were fattened on the swill, we obtained two ex-arm Dixie cans, well they were ex army when we liberated them, rather than the pigs having all the swill, we took it in to the people living in Pentewan, we never got a thank you only complaints if we missed them out next time. On the road from the beach into Pentewan there was a pillbox and sentry, which we had to pass through, this annoyed the locals
While serving here there was a bad accident on a bend, a American in a Jeep was driving on the wrong side of the road as they do, after all they are American, he had a head on collision with a taxi driver on a bend, unfortunately the taxi driver was killed.
From St Austell to Fowey, in the fields alongside the road there were artillery shells and other munitions stacked, this was on each side of the road and went on for miles and miles.

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