大象传媒

I was about 6 years of age and was playing on Porthminster Beach with my sister and Mother. I cannot recall the exact date or year. Some friends of a similar age were swimming off the raft just offshore with their father who was an RAF pilot on leave. They were staying at a hotel just up from the beach.

It was a fine day as I dug around in the sand when suddenly we heard an aircraft coming in low from our right I looked up and saw a bomber with a transparent nose in which I could clearly see the crew member. The aircraft was no more than about 100ft just above the shoreline. Suddenly we heard the sound of machine gun fire and the sand and water were raked with bullets. I thought this very exciting but my mother panicked and grabbed both myself and my sister and drgged us up the beach to the station wall where we crouched for a while. The aircraft had gone. I think I remember a hurricane or something pursuing the bomber but am not sure. I can still see in my mind the clear picture of the German bomber over the beach. We learned afterwards that the gas works at Porthmeor was bombed. On returning to the hotel we found lobsters crawling about in the flower beds. The cook must have run for shelter as he was unpacking the shellfish. The hotel could only serve cold food as they relied on gas for their kitchen fuel.

I would be interested to hear of anyone else who was in St.Ives that day. I understand that there were no fatalities although I believe a bus on the Malakoff had it's windows shattered and someone was cut by flying glass. I am also led to believe that my friends on the raft escaped when their father made them lie flat and that the raft was penetrated by some bullets.

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