Perranporth Memorial Hall

The inscriptions briefly describe how these memorials came to be together. The memorial hall seems quite an unlikely place to find these memorials. Facing a car park about 400 yards from the main thoroughfare in Perranporth, it is easy to miss. It is possible to go through the hall and descend to the shops below. Many people seem to do this! Like most halls there were activities going on at the same time. These are the plaques and the inscriptions.

The entrance to the hall is on the left-hand side just below the orange roof

The view from just outside the door,
The door goes down steps and down to the village street.

The left panel, made of slate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF 

PERRANZABULOE PARISH

WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES 

FOR THEIR COUNTRY 

IN THE WORLD WAR 

1914 -1918

W. READ

E. HALL

J. BENNETT

W. SOLOMON

A. HARDING

T. ROBERTS

R. TIPPETT

C. MAY

G. ROBERTS

W. HARVEY

L. STEPHENS

T.ROWLAND

J. MENHENNETT

A. ELEY

T. SALMAON

C. COWLING

C. TREBILCOCK

J. TRESIZE

J. JOHNS

E. KEMPTHORNE

R.MENADUE

J. LITTLE

S. DUST

P. BLEWETT

S.E. MITCHELL

S. WHITFORD

J.H. HARVEY

H. GRIGG

 AIRCREW LOST FLYING FROM 

RAF PERRANPORTH 1941 -1945

19 SQUADRON

SGT A L RIDINGS

SGT E A BLORE

PLT OFF W CIECHANOWSKI

SGT W H SLOAN RNZAF

66 SQUADRON

FLT SGT C A PARSONS

SGT F H M GREEN

W O! D R C MACE

FLT LT D T BAKER

141 SQUADRON

SQN LDR W G JOY AFC

PLT OFF J C SEMPLE

SGT W F AMBLER

SGT A HAIGH

310 CZECH SQUADRON

FLT LT M KREDBA

FLT SGT S HALAMA

FLT LT S ZIMPRICH

340 FREE FRENCH SQUADRON

SGT P TUMMERS

LT ANDRE

LT P BOROSSI

341 FREE FRENCH SQUADRON

CAPT G M LAYEC

SOUS LT R CHEVALIER

SGT CHEF D P E FRY

602 SQUADRON

SGT S SMITH

SGT G S HOLME

SGT H STARZYNSKI  POLAND

FG OFF J C YATES

610 SQUADRON

FLT SGT K HAYES

FG OFF A S BARRIE

FG OFF P J N EVERARD

65 SQUADRON 

FLT LT E W BITMEAD  DFC

SGT C C WATTS

SGT V R SMITH RNZAF

130 SQUADRON

SGT G COX

PLT OFF R WIGINTON

SGT C BRENNAN   RAAF

SGT R FARMER

FG OFF W H HOGGARD

143 SQUADRON

SGT D T RICHIE

FG OFF L L F DE VRYE

234 SQUADRON

FLT J HENDERSON  DFC

317 POLISH SQUADRON

SGT E KOSTANSKI

FG OFF M CIACH

PLT OFF Z MAKOWSKI

412 RCAF SQUADRON

FG OFF L W JONES

WO1 E J V LEVESQUE

FG OFF H E HOLBROOK

453 RAAF SQUADRON 

FLT SGT M F NOLAN

FG OFF H M PARKER

816 FAA SQUADRON

L A D C KEMP

SUB LT E FRETWEL

SUB LT A M JACKSON

3RD OFF T JACKSON WRNS

849  FAA SQUADRON

LT J J NIXON

 130 SQUADRON

SGT A W UTTING

412 SQUADRON

FLT OFF L W POWELL DFC  RCAF

PENHALE TRAINING CAMP - ROYAL ARTILLERY 

IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AS A 

RESULT OF THE BOMBING OF PENHALE CAMP ON 

JULY 7 1940

58 LIGHT ANTI AIRCRAFT REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY

W BLAYLOCK

G C DAVIES

J GILFILLAN

G A GAULD

W T HAMILTON

G HARRISON

C HENRY

A KEENAN

J LITSTER

 W MITCHELL

R MUNRO

J S O'SULLIVAN

H PANTON

J RICE

H SMITH

 D TUMILTY

T B WOODS

ROYAL CORPS OF SIGNALS

A T JONES

W McCOLL JONES

KINGS OWN REGIMENT

T E C EVANS

ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS

S TYRER

J D BRADLEY

Dedication Plaques

IN MEMORY OF

ELIZABETH SOPHIA KNIGHT

WHOSE LEADERSHIP 

ENTHUSIASM AND 

GENEROSITY LED TO THE 

COMPLETION OF THIS WALL

IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF 

CHARLES LESLIE BRYANT 

WHOSE VISION WAS REALIZED 

WHEN THIS HALL WAS OPENED 

ON 20TH APRIL 1957

The right hand section of the panel

IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF 

PERRANZABULOE PARISH

WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES 

FOR THEIR COUNTRY 

IN THE WORLD WAR

1939 - 1945

R. ASHARD

G.B. AUNGIERS

S. BALL

W. BAXTER

W. COLLINS

J. HIGGINS

G. HINGSTON

J.S. HODGE

C. HOUSE

F.J. KEAST

W.C. McCAMERON

A.B. REYNOLDS

H. THOMAS

T.R. THOMAS

D. WATERS

E. WATERS

A.D. WATSON

B.F. WHITESTONE

J.C. WHITFORD

F.J.G. WILLIAMS

H.G. YEOMAN

A.H. CLEAVE

W.A. PARRIS

J.R. HARRISON

There seems to be very little on line about the origins of the hall. Any comments will be most welcome.

Another link relating to the bombing but with a lot more personal information is here

However a link to the BBC article on the Penhale Training Camp Bombing can be found here.

The transcript from the BBC is below:

17 July 2010 Last updated at 14:45

Last Penhale Camp bombing memorial held in Perranporth

The camp was a rest and recuperation centre for those who had survived Dunkirk

A memorial service for 22 military personnel who died when Cornwall was bombed in World War II has been held.

The service marked the 70th anniversary of the Penhale bombing in which the first military personnel were killed in Cornwall.

Four bombs were dropped in 1940 onto the rest and recuperation centre for soldiers who had survived Dunkirk.

Relatives of those affected attended the memorial, which is the final service to be held for the incident.

Commander Ian Hiskip, from the Royal British Legion, said: "The 58th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment had been accommodated in Penhale having suffered some fairly horrific experiences at Dunkirk. 

William Moffatt

 

William Moffatt survived the bombings of Penhale Camp in which 22 men were killed

"A lone German bomber, who we believe was looking for RAF St Eval, stumbled across Penhale Camp and dropped its four bombs.

"Twenty-two soldiers were killed and a number of others were seriously injured."

William Moffatt, who survived the bombings, said: "One of my colleagues, said that 'plane is pretty close', and as he said that 'bang, bang, bang' and that was it.

"We all dived out to see what damage had been done, or if any of the lads had been killed, and they had.

"The following weeks we all slept out on the beach and on the sand dunes because everybody got scared stiff."

Bob Andrew, from the Cornish Aviation Society, who was 10 at the time of the bombing, said: "We didn't know what had been done and we were rather taken a-back that somewhere had been bombed.

"He [Mr Andrew's father] was terribly upset and knew soldiers had been killed, and he went to the church and saw these coffins, he came back with tears streaming from his eyes saying 'those poor boys, they're all dead and in one grave'."

Most of the 22 men who were killed in the incident were buried in Perranporth, but many of their families were unable to attend their funerals because they were based in Scotland, Wales and the north of England.