thegreatgar

A series of correspondence from a couple of years ago. Sadly there is nothing to remind people about the tragedy that occurred in Peverell Plymouth during World War 2.

I wrote to the Herald last year suggesting they did a 70^th anniversary of its destruction buy German bombing but never got anywhere after some initial interest from Chris Robinson.

Here’s what I wrote to them  ( in italics )

Dear Herald and Chris

I was reminded today by both the articles in the Herald and by seeing workmen digging the ground to lay new sewerage pipes in Central  Park  that on 23^rd April 1941 an air raid shelter, Inverdene,  in Central Park was hit by a German bomb which resulted in many casualties. Ironic, St Georges day….

 I have done some research online but I cannot find much information. Sadly, what I have found refers to people living in Peverell streets such as Lydford Park road , who made their way to the shelters only to be killed by the direct hit from the German bombs whilst their own homes remained largely untouched. Look below at my information about David, Patricia and Winifred Hawkins; children were killed at this site; a family was wiped out..

 Worst of all , and unlike shelters such as Portland Square, there is absolutely no reference to this place, apart from scraps of information online it would seem.

 I am concerned on 2 counts

1. The workmen who are currently digging and laying new pipes may be disturbing a war grave or destroying a site of historical importance.
2. The poor Peverell residents who died at the site have no marker – surely there could be a sign somewhere nearby, telling people that a number of lives were lost nearby ?

 The shelter was just to the Central Park side of Inverdene, South of the Durban Park road junction and about midway along the row of houses there.

 I really do believe that the site SHOULD be marked in some way

Can the Herald help ? It would be amazing to have a plaque or something similar unveiled on 23^rd April 2011 to comemerate those poor people. Since I found out about the site I am uneasy that they are apparently forgotten…

   Below is what I have gleaned from the Internet, the letter was taken from your site.

    Child. Maurice Arthur Creber of 42 Lydford Park Road. Son of John Creber (mother née Moyse) Born in Plymouth in the June Quarter of 1926. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 15

 Olive Eliza Pue

United Kingdom

Initials: O E, Nationality: United Kingdom, Rank: Civilian, Extra Info: Of 6 Inverdene, Peverell. Daughter Of The Late Thomas And Phyllis Parker; Wife Of Robert Pue. Died At Inverdene Shelter

  Park sadness

07:00 – 12-August-2010

 I HAVE just spent a few pleasant days with some friends in my old home town of Plymouth and visited my beloved Central Park for the first time in years. What has happened to it?

 I was born in Lydford Park Road, Peverell in 1934 and spent all my childhood roaming the park.

 This included the war years, and I am probably one of only a handful of people still alive who were rescued from the Inverdene Shelter, which was wrecked on the night of April 21, 1941.

 My maternal grandfather was one of a number killed in that disaster.

 For many years during and after the war, we enjoyed picnics in the park, and played football almost every day in the holidays, when we had to be up early to secure a goal mouth to play in.

 Later, I played cricket for a local side in the Plymouth and District League, mostly one of a number of cricket pitches in Central Park, and good times are recalled at Farm Field, Pellow’s Field — which is now under tons of construction material — and Barn Park, where we could take at least eight runs off a big hit into the pond at the bottom of the field.

 Happy days.

 The children’s playground at the Milehouse end of the park seems to have been “blown away”. This was a heavenly base for younger children, where mothers could keep an eye on us, but my old mum must have been looking the other way one day in 1938, when I fell off a nearby hedge, cut a shin quite badly, and was rushed to the local doctor’s surgery at Wolseley Road to be stitched up. I still have the scars.

 Alas, only memories now remain of those wonderful times we all had in Central Park in those far off days during wartime, and when the peace was young.

 I always understood that the park had been given to all the citizens of Plymouth for their long-term enjoyment, so what right has the Plymouth City Council got to destroy it?

I went to Hyde Park Junior Mixed School 1939-45, Sutton High School for Boys 1945-52.

 BRIAN SEARLE

Weymouth

DAVID HAWKING

Child. David Charles Hawking of 4 Lydford Park Road, Peverell. Son of Albert Edwin George Hawking and Winifred May Hawking (née Patterson). Born in Plymouth  in the June Quarter of 1930. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 10.

PATRICIA HAWKING

Child. Patricia Margaret Hawking of 4 Lydford Road, Peverell Daughter of Albert Edwin George Hawking and Winifred May Hawking (née Patterson). Born in Derby in the June Quarter of 1926. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 15.

WINIFRED HAWKING

Civilian. Winifred May Hawking (née Patterson) of 4 Lydford Road, Peverell. Wife of Albert Edwin George Hawking; mother of David and Patricia (see above). Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 41.

DENNIS MARTIN

Child. Dennis S. L. Martin of Mourne, Inverdene. Son of  Leonard G and Edith E. Martin (née Martin). Born in Plymouth in  the December Quarter of 1928. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 13.

OLIVE PUE

Civilian. Olive Elizabeth Pue (née Parker) of 6 Inverdene, Peverell. Daughter of the late Thomas and Phyllis Parker; wife of Robert Pue. Born in East Stonehouse in the December Quarter of 1892. Died 21 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 49

PERCY HOBBA

Civilian of the ARP Rescue Service. Percy Morcom Hobba of 33 Portland Square. Son of Joseph and Clara Hobba; husband of Vera Elizabeth Hobba. Born in Liskeard in the March Quarter of 1905. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 35.

CHARLES COLLINS

Civilian. Charles Alfred Collins of 28 Lydford Park Road, Peverell. Widower of Augusta Collins (née Brenman). Born in Plymouth in the December Quarter of 1868. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter, Peverell, aged 72

JOHN CUTHBERT

Civilian. John William Cuthbert of 23 Clifton Street. Son of William and Alice Cuthbert; husband of Emily Mary Cuthbert (née Henwood). Born in Plymouth in the March Quarter of 1888. Died 23 April 1941 at Inverdene Air Raid Shelter aged 53.