Cornwall At War Museum

Unfortunately, Marlene, our trusty electric bus won't be doing any Airfield Tours this year as the the social distance cannot be kept for the passengers onboard. This will be disappointing for the many of our visitors last year who were wanting to go on one of the tours this year.  Hopefully by July next year things will be back to normal and the airfield tours can resume. The remains of the airfield, runways and dilapidated buildings, are on free to roam land so you can park your car and walk the site. On a clear day - we do get some in Cornwall - if you climb up the stairs of the control building you can get some good photos of the two tors, Brown Willy and Rough Tor, which provide a good back drop. The two tors were used as navigation points during WWII.

Steve and Sheila are pleased to say that the museum is now open for the 2020 season. As you'll understand there are restrictions in place and these must be strictly adhered to. During the lockdown the volunteers kept working, at a safe social distance of course, and much has been achieved due to the extra months of work time being available. There are many new items and displays all waiting for you to pay a visit. Markers, arrows, hand sanitisers and signs are throughout the museum. Because of the way that the museum is laid out there should be minimum inconvenience for visitors. PLEASE NOTE when you visit it is crucial that the social distance of 6ft with the volunteers and other visitors is kept to. It's imperative that none of us are in the situation that could compromise us if a visitor could be incubating the virus  and later test positive for it. Other than that please enjoy your visit with us. PS. The comments system for this blog has been updated and can ...

By now the museum would normally be open, especially for the Easter Holidays. But like the rest of the world the U.K has been hit with the Coronavirus. To keep within the new rules and regulations the museum cannot open now and will remain shut until the laws change. We hope that all of you stay safe and we can see you in happier times.

I won't be going up to the museum during it's winter shut down this year so the blog will be taking a break until March 2020.                                                                                                                             As soon as it's getting near to the new season the blog will begin again.                                                 From everyone at the museum we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Recently the museum hosted part of the Somerset & Devon Road Runs beautiful, classic lorries. The day was overcast but it didn't diminish the sight of all those lorries polished up and gleaming. Thank you Les for the photos.

This Thursday saw the last airfield tour of the 2019 season.  As always the tours have been extremely popular. It's not too early to book for the tours next year now. Ring the museum mobile number and your booking will be put in the diary. As always the tours will be on a Thursday afternoon only, with the seats going to the first 10 people who book up. The museum will revert to being open Tuesdays to Saturdays inclusive from the beginning of October, with the exception being the last week of October which is the schools half term. After that the museum will be closed until next year. Steve begins his airfield talk. Looking over at the ruins of the old buildings. In the remains of the control tower. The last group of 2019.

The museum is lucky to have an original Stanton Air Raid Shelter within the grounds.  Steve has added a realistic sound track which starts with the alarm siren warning of an imminent air raid. Then there is the noise of bombs going off all around and eventually the siren giving the all clear. After that there are the noises of emergency vehicles which had bells ringing in those days, not the wailing sirens that we're used to today. There are benches along the walls and it really gives the feeling of what it must have been like to spend hour upon hour in the dark and damp listening to the bombs falling and wondering if your house was still standing. This shelter is reputed to have it's own ghost.

On Wednesday it was a very wet, foggy and windy day. Poor Steve got soaked through even in waterproof clothing. But, as normal on a rotten day it was busy. We were really cheered up when this aptly named Rolls Royce Phantom appeared through fog that was worthy of a horror movie.  What a beautiful car with equally lovely owners who were very  gracious and have allowed us to show that beautiful car on the blog. Steve in full wet weather gear. Steve saluting the Rolls Royce Phantom.

Apologies for the length of time between the last post and this one. Summer was incredibly busy despite the not so good weather. We've found that on wet days the museum is the go to place for holiday makers. Apart from walking between the buildings it's a relatively dry day out. We've had visitors from all over the world and all over the UK. It's enjoyable meeting and talking with our visitors, and listening to the memories that the museum has evoked with some of our guests. On Wednesday this week I learned just how small the world is. I was enjoying a conversation with a really nice guy when somehow it came about that we'd both been at the same school (on the other side of the country), at the same time back in the early 1970's.What were the chances of that?  From now on hopefully there will a post every week as we wind up this season at the end of October and work our way through the winter for new displays and items next year.

Uncle Herman, the pink pig came to Davidstow as the mascot of 404 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron was at Davidstow from May to August 1944. The Herman we have on display is a replica. Please excuse the poor quality of the photos but a flash is needed but obviously reflects on the glass of the cabinets.

We have a mock up of a heavy bomber's cockpit in building 2. One of the things that the school children find unbelievable is all the equipment that a navigator would have to use to work out the plane's position. No Sat Navs,no GPS, no computer, just the ability to work out the position by using a map, a compass and at times intuition. To qualify as a navigator in WWII there were 500 hours ground instruction and 100 hours air training. The final qualification test was to plot a route with no more than 11 degrees of error and less than 1 minute off per hour of flight time. At night they had to reach within 15 miles of a target. There were radio beacons to assist the navigator on the homeward flight. GEE was a radio navigation system that came into service with Bomber Command in 1942. It measured the time delay between 2 radio signals to produce a fix with an accuracy of around a few hundred metres. Our mock up shows a Flt Sgt working as the wireless operator. Again th...

The weekly scheduled airfield tours have started now that we're in July and Marlene, our electric bus, has been dusted down and is ready to go. The first tour yesterday was in beautiful sunshine and Steve was aboard giving a commentary and answering any questions. The tours cover the airfield and the buildings that are still there, stopping at 2 or 3 buildings for you to go inside. The view from the old control tower is stunning. The old bomb aimers building is being slowly restored by 4624 Sqn R.A.F. They raise their own funds to do the work and it is much appreciated. The tours are very popular and is it advised that you ring up and book in advance so as not to be disappointed. Private tours can be arranged for groups. Marlene holds 10 people, unfortunately we cannot allow dogs on the tours. Ring Steve to enquire about arranging private tours. Bomb Aimers building being restored by 4624 Sqn. A stop to explain some of the buildings. It's...

We have a new link to follow to see the youtube channel for the museum. The video now has commentary by Steve which explains all the special events and functions shown in a way that only Steve could do. Cornwall at War Museum video.

Visitors to the museum this Saturday, 29th June, will have the chance to buy second hand books with a military theme from 11 am to 3 pm. The books will be on sale in the hangar at very reasonable prices. You must be a paying visitor to the museum to have access to the sale. Come along enjoy the museum and have a browse at the books.

Building 3 was the Officer's Squash Court. It was also designated as the overflow morgue should the need arise. To our knowledge it was never used as such. We have some dioramas in the building to show how various scenes would have been during WWII. The one chosen for today is our version of the Operations Room. The Operations Room was the hub of activity when the squadrons went out on their missions. Although now it wouldn't be deemed as politically correct, in WWII these rooms were mainly staffed by women in the W.R.A.F. A chalk board would display the date, we show 6th June 1944, D-Day, the squadrons and the number of planes from each squadron that had taken off, the time they took off and the time they landed, the aircraft type and the operation they had gone to take part in. There would be a large table covered by a map and the locations of the squadrons and planes could be plotted  by the W.R.A.Fs to show where they were at any given time. This was achieved by l...

Apologies for no post last week but I was on holiday. To make up for that we have got something special for you this week. We have our own YouTube channel so you can actually see moving pictures of the museum and special events there! This first one shows the opening of the museum up to the royal visit of HRH Princess Alexandra last year. The sound is sometimes muffled by a howling gale, we are at 1000 feet above sea level. If you can watch it on full screen it will be beneficial. At 50 seconds in to the video you'll see the brick fireplace which was original to the Officers Recreation Room and now protected by a Nissen hut on the original site. When time allows more will be added to the video, especially on those special occasions which tend to happen at the museum. But for now enjoy seeing the place, and Steve and Sheila who have built this place to be something so special. Click on the link below to see the video. Cornwall at War Museum video.

Just a reminder that as it is a Bank Holiday weekend,  and school half term the museum is open all week.

In June last year we had a post on this blog showing Steve and grandson Bertie returning from a "raiding party" and obtaining this Rapier surface to air missile launcher for the museum. Now it's been fitted with inert missiles and stands proudly in the hangar. It's quite an imposing item.

This U-Boat gun from the first World War could well be the only one of it's kind left. It was handed over to the museum by Mr W Stevenson of Newlyn after one of his trawlers, Philomena, had brought it up in her nets whilst 90 miles off the coast of south west Cornwall. This is where records show that U-41 sunk. The gun is a KRUPP Ubts L/30 8.8cm gun, mounted on a KRUPP disappearing mount. It's believed that it was fitted on U-Boat 41. U-41 was a member of II flotilla: Length O.A 64.7 meters. Weight 97.1 tons. Range 8790 miles surfaced.                 80 miles submerged. Power (Diesel) 1850HP Power (Electric) 1200HP 28 ships sunk - total tonnage 58,648 tons 1 ship damaged - 4,409 tons 1 ship taken - 355 tons.

Another new addition to the museum this year is the PAP 104 MK 5 ROV - 1984 Tripartite Class Mine Hunting/Killing Vehicle. In case you can't magnify the photo of the information it reads: Netherlands Type: ROV - Remotely Operated Vehicle Max Depth: - 300m Max Speed: - 6 Knots Commissioned: - 1984 Length: - 2.7m Beam: - 1.2m Draft: - 1.2m Crew: - 0 Displacement: - 1t Displacement full: - 0t Propulsion: - Batteries Sensors/EW: - Generic Explosive Charge Mine Disposal - Mine Neutralisation, Explosive Charge Mine Disposal, Max Range: 0km Generic LLTV - (Submarine, 3rd Gen, Mine Reconnaissance) Visual, LLTV, Mine Reconnaissance, Max Range: 01km. Generic Mechanical Cable Cutter Mine  Sweep - (Submarine, 3rd Gen, Mine Reconnaissance) Mine Sweep, mechanical Cable Cutter, Max Range: 0km.