APPLEBY Rachel Joan Dorcas

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Appleby, of 10 Penbrea Road, Treneere, Penzance. Died at Royal Cornwall Infirmary.

Rachel Appleby was born in Cardiff in 1921, the daughter and eldest child of David and Annie (nee Blackwill) Appleby. Three more daughters were born to the couple, Bernice in 1922, Gwlythin in 1924 and Vide in 1925, before Annie died in 1929.

In 1931 David married Hannah Brown and the couple had at least two sons, Edward born in 1932 and Cedric born in 1939.
1939 Register
10 Penbrea Road, Penzance
Hannah A. Appleby, born 13^th December 1900, married, House duties
Edward David Appleby, born 6^th December 1932, School
The next record is officially closed

1939 Register
Royal Cornwall Infirmary, Truro
Rachel J.D. Appleby, born 14^th August 1921, Nurse (Training)

Rachel Appleby
Photo Courtesy & Copyright of Susan Coney

Student nurses Olga Phillips, back right, Rachel Appleby front right
Photograph Courtesy & Copyright of Susan Coney

The following information is courtesy of a research article by Lawrence Holmes:
In the Cornish City of Truro, the evening of Thursday 6^th August 1942 was lovely, sunny and warm. Around 19.31 hours there was a vague report of two German planes spotted coming in low and very fast down the Camel Estuary. Unseen by radar there was no clue as to where the aircraft had come from or where they were heading. At 19.34 the aircraft were spotted three miles north of Truro but flying fast at low level with no radar tracking there was no clue as to any target and no air raid warning was issued. By 19.35 the aircraft had reached Truro and one of the fighter bombers attacked Truro railway station, strafing the area with machine gun and canon fire, killing a railway worker, the postman in the waiting room and injuring several others, women included.

Just 600 metres south east of the railway station lay the Royal Cornwall Infirmary, full of staff and patients. At 19.36 one of the aircraft released a 500kg bomb scoring a direct hit on the hospital and demolishing the south wing. Nine people died including Sister Kathleen Peacock and nurse Rachel Appleby, all buried under tons of rubble. A 10^th person was later added to the casualty total. Meanwhile one of the aircraft flew west to east over the city and at 19.37 dropped a second 500kg bomb which exploded above Agar Road partly demolishing a house and causing widespread damage. By 19.38 the attack was over and the German aircraft were heading home leaving 14 people dead, 65 injured and many buildings damaged.

The following newspaper report has been researched by Sandra Taylor:
Cornishman, 13th August 1942
Penzance Nurse’s Death
We regret having to record the death, which occurred on August 6^th, of Nurse Rachel Appleby, whose home is at 10, Penbrea Road, Treneere, Penzance.
Nurse Appleby was well-known in the town, having a few years ago been on the staff of the West Cornwall Hospital, and her death comes as a tragic shock to her family and friends. The sympathy of all will go out to the late nurse’s family in this sudden bereavement.

The following information has been researched by Susan Coney, her aunt (also a nurse) being a best friend of Rachel Appleby:
Funeral of Nurse Victim of Air Raid
The funeral took place at the Baptist Chapel, Penzance, of Nurse Rachel Joan Dorcas Appleby, aged 21, of 10 Penbrea Road, Treneere, Penzance. The Rev. W. E. Lawrence officiated, assisted by Dr. Andrews, and the chaplain of the hospital, Mr C. Pengelly was the organist. Nurse Appleby, who was described by one of the sisters of the hospital as a nurse who was outstandingly good, both on duty and off, was killed by a bomb which fell on the hospital when a South-West town was raided recently. She was a keen member of the Student Nurses Association and gained first prize in a recent examination, but although the prize had been selected it had not been officially presented. Nurse Appleby had been at the hospital for three and a half years, having previously been a probationer nurse at the west Cornwall Hospital. Two of her three sisters are also nurses, one at the same hospital and the other at Hawkmoor Sanatorium, Bovey Tracey.
The report continues with a list of mourners.

Rachel was buried in Penzance Cemetery.

Rachel Appleby’s grave
Photo Courtesy & Copyright of Susan Coney

Margaret E. Tennick, a student nurse at the hospital, wrote the following poem in August 1942 after Rachel’s death:
Poem for Rachel
Be still my heart and rest content
The wind had died, the quiet night
Enfold us, and gentle thoughts are
Falling – the evening dew is light.
Take now my hand, my greater strength
And sleep will come, and inner peace
Life surges on – the restless tides
Leaves you untouched. Love cannot cease!
For my winged thoughts go onward
And memory is my guide and true
The words bespoken by you walk
By my side – and friends are few.

Further research by Sandra Taylor:
The attack on the town was disclosed as Truro in the Western Morning News of 4^th September 1942.

The Packet, 10th August 2012
August 6, 1942 was a day when war came to Cornwall and on Monday, 70 years to the day, a memorial service to commemorate the tragic events that unfolded was held at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Chapel.

During that summer evening in 1942, two German fighter bombers each dropped a 500kg bomb on Truro. One fell on the Royal Cornwall Infirmary demolishing the south wing killing a ward sister, student nurse and three visiting relatives; the other exploded in mid-air some 30 feet above Agar Road demolishing one house and damaging more than 100 others.
The Railway Station, where a postman was killed in the waiting room, was machine-gunned. In total 14 people were killed and more than 65 injured in the county that evening.

Organised by hospital chaplain Marlene Carveth, Monday’s Memorial Service was attended by Cedric Appleby and Gwlythin Barnes, brother and sister of student nurse Rachel Appleby as well as Canon David Steven, who at just four years old had to be dug out of his house in Agar Road after it was destroyed by the second bomb.

As well as Rachel Appleby, ward sister Kathleen Peacock and three members of the Mortimore family – Percy, Mabel and Margaret, who were visiting a relative at the hospital – also died during the Infirmary bombing.

During the service there were readings by Trust Chairman Martin Watts and Pastoral Visitor Elizabeth Roberts, Memories from Canon David Steven, prayers by Father Gilmour Mcdermott and Rev Mark Richards and the Last Post was played by Andrew Richards from Indian Queens Silver Band. A wreath from the Royal British Legion was laid and the Reveille was spoken.

Throughout the service a photo of Rachel Appleby was on display at the front placed next to the chapel’s two candles and crucifix which were donated by the family of Rachel Appleby and ward sister Kathleen Peacock.

Rev Carveth said: “We are pleased so many people were able to join us to mark the 70th anniversary of that evening and remember all those who were lost.”

Speaking after the service, Canon David Steven, former vicar of Mullion, now retired to Wadebridge, said: “I wanted to come and do this service. I remember that night, the bombing of my house. I remember the roof coming in. My mother had to dig us out of the house. Some of the plaster pieces were bigger than my head so we were very lucky.

Commemorative Candlestick
Copyright unknown

In 2018 a memorial to the civilians killed in the bombing was unveiled in Victoria Gardens in Truro.

Civilian Memorial in Victoria Gardens
Photo Courtesy of Susan Coney