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This story was submitted to the People’s War website by Lynn Hughes on behalf of Penn, Thomas John Morcom-Webb, the author and has been added to the site with his/her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was born in Penryn the oldest borough in Cornwall, at the age of 7 years I recall very clearly these 2 stories of World War 2.

The Americans were based in Cornwall and many of them worked at “Nickle’s Garage” at the bottom of St Gluivas Street were they would work on their jeeps and the petrol pumps. As a boy of 7 years I was very fascinated with their accent, uniforms and the fact that some of them where coloured. While playing around the garage with my friends, I mentioned to one coloured American that my mother would be making, Cornish pasties, he asked me what they were! I said, “if you come home with me my mum will tell you more." He took my hand and we walked up St Gluivas Street to my home. You can imagine the shock on my mother's face when she saw me with a coloured American, but my mum being the kind and caring person she was gave her Cornish Pastie to him and he sat at our table with my other brothers and sisters. When he left he thanked my mother and gave to us all bars of chocolate. My mother scolded me afterwards and said “that I must not ever again bring coloured soldiers to our home as the nieghbours would be talking” as my father was away in the army?

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