A Tale of Two Sisters
The 21 June 1941 was a cloudy but warm summer day, so it can be imagined that the children evacuated from the Portsmouth and Gosport areas now living in the rural area of Rownhams, would have been playing outside. The area must have been idyllic; the children’s new home was a large house known at Fernyhurst, and was set in the Hampshire countryside with a large lake nearby and the chance of seeing some local wildlife. The house owner was Mrs Lorne Poore, the widow of Lt Col Roger Alvin Poore who was killed at Passchendael in the Great War.
The children; sisters Ada (13) and Amy (10) Burley from Portsmouth, Colleen Moore (10) and Eileen Horn (9) must have been sleeping peacefully that night when tragedy struck.
Reports of the air raid that occurred that night are very sketchy. Incidents such as this were probably kept quiet so as not to negatively affect the public moral. However, one account reported that a lone German aircraft, that had been taking part in an inland bombing mission, came under attack from a night fighter. In his efforts to escape the attack, the pilot jettisoned its bombs and headed for the channel to return to base. The report concluded that the raider was shot down over the Isle of Wight with the loss of its crew. Meanwhile, back in Rownhams, the bombs released from the plane, fell in the area of Fernyhurst House. The centre part of the house was destroyed and three of the children; Amy, Ada and Colleen were killed. Eileen was transported to hospital but died later that day.
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The girls’ mother, a widow, was left with just her son after their deaths, her husband having died before the war
Amy and Ada’s grave in Milton Cemetery, Portsmouth
Civil Defence Gallantry Awards
Details of Gallantry of William Ashley – Page 1
Details of Gallantry of William Ashley – Page 2
Despite the huge tragedy there was the heroism of local people who formed rescue parties. A report from the Local Civil Defence Commissioner gave a more detailed insight into the attack (which seemed to indicate it being more sustained and deliberate than the account given above) and the rescue attempts that followed:
“During the attack on the night of 21st/22nd June, a direct hit partly demolished Fernyhurst, Rownhams, where refugee children from Portsmouth were lodged. The Rescue Party from Millbrook, and First Aid Parties from Millbrook and Rownhams were called in.
The Parties worked for 7 hours, assisted during part of the time by soldiers working in reliefs. The attack continued for some two hours after the parties had started work. Bombs fell in the same garden, and a parachute mine was observed coming down in the light of the searchlights. This exploded about 200 yards away. Mr Ashley never paid any attention, but continued work all through, refusing to stope for refreshments or to be relieved, as his helpers were, whilst there was a chance of saving any more persons.”
The Mr Ashley mentioned above was William Ashley (36) from 24 Oak Road, Redbridge. He had been a member of the First Aid Party, Hampshire for almost two years at that time and was an employee of Southern Railway. His efforts that night led to him receiving a commendation from the Regional Commissioner. The statements about William that led to his award are as follows:
From F W Mundy:
“I wish to bring to your notice the outstanding and untiring efforts of the undermentioned [William Ashley], who receiving orders that in all possibility casualties were in a certain part of the building, remained at the spot and worked continuously until the two bodies were discovered hoping against hope that their efforts would not be in vain.
Mr William Ashley, 24, Oak Road, Redbridge, commenced working at about 3am on June 22nd, while raid was still in progress and continued without a break for 7 hours stopping after the bodies had been recovered about 10am.”
From District Commissioner, F H Griffiths:
“Mr Ashley’s work has been consistently good, and he is an inspiring leader for the F.A. Parties at Millbrook. It is clear from the verbal statement of Mr Mundy, that his work on the night of 21/22 June, was outstanding, as he singled him out from all the rest, who are described in a letter from the O.C. 81 C.W. Company, R.E. who men were helping, as “your grand workers.”
To date there is no memorial for these children at or near the site. Fernyhurst House was repaired and stood on the same site, still owned and lived in by Mrs Poore since that fateful night, until the1970s when it was demolished to make way for new houses.
FERNYHURST HOUSE
Fernyhurst House stood roughly at what is now Bridgers Close in an area that was known as Rownhams Woods.
It was built by Reverend Wilson who lived there whilst he was vicar of the parish. There were large wooded grounds surrounded by a lake known locally as Poores Pond – this lake is now a feature of the Fernyhurst Estate and dates back to the Napoleonic War when it was constructed for the benefit of troops encamped nearby.