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William Gendall Jenkin

July 4, 2017 by Susan Roberts Leave a Comment

We are very grateful to Juliet Jenkin, of Redruth, who gave a talk at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, during our exhibition there. Juliet gave a very heartfelt and touching talk about William Gendall Jenkin, a cousin of her late husband, who died on the Western Front. William was a sapper – he was a Cornish miner who tunnelled out under enemy lines. This was very dangerous work as tunnels often collapsed and William lost his life with several of his companions. A memorial to those who died is in St Agnes church.

William Gendall Jenkin
Good Conduct Certificate – William Gendall Jenkin

With friends, pictured in Penzance
A card announcing William’s death, alongside that of his friend John Eva, who had also enlisted in Camborne

A letter of condolence
Trees have now grown over the battlefields where so many men died – William underground as he tunnelled beneath enemy lines
William’s grave in France

Belt, worn by William Gendall Jenkin while he was tunnelling, brought back from France after his death
Memorial in St Agnes Church

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