Sir,

I was interested in the letter from Ivor Jenkins published in the September 11 edition of the Tenby Observer in which he said the field gun positioned near the Keep on Castle Hill was French. It was, in fact, German. I was told by my father, a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and who had his Infantry training at Penally, that the gun was captured when the last great offensive by the German Army in late 1918 failed and their soldiers surrendered in droves. The German High Command had made one last attempt to gain some advantages in the inevitable Armistice and when that offensive petered out, it led to a catastrophic military defeat.

The Allies were so fearful of a resurgence of German Militarism that they imposed punitive reparations. The German Air Force was disabanded, some of their armaments were distributed as ‘souvenirs’ and the High Seas Fleet was ordered to sail to Scapa Flow; there, in an act of defiance, it was later scuppered en masse.

The French paranoia about a third German Invasion (justified 20 years later) led to the construction of the Maginot Line, so it is unlikely that they would have parted with any of their armaments, particularly their 75mm field gun, generally considered to be the best artillery piece of WWI.

Fortunately, the early 19th century muzzle-loading cannon were not sent to join the German gun, railings and saucepans collected for salvage and were left to lie on their concrete slabs at the top of Castle Hill. They were spared because of their historic significance and because so many of their type had been embedded in harbour walls and quay sides throughout the country to form mooring bollards. There are two at the end of our harbour wall.

There is a very large example of this in Castle Square at the top of the slope leading down to the beach. It is oval in shape and possibly, as some people believe, double-barrelled. If this is so it could be unique and would make a very interesting and significant addition to the museum if it was carefully extracted. Apparently it was positioned as an anchor point for the ropes used for the launching and retrieval of an early lifeboat, from the old lifeboat-house on the slope, over the sands.

In his letter, Ivor is of the opinion that a French Invasion around here was unlikely. I think he had forgotten about the earlier abortive one which occurred in the north of the county.

Incidentally, in my first letter regarding the anti-invasion measures taken in 1940, I forgot to mention that demolition charges were built into the harbour wall and placed under one of the arches under the Royal Victoria Pier. I cannot imagine who would have been responsible for setting them off had an invasion occurred.

Alun Morgan,

Nyth Aderyn,

North Cliffe,