Sister and brother who both died on duty in World War Two
Died: Verona - 14th June, 1941.
Donald - 15th December, 1941
Laid to rest (and commemorated): St Day Road Cemetery, Redruth
Verona, aged just 20, died of burns in the Redruth-Camborne Miner's hospital, and is noted on her headstone as 'a heroine... died doing her duty'. In the papers of the time, there is no indication of what accident befell Verona, only that it occurred in Camborne, and also involved another young woman, Mrs Bessie Williams of Brea village, age 20, a widow with a young child (who survived). It is likely that the accident occurred at the munitions factory in Camborne, perhaps at Holman's, and that in line with National Security considerations, no details were released in the press, as in 1939, Verona is noted as being a 'cordite fuse maker'.
Donald, the brother of Verona Francis, was serving on the HMS Galatea with the Royal Navy when he was killed in action in December 1941, less than 6 months after his sister had died. Donald was working as a Canteen Assistant onboard the ship when it was hit by a missile shot from a German submarine near to Alexandria, Egypt. Over 450 people perished; around 100 were picked up by Allied destroyers in the area. Prior to the war, he was working as a Farm Hand.
Their mother, Annie, was living at 5 Middle Row, Redruth Highway at the time that her two eldest children were killed, along with a younger sibling, Gerald. Annie - Grace Ann Francis - is also buried here; she died on 7th December 1948, aged 59 years.