Penair School, Cornwall, needs your help

13 March 2026

Penair School is participating in this year’s Malcolm Doolin Award for Local History Research. Their project is called Beneath the Battlefields and students are uncovering the stories of Cornish men linked to the First World War and to the later 1919 Levant mining disaster.

IMG 1690
IMG 1691

πŸ”Ž They are seeking records, photos, letters, medals, diaries, or contact with descendants of: 

  • Edwin Francis Pascoe – Born Colorado (1897), family from St Just. Died in the Levant disaster, 1919.
  • James Vingoe Trembath and the Trembath family of St Just – A family hit by multiple tragedies; James died in the man engine failure at Levant.
  • Leonard Semmens – Born 1894, Penzance area. One of nine children; four brothers were miners. Died in the Levant disaster, 1919.
  • John Paynton Ninnes – Born Manaccan, 1896. POW in April 1918; died 1979.
  • Richard John Rolling – Born Falmouth, 1899. Died 23 March 1916, buried at Cambrin. Family have no surviving photographs; any images or unit photos from the 251st Tunnelling Company would be invaluable.

If you can help, or know someone who might, they would love to hear from you. Together, they say, we can preserve these stories for future generations.

Please email TTuruelo@penair.cornwall.sch.uk

IMG 1689
IMG 1688

Latest news

Saxifrage2 Iwm
12 July 2026

One of the Great War’s last three warships to be scrapped

Read more
447962 Edit
4 July 2026

Deep Heritage: cathodic protection for Dardanelles wrecks

Read more
USCGC Tampa (Ex Miami)
4 July 2026

Discovery of USCGC Tampa

Read more
AMP26 0611 FIND Compacted Material From Hessian Sandbags In Trench 1 2 E1781256968487 816X627
24 June 2026

Surprise discovery of practice trenches at Ampthill recalls a Bedfordshire training camp

Read more
110 Cover
17 June 2026

Somme 110: Free digital magazine to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme

Read more
E126 Header
13 June 2026

Remembering: The Battle of the Somme, 110 years on

Read more