In 1958 Sam Fat Law and his partners opened the first Chinese restaurant the “Rice Bowl” in Exeter. It was located at number 13 North Street, currently the site of an Indian restaurant. Before 1958, it would not have been possible to eat noodles or fried...
Vivien Clinton, who was black, was born in 1931 or 1932, possibly in Dorset. Her mother was Madame Josephine, who ran a herbalist shop in Clifton Road in the late 30s and early 40s (we hope to have her story on our timeline soon). Vivien went to Bishop Blackall...
Mrs Hendy lived in Exeter for over 60 years, 52 of them in the same house in Wonford. She was born in Cornwall in 1917: her mother was a local White woman, and her father was a Black sea captain, probably from Jamaica. Councillor Olwen Foggin interviewed Mrs Hendy in...
Mrs Dorothea Hendy worked for Sleeman’s at Exeter airport during the war. In an interview with Councillor Olwen Foggin, recorded in 2000, she recalled D-Day at the airport. “D-day came… the Americans and the Polish airmen were out there then. And it...
Community Researcher, Crystal Carter, has extensively researched the story of Exeter’s Black GIs and how Exeter was a segregated city during World War II. Between 1943 and 1944, County Ground in St Thomas Exeter was home to a number of all black US Army...
From 30 September 1943 to 30 June 1944 a number of African-American US troops units were based at the County Ground in St Thomas. They were part of the overall US military presence in Exeter which included billeted troops and those based in Topsham Barracks. During...
On Nov 15th 1942 the Squadron Leader of 307 Squadron presented the Polish Flag to the Mayor of Exeter in front of Exeter Cathedral in recognition of the close links that that had been formed between the squadron and the city in the war. Pilots of the 307 squadron flew...
Between April 1941 and April 1943, Exeter was guarded by a squadron of Polish airmen, based at Exeter airport. They were the 307 squadron, known as the ‘Night Owls’ or the ‘Lwow Eagle Owls’, after the Polish city of Lwow. They flew...
The four Mule Companies of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps were part of the British Expeditionary Force in France before Dunkirk. Three companies were evacuated at Dunkirk, the men of the fourth company were taken prisoner. The 25th Company spent some time in...
Community Researcher Hector Niel-Mee has explored the history of the British Union of Facists (BUF) presence in Exeter and how Mosley and the Blackshirts were active in the city and region in the 1930’s. Hector has compiled an informative summary of the...
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