In 1980 - forty years after the Luftwaffe’s devastating raid on the Llanreath oil tanks -Pembroke Dock journalist and author Vernon Scott penned what has become the definitive history of the attack - ‘Inferno 1940’.
Vernon interviewed many individuals with first-hand memories of this dramatic chapter in local and national history, graphically telling a story of an aerial attack on an undefended Pembroke Dock which left behind a huge fire, the largest in Britain for centuries, and tales of great heroism and ultimately tragedy, with the death of five Cardiff firemen.
Published in 1980 by the Western Telegraph - for which Vernon worked for so many years - the book was an instant success and sold throughout the world. It as the first of several books which Vernon wrote during his lifetime. He died in 2008.
‘Inferno 1940’ has in this the 70th anniversary year of the oil tanks raid been re-published by the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.
All profits go to the Sunderland Trust which is leading exciting heritage initiatives in the community and which aims to recover and display sunken Sunderland flying boat T9044, a project that was close to Vernon’s heart.
‘Inferno 1940’ costs £6.95 and is available from local bookshops. For mail order copies please send a cheque for £8.45 to Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, Sunderland House, Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6TD.
A dramatic aerial photograph taken soon after the raid on the Llanreath oil depot.
PICTURE: Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust Archive.
From: John Evans, Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, 01646 623427.
