The grave of Ernest John Scott records a brief life ended in the midst of the Second World War: “Who Was Killed May 16th 1940 Aged 15 years 9 Months”. The wording is stark, and unlike many stones in Altarnun churchyard it states plainly that the boy was killed, hinting at circumstances that were neither illness nor natural decline.
The death certificate confirms that Ernest died in a rural accident at New Park Farm, north‑west of Altarnun on the edge of Bodmin Moor. He suffered a fracture of the base of the skull after being accidentally jammed between a tractor and a plough while working in a field. The description is clinical, but it reflects the hazards familiar to anyone who has worked with agricultural machinery: powerful equipment, uneven ground and the constant risk of a moment’s misjudgement proving fatal.
Ernest died in the same week that Germany launched its Blitzkrieg offensive against France, an event that dominated national and international news. Britain was preparing for invasion, the Battle of the Atlantic was intensifying, and food production was a matter of national urgency. In that wider context, a fatal accident involving a local farm boy received no mention in the regional press that we could trace. Yet the timing suggests he was helping with essential wartime labour at a moment when every farm was under pressure to produce more.
The Scott family were long‑established in the area. Ernest was the son of Alec Worden Scott, a builder by trade and a familiar figure in parish records and local directories. The family lived at The Green, Altarnun, and Ernest appears to have been one of several children. Nothing in the surviving documents indicates that he was doing anything unusual on the day he died; rather, he was engaged in the routine work expected of farm labourers and older boys in rural wartime Britain.
His grave, like many in Altarnun, is simple and factual. It marks a personal tragedy overshadowed by the larger events of 1940, yet it also reflects the everyday risks faced by farming families — risks that persisted regardless of what was happening elsewhere in Europe. Ernest John Scott died doing necessary work at a time when the country depended heavily on the output of small farms such as New Park. The stone stands as a reminder that the war’s toll was not confined to the battlefield.
With thanks to Margaret Galbraith for discovering the death certificate helping us to understand the story behind this grave lying just in front of St. Nonna's church in Altarnun.
