On December 6th 1941 when British troops were billeted at Ruperra Castle, an electrical fault caused a fire which burnt out the Castle. It happened on the same night as the attack on Pearl Harbour. In all the years since, nothing has been done to protect the Ancient Monument.
Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust commemorated the event with the help of some re-enactor soldiers and Home Guards. One of the veteran soldiers from the Castle, Mr Jack Senior originally from the Cardiff TA Signals unit, attended the event.
Participants watched a ritual burning of a model of the Castle at Rudry Parish Hall, enjoyed a buffet, which included spam sandwiches and an eggless cake, and then watched a DVD. It showed pictures taken at the time and voice recordings of some of the soldiers and local people who remembered the war years.
One of the Tyne and Wear Electrical Engineers who escaped unharmed from the Castle that night said in a letter, “We were very upset the day after the fire to see the place gutted. We had some beautiful parks up in South Shields but coming to a place like Ruperra with no houses around was really outstanding for us. I am very sorry to see that it has been left to neglect.”
