| Bournemouth Blitz | |||||
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| Part of the Strategic bombing campaign of World War II | |||||
.jpg) VE Day Memorial Stone in Bournemouth Gardens | |||||
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The Bournemouth Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bournemouth, Hampshire (but now in Dorset), England from 1940 to 1944, by the Nazi German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. [1]
More than 2,200 bombs fell on Bournemouth and Poole during World War II, and 350 civilians and servicemen were killed. [2]
Events
1940
Robert Louis Stevenson's house Skerryvore, at the head of Alum Chine, was severely damaged by bombs during a destructive and lethal raid on the night of 15–16 November 1940. Despite a campaign to save it, the building was demolished. [3]
1941
On 27 March 1941, a lone German bomber hit the canteen at the Bourne Valley gasworks killing 33 people. [4] [5] This was the deadliest air raid that Poole suffered. [6]
1943
The biggest air raid was on 23 May 1943 in which many Focke-Wulf 190 planes dropped 25 bombs on the town. [7]
The buildings targeted that day included the Central Hotel at Richmond Hill; the Shamrock and Rambler coach station at Holdenhurst Road and Beales department store. [8] The Methodist Church on Exeter Road was destroyed and 77 people were killed. [9]
The biggest loss was the Metropole Hotel in Lansdowne, where many Allied servicemen were staying. [10] 22 Commonwealth airmen (mostly Canadian and Australian), and approximately 110 civilians were killed. [11] The hotel was demolished in 1955. [12]
Across Bournemouth Town Centre twenty-two buildings were destroyed and 3,354 were damaged. [13]
Legacy
In 2013, a memorial was unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the last air raid. [14] [15]
References
- ^ "BBC - WW2 People's War - Bombs on Bournemouth". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Bomb site air raid memorial unveiled". BBC News. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ Sean O'Connor (27 February 2014). Handsome Brute: The True Story of a Ladykiller. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4711-0135-9.
- ^ "The day I saw bombs being dropped on the Bourne Valley Gas Works". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Research into 1941 gasworks bombing". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "33 killed at lunch: Poole's worst World War II bombing". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Bournemouth 1943 air raid remembered". BBC News. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "130 died in five minutes: The 1943 air raid that destroyed the Metropole and Central Hotels and Beales". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "£4.5m church set to make way for hotel". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ "Bomb site air raid memorial unveiled". BBC News. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Air Raid on Bournemouth - May 23, 1943". www.wartimeheritage.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Picture of the Day: The demolition of the Metropole Hotel". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "When the bombs fell". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Bournemouth Metropole Hotel Bombing Victims". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Bournemouth WWII bombing memorial to be unveiled". BBC News. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
