On Monday 30th September 1940, Hastings suffered its worst incident of the war so far. A lone bomber dropped 1 HE Bomb which skipped off the roof of the Plaza Cinema in Hastings Town Centre (now a Yate’s Pub) and exploded in mid air. The explosion was devastating, resulting in the deaths of 14 people and wounding 35 others, 12 seriously.
It caused extensive damage to the surrounding buildings, including the Albert Memorial which had all four of its clock dials blown out.
The 12 people who were killed by the explosion and buried at Hastings Cemetery are listed below:
George Brooker
William Brown
Lilian Comerford
Ronald Dutton
Clifford Glazier
William Green
Frederick Heppell
Cecil Hume
Norman Kemp
William Sadler
Albert Southey
Frances Southey
Winifred Spencer