On Thursday September 12th 150 incendiary bombs and 15 high explosive bombs were dropped on Clive Vale, Ore. Edmund Road and Alfred Road were hit particularly badly. Jane Bumstead and William Dowding were killed when their home was destroyed in the attack. many other houses in Edmund Road were so badly damaged they had to … Read more
On Tuesday 10th September 1940 at 5:30pm nine high explosive bombs were dropped across St Leonard’s at Hollington Park, The Green, Sedlescombe Road South, Tower Road West, St Peter’s Road, Cloudsley Road, Woodland Vale Road and Christchurch School. Around 30 incendiary bombs were also dropped during the raid, setting several roof fires which were quickly … Read more
On 15th August 1940, two German bombers dropped 10 high explosive bombs on Harley Shute, Maze Hill and Saxon Street in St Leonards. Maggie May Wright was killed at her home at Briar Mead, Harley Shute and two others were injured in the incident. The image above shows the approximate location, based on the hand … Read more
On Wednesday 14th August 1940 at around 3:40pm a lone German bomber dropped six high explosive bombs on St Leonards and Hastings. At 40 and 42 Bexleigh Avenue, a bomb killed Caroline Felton, aged 77 and James Harmer, a member of the Home Guard aged 41 as it demolished several houses. Pine Avenue was also … Read more
The first ‘tip and run’ raid on Hastings during WW2 occurred on 26th July 1940 a little after 7am. A single fighter bomber dropped 11 high explosive bombs on the Cricket Ground, Gladstone Terrace, Whitefriars Road and Priory Road. The raid resulted in the death of Violet Gooday, a teacher aged 34 at 139 Priory … Read more
At 1pm on Sunday the 23rd May 1943, German fighter bombers, probably Focke Wulf 190s, swept across Hastings and St Leonards in a ‘tip and run’ raid. They dropped 25 high explosive bombs and sprayed machine gun fire indiscriminately. The raid was the second worst for the town in terms of casualties, with 25 … Read more