The Bournemouth Blitz was the heavy bombing of

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

(but now in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

), England from 1940 to 1944, by the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.More than 2,200 bombs fell on Bournemouth and Poole during World War II, and 350 civilians and servicemen were killed.

Events

1940

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's house Skerryvore, at the head of

Alum Chine Alum Chine is the largest chine in Bournemouth, England. The gorge was crossed by a suspension bridge by the early part of the twentieth century. History In early maps the place was often transposed with Durley Chine. During World War II, Robe ...

, 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.

1941

On 27 March 1941, a lone German bomber hit the canteen at the Bourne Valley gasworks killing 33 people. This was the deadliest air raid that

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

suffered.

1943

The biggest air raid was on 23 May 1943 in which many

Focke-Wulf 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

planes dropped 25 bombs on the town. 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. The Methodist Church on Exeter Road was destroyed and 77 people were killed. The biggest loss was the Metropole Hotel in Lansdowne, where many Allied servicemen were staying. 22 Commonwealth airmen (mostly Canadian and Australian), and approximately 110 civilians were killed. The hotel was demolished in 1955. Across Bournemouth Town Centre twenty-two buildings were destroyed and 3,354 were damaged.

Legacy

In 2013, a memorial was unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the last air raid.

References

{{Bournemouth 1940 in England 1941 in England 1942 in England 1943 in England 1944 in England 1940s in Hampshire 1940s in Dorset History of Bournemouth The Blitz

May 1943 in the United Kingdom