| Conflict: | Bournemouth Blitz |
| Place: | Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset), England |
| Date: | 1940 to 1944 |
| Partof: | the Strategic bombing campaign of World War II |
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]
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]
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]
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]
In 2013, a memorial was unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the last air raid.[14] [15]