The more conventional bomb strikes on Whitstable may
have come from planes offloading any remaining explosives after a raid
on London or the Medway Towns. Evidence of this is supplied by Mollie
Fallon in the quote below....
My father, Charles Miles, and I watched the bombs fall out of
low-flying German bombers coming back from London (daylight).
These bombs, I believe, may be the ones which fell on the Boating
Lake.
Mollie Fallon (nee Miles)
London - Formerly Whitstable |
Such strikes may also have been made by damaged aircraft
or those suffering mechanical problems. The aim here might be too
lighten the load and make some use of their explosives while attempting
to return to the safety of mainland Europe.
On the other
hand, some attacks on East Kent towns may have been the work of iindividual dive bombers that had been
given license to roam the Kent countryside for possible random targets.
Whatever, the thought processes involved, the attacks caused significant damage in various parts of
Whitstable....
At the Boating Lake....
Mercifully, there were occasions when the strikes were inconvenient but inconsequential....
Did you know that a bomb fell in the Boating Lake during the war? It
fell right at the corner between the island and the road, where the Golf
Link footpath begins.

Above:
That corner of the boating lake pictured post war The area is
now a housing development
(Picture with thanks to Tim Holman. © Tim Holman) |
Strangely, it did not make a crater, but heaved
the ground up and blocking the channel.
John Harman
Canada
|
At the Horsebridge/Terrys
Lane....
Other hits were more substantial....
You mentioned the Horsebridge bus depot being hit. I can still
picture the house-cum- ticket office collapsing in a cloud of dust
but have no sensation of any sound.
Brian Smith
Australia
|
The bomb landed on properties at junction of Horsebridge Road
and Terry's Lane. The ticket office and houses were destroyed but the bus garage
and Assembly Rooms survived despite significant damage.
A small oblong ticket office was erected
on the bomb site at the corner of the two roads after the war
and this served customers throughout the 1950s. However, the northern side of
Terry's Lane remained a rather ramshackle site for 55 years until the whole area was redeveloped in
the year 2000....

|
Above: |
The road junction
in the year 2000 - prior to the general redevelopment of the Horsebridge area.
The Assembly rooms are clearly evident... as is the arched roof
of the old bus garage. By then, the latter was being used as an
art gallery. |
Below: |
As it is
today... |

|
High Street...
To date, we have learned of just one bomb in the main
shopping streets. The device fell at the rear of a retail outlet at No.
5 High Street - not far from the Terry's Lane incident.
Regent Street...
In many ways, Regent Street was at the centre of much of
the bombing. Mercifully, there was only one direct hit on the street.
This is mentioned by Ian
Johnson....
A bomb fell on a section of terrace in Regent Street - between
the junctions with St Peters Street and Gladstone Road (nearer
the St Peters Street end and on the side of the street away from
the High Street).

Above:
Regent Street Today
Ian Johnson
Yorkshire
|
Warwick Road &
Acton Roads
Two side roads leading from Regent Street suffered
blasts. A bomb hit Nos 3 and 5 Warwick Road....
Warwick
Road
... and another destroyed properties in Acton Road.
Above: Acton
Road
Diamond Road...
A short distance away, a bomb damaged properties in
Diamond Road close to the junction with Reservoir Road....
Clare Road...
The haphazard nature of the bombing meant that strikes hit some residential areas
a considerable distance from the town centre and there
were stories of both tragedy and incredible good fortune .....
You can add 85 Clare Road to your list of bombings - my grandparents
were in it when the bomb hit and flattened it.

Above: Clare
Road
Sadly, I can't find the photo that appeared in the Whitstable Times.
Jackie Evans
Digswell
Herts
|
Bearing in mind the densely populated nature of many of
the roads, it is quite remarkable that casualties were not considerably
greater.
Ham Shades Lane...
Bombs also hit the less populated outskirts of town. Two such explosions
rocked the then "country surroundings" of Ham Shades Lane. The
first was at Bartlett's corner where the bomb fell in what is now the
entrance to Bridewell Park...

Bartletts
Corner today... with the entrance to Bridewell Park visible
alongside the large tree on the right. |
The second dropped further east as Bill Dancer explains....
"As an addition to the bomb incident at Bartletts Corner.... Jack Billmeirs home further along Ham Shades Lane towards
Pier Avenue and on the same side of the road got a direct hit and was
eventually rebuilt after the war and lived in by Jack's brother
Eric"
Bill Dancer
Victoria
British Columbia
Canada. |
As air raids became a part of normal life, some war-weary people became less
concerned with a dash to the shelters and stayed in their homes. A favourite
practice was to pop into the "cupboard under the stairs". I once asked
my old dad about the wisdom of that practice. His answer was simple.... "If
a bomb-hit house was left with anything standing, it was usually the
staircase!".
Return to War Menu:
|