HASTINGS was often bombed during the Second World War. John Bristow,
describing a raid on 23 May 1943 says '...There was a god-almighty
explosion and we went into the passage by The Havelock pub and we dived
onto the ground and lay there looking out before a bomb hit what was the
old Royal Oak Hotel. Along by Woolworth's there was a car going by and
it was sent up into the air by the bomb and over and over. While we lay
there, there was another terrific explosion down the side of Plummer's
and I'll never forget seeing a huge lump of yellow coloured masonry
coming over and land on the tram wires'...This experience is one of more
than forty people's memories, cleverly incorporated by the author into
his vivid account of what Hastings endured when it was a 'front-line'
town - and of its great defiance and fortitude in the face of the enemy.
He tells how Hastings folk coped with the daily wartime hardships of
blackout; rationing; the billeting of evacuees; the evacuation of the
town; constant fear of invasion; and the relentless bombing raids, day
and night, leaving in their wake a trail of death, destruction and the
apprehension of where and when the next attack would come.The author was
born and bred in the town and has been able to draw upon the
recollection and records of a wide range of Hastings people who lived
through the wartime years. His book is full of their personal, spirited
and sometimes frightening memories. He has also spent several years
researching a great variety of documentary sources and collecting
suitable illustrations. His narrative is both comprehensive and
compelling ... a story never told before but well worth the telling!
