We Will Remember Them

The November meeting of the South Dorset Group had one of our own members David Lane to talk on “We Will Remember Them” (Weymouth’s Civilian War Dead). He had started researching this topic when he realised that there were many memorials for service people but not many for the civilians who died as the result of enemy action mainly in the 2nd World War. In the Southern Times of 23rd May 1941 it was reported that casualties would be buried in Melcombe Regis cemetery Newstead Road, after hostilities this would be looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In Weymouth and Portland 116 civilians died aged between  8 months and 91years, 78 of these were in Weymouth. There were air raids on 51 days on Weymouth & Portland, 40 of which were on Weymouth. Casualties were between one and twenty-two for each raid. 73 names are in the book of remembrance in St. Mary’s Church, Weymouth. The first raid with civilian casualties was on 11th August 1940. Most raids were at night but on 21st October 1940 it was about mid-day and a single aircraft, probably aiming for the train station hit the nearby bus garage. Two children who were playing in the street and 3 adults were killed. On 17th November 1940 2 parachute mines were dropped on Weymouth, one failed to ignite but the other exploded at Chapelhay, 13 people lost their lives all of them in Franchise Street,  879 houses were damaged, 77 beyond repair.  On 1st May 1941 there was a daytime raid on the Torpedo Factory at Wyke Regis but because it was lunch time no one in the factory was hurt, but two men walking along Portland Road were killed by machine gun fire. Chapelhay was hit again on 9th May 1941 when 7 members of the Adnam family were killed in Oakley Place. The worst raid for casualties was on 2nd April 1942 which hit all over Weymouth, resulting in the loss of 22 lives. Only a week before D Day on 28th May 1944 with Weymouth & Portland packed with military personal and ships, Weymouth had its last raid, this hit the hospital luckily there were no casualties, but 3 members of the rescue party on the way to the hospital were killed by the last bomb to fall on Weymouth. 

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