About Magazine Issue 28 - Summer 2005

Hastings at War

The idea for the book, Hastings at War, came after genealogical research in Hastings Library brought me into contact with the fascinating, original, war-time editions of the Hastings & St Leonards Observer.  These well-worn volumes, faded through time, recounted a vital era in the town’s history, a town in which I grew up, but a period of time about which I knew little.  As a child living in the West Hill area, scars from the war stood silently and unobtrusively all around with modern houses and flats coarsely interrupting rows of Victorian terraces, and vacant gaps where houses once stood.

Cocooned within my own war-time flashback, I journeyed for many months through the newspapers, reading extraordinary and often terrifying stories of what everyday life became for Hastings’ residents, moving from threats of war in the 1930s, through the outbreak of war in September 1939 to the relentless bombing raids, arduous rationing, evacuation, doodlebugs, the blackout and the very real threat of the enemy landing on the beaches of Hastings and St Leonards until, finally, VE day in May 1945.  This inspired me to further my research, drawing on the vivid, personal memories and recollections of more than 40 locals, who recounted fascinating stories of what life was like in a front-line town.

Despite the austerity and severe difficulties of these six momentous years, admirable qualities, given the circumstances, permeated my discoveries; those of a real, deeprooted sense of good spirit, neighbourliness and humour.  One of the very reasons Hastings, among other non-military towns, was bombed so frequently, was to attempt to crush this incredible morale.  Thankfully this spirit was indestructible and the town came through those dark days, having a further tale to add to an already colourful and illustrious history; a tale I was more than happy to tell.  Hastings at War is published by Phillimore & Co and is available in local bookshops for £12.99.

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