Leading on from last week’s post about the anti aircraft guns along Hastings seafront, this image illustrates why the town needed. Despite the best efforts of the gunners and the RAF pilots who were trying to counter German attacks, the enemy planes often bombed the town.

The Albany Hotel was hit by a bomb dropped by a Focke Wolf 190 on 23rd May 1943. This early afternoon raid, carried out by 10 aircraft was the second worst of the war in Hastings, resulting in the deaths of 25 and injuring 85 others. The Swan Hotel in the Old Town and four other public houses were destroyed. The bomb that hit the Albany Hotel had deflected off of the Queens Hotel where  a large number of people were eating. Just five people were injured as a result of the explosion.

You can see the hotel in its heyday here.

Nathan Goodwin kindly provided me with the original image.  His excellent book, Hastings at War – 1939 – 45 paints a detailed picture of those dark days. It is available to buy on Amazon here. The two photographs I’ve used to create the image above are below.