People spent a lot of their time watching out for air raid attacks. One of the places they manned was Stanford Road School… On the high cliff overlooking the Brighton Railway line, where the line cuts through, you’ve got a very commanding view across the railway and the viaduct.

Brighton was not bombed as badly as London, Portsmouth, Coventry and many other towns; but throughout the war it suffered from ‘tip and run’ raids. The town was very close to German air bases in northern France, so very vulnerable to surprise attack from the air.

The first few stops on this walk will focus on a few areas and landmarks affected by air raids on Brighton

“The school itself had three playgrounds, and each playground had its own air raid shelter system. They were horrible; The shelters were freezing cold and damp, even in the height of summer they were bitterly cold.

But the worst thing, the sanitary arrangements were anything but sanitary – a bucket for both boys and girls. You can imagine how shaming it was for us at this age, to go in front of everyone else. The bucket was emptied into a large open oil drum, and the oil drum wasn’t even emptied after each raid, so you can imagine what the smell was like. These are the sort of things you don’t read in the books.”

With the school on your left and the railway to your right, go up Stanford Road until you come to the cross roads. Turn right into Dyke Road Drive and go over the railway bridge. As the road bends round to the right, enjoy the views over Preston Park and the hills of Brighton. Follow the long road down to Preston Road (A23) and when you get there turn right. Watch out for cyclists on the cycle path!  Cross the road using the pedestrian crossing and stop at the bottom of Springfield Road to get a good view of the railway viaduct.

Kathleen Wilson, working in the International Stores near the viaduct, tells of a terrible incident in 1943:

‘The explosion that followed was tremendous, and to this day I can still feel the impact of the blast on my chest. A roar and shattering of glass followed instantaneously. We huddled together and it seemed like an eternity before anyone dared to move. The air was full of choking dust, and as everything subsided back to normality, we very shakily ventured back to the main part of the shop. Our legs felt as though they consisted of nothing but jelly. A lot of the female staff were near to hysteria and tears ran down their faces.

We viewed the destruction with horrified eyes. The shop windows had imploded leaving us open to the elements. The bacon rashers, under their covering of dust, were speared with splinters of glass and nearly everything had blown free from the shelves. As I made my way to the shop door, I noticed cans of food rolling across the pavement into the gutter. Across the road, there was a gaping hole in the viaduct, and a few soldiers were emerging from the old school building.

The air was still thick with dust as the rubble subsided into an ungainly heap. Our branch of the International was licensed to sell wines and spirits, and Molly Mitchell made her way to the fixtures that held these expensive items. Amidst the carnage and destruction, it was unbelievable to find that these bottles remained intact. She sent the apprentice to the cellar to bring up some clean cups. She emphasised the word ‘clean’ and she removed a bottle of brandy from the shelf. The apprentice was a little reluctant to go. I am sure he thought the shop was going to collapse on top of him, but he decided to go rather than let anyone think he was scared.

With the cups now assembled before her on a hastily-wiped counter, she opened the bottle and gave us all a drink, which she insisted that we all consume. Then she went to the entrance and called to the soldiers to come across. They were a lot more shaken up than us because they had been a lot nearer to the explosion. They shambled slowly across, supporting one of their comrades who had blood pouring down his face. They were really grateful for the brandy. Then Molly Mitchell took the Canadian soldier up to her flat and gave him simple first-aid by placing a plaster over the nasty gash above his eye. The Canadian soldiers had been doing a course in the school building when the bomb came down.

One very important question remained to be asked. How was the empty bottle of brandy going to be explained away to head office? Molly Mitchell had the answer to that as, without hesitation, she promptly smashed the bottle and threw it down amongst the debris waiting to be cleared up…

As a matter of interest, many years after the war was over, the Canadian soldier who had been cut over the eye, made a pilgrimage back to the shop. He looked such a different person in civilian clothes. He was very sad at not being able to see Molly Mitchell, because for years he had always remembered her kindness to him on the day of the bomb. He had now lost the sight in his eye. I could not fix up a date for him to meet her because he was leaving England later that evening.’

The next stop is Downs Junior School, the location of Take Shelter, the only original WW2 Air Raid Shelter open to the public in the South of England. Take Shelter is only open during certain festivals, or when booking a group tour. The website is here:  takeshelter.org.uk

If you are unable to visit Take Shelter today, you can save some time by heading straight to The Franklin Arms. Listen to the audio from stop 3 to hear about the use of gas-masks in Brighton.

To head to the Franklin Arms from here, walk down Preston Road, passing under the Viaduct to Preston Circus. Turn left after the Duke of York Cinema into Viaduct Road (A23), keep going straight onto Upper Lewes Road, then eventually turn right at Martha Gunn pub onto Edinburgh Road. When you meet up with Lewes Road, The Franklin Arms is across the road to the right.

“Even now at the sound of the siren, that used to herald the approach of enemy aircraft, I get a strange feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach. We lived in Wakefield Road, and I was six years old when war was declared and twelve years old when it ended. I went to Ditchling Road School (now the Downs School) and then in 1944 to Varndean School. There were shelters at the schools and we had to practise how quickly we could evacuate the classroom; in the early part of the war there was also gas mask drill. We carried our gas masks in cardboard boxes with string as a strap. It was a suffocating feeling with a strong smell of rubber when you put your gas mask on, and after a few minutes the perspex screen, which you looked through, steamed up.”

One of the great fears of the British people during the Second World War was that poison gas would be used against civilians. There were also fears that a new gas would be developed that would penetrate civilian gas-masks and would be undetectable in an attack until it started killing people.

Gas masks were issued to the whole population, people were ordered to keep their masks by them at all times and there were gas practices, in which tear-gas was released in public places, to drive this message home. The gas mask itself was ugly and an uncomfortable object to wear; an ever-present and sinister reminder of the horrors of total war.

Under the top playground at Downs Junior School there is an original WW2 Air Raid Shelter and the only original shelter open to the public in the South of England. Take Shelter is an is an immersive museum that allows visitors to go into the shelter and experience what life was like for children in Brighton during the war years. Visitors can view rare local photographs and archive video clips and a bombing simulation.

Take Shelter is open for visits during the Brighton Fringe Festival in May and on Heritage Open Days in September. Access to the exhibit at Take Shelter is very limited: The original staircase entrances have been removed over time and access is only possible via a man-hole.

For more information about Take Shelter, or to get in contact to arrange a visit, go to: takeshelter.org.uk

The next stop is The Franklin Arms pub on Lewes Road. In front of the school, cross Ditchling Road using the pedestrian crossing and go down Upper Hollingdean Road. Pass under the railway bridge into Hollingdean Road until you arrive at Sainsbury’s at the main Lewes Road junction. Follow the pavement round to the right, past the supermarket entrance and cross over Lewes Road using the set of pedestrian crossings at the top of Upper Lewes Road. Continue South towards the seafront. After about 4 blocks, stop outside the Franklin Arms.

There were fifty-six air raids on Brighton although the sirens sounded ‘the alert’ 1,058 times. One hundred and ninety eight Brightonians lost their lives in these raids. The last was on 22 March 1944. On Friday 20th September 1940, The Lewes Road Inn, was completely demolished as the result of a direct hit in a ‘hit and run’ raid by the German bombers on Brighton. There were several casualties, some of which were fatal. The Franklin Arms now stands on the site.

This is a report about the from The Evening Argus, 20th September 1940.

“Rescue parties fought this afternoon to save the lives of a publican and his wife who were among those trapped under the wreckage of a public house wrecked by a direct hit in a hit-and-run raid this morning.

The raider hovered over a thickly populated working-class district and dropped two screaming bombs. Each scored a direct hit, one striking a group of workmen’s houses and the other the public house. Several casualties were caused, some of which were fatal.

Civil Defence workers pulled away tons of wreckage from the inn which was completely demolished. As they fought their way through to the debris they found the landlord and his wife were trapped and they conversed with the landlord as they continued to drag away wreckage to try and reach them. It was later learned that the publican’s wife was dead. The landlord directed the rescuers to a passage between two of the bars where he was trapped. They worked for three hours, but they could get no further response from the landlord.”

The next stop in Brighton station. From the Franklin Arms, continue South on the Lewes Road, past Elm Grove and cross over onto the Level (open park space). Go across the Level, passing the cafe and skate park, to Ditchling Road and cross over, using the pedestrian crossing, into Oxford Street. At the end of Oxford Street, cross over bearing slightly left and go up Ann Street, passing St Bartholomew’s Church. From here, you can take a short route to Brighton station up the Fenchurch walk stairways by the entrance to Sainsbury’s. The stairs and pathway eventually bring you into the pick up point at the back of the station by the car park.

An alternative, step-free route can be taken by turning right at Sainsbury’s into New England Street (where there is a cycle lane) and turning left at the traffic lights into Fleet Street. Take the first right into Stroudley Road, then left into Billinton Way and left again to the pick up point at the back of Brighton Station.

Enter the station through the side entrance on Stroudley Road. Walk through the main atrium and under the ‘Welcome to Brighton’ sign to get to the Queens Road where, after this stop, the walk will continue.

Brighton started the war as a reception area [for evacuees], receiving children from London. In 1940, as a front-line town, it became an evacuation area and sent some of its children away to the north. Rita Packham was one of those evacuated.

“When our teacher at St Mark’s School in Arundel Road told us that we were going to be evacuated, none of us knew what she meant. I think we thought that it was a bit like a long annual Sunday School outing. We thought it was exciting, so why was my mother crying?“

“After a while my father took me home. I still cringe when I hear stories of other evacuees as some of them were badly treated. It is one of the worst memories of my life time, I am sure my mother never realised how unhappy I was.”

From the station’s front entrance, continue South down Queens Road towards the seafront. Pass the Clock Tower and into West Street, stopping just after the old church on the corner of Russell Road.

“We had Canadian troops in Brighton from the beginning of 1942. I did a paper round and I would call on Canadian billets with left over papers, and be invited into their cook-house at St John’s church hall in Knoyle Road for flap jacks and maple syrup, a new treat for me. I attended their weapon training instruction, and at the age of thirteen could strip and reassemble a Bren gun blindfolded.”

On this spot at 76 West Street was the location of the SS Brighton Ice Rink and Sports Stadium. Opened in 1934, originally as a sea-water swimming pool, it was soon converted to a famous ice rink.

“The Canadians were very attractive to the girls, and attracted to the girls; this was because they generally had things which the local population did not have. They had cigarettes, sweets and confectionery of various kinds, they had chewing gum, which was considered a desirable commodity. As a boy, like many others of my age, I used to follow them round and say, ‘Have you got any gum, chum’, the standard phrase used. They were extremely keen on ice hockey, almost their national sport, and this had a spin off on to the local team of Brighton Tigers, famous then, and for a long time after the war, at the SS Brighton, the sports stadium, at the bottom of West Street.”

Continue down West Street to the seafront and cross over Kings Road using the pedestrian crossing to the promenade. Watch out for cyclists as you cross the promenade cycle lane and turn left towards the Palace Pier, stopping in front of the Old Ship Hotel.

“You couldn’t go on the beach. We didn’t take the boats out. The fishing boat that I took over was pulled up on the fishmarket beach, and there it died. It just rotted away.

And underneath the walk, along by the Aquarium, there was big, massive tanks of petrol, ready to roll into the sea, to set the sea alight in case of invasion. I suppose they must have held about ten thousand gallons. They were all the way along underneath the promenade.”

When the Germans occupied France in the Summer of 1940, Brighton became a front-line town under direct threat of invasion from the sea.

Individual citizens were told that when the invasion was signalled by the ringing of church bells, they should keep off the roads (to free them for military traffic) and walk towards London wearing bright clothing, so they would not be shot by mistake as advancing German soldiers.

“Preparation for invasion meant they removed things like signposts, which would help the enemy to find out where they were, and go to place to place if they actually made a landing. It was really quite a silly idea, if you think of it, the military after all normally have maps from some source or other, and would know where they were, whereas the local population tended to be totally foxed when the signs were removed.”

Cross over Kings Road using the pedestrian crossing and turn into Ship Street by the West side of the Old Ship Hotel. Continue along Ship Street and continue left into Dukes Street. At the end of Dukes Street, turn right into West Street and walk up the hill until you reach the Clock Tower.

“We’d go dancing at the Regent three or four times a week, when I was off duty. This was in the days when the manager was a fellow called Lionel Stewart. He and Syd Dean were great ones for handing out free passes to the troops, but there was never a lot of trouble at the Regent when I was on duty in my capacity as a military policeman.”

Where the large Boots Chemist now stands, used to be the location of the Regent Dance Hall. Both here and the Brighton Dome were popular dancing spots during the war.

“At the Regent Ballroom one evening, the sirens went off and a red light flashed whilst everyone was dancing. Armed forces of all nationalities were enjoying the evening. Suddenly, through the glass roof, four incendiary bombs exploded at one end of the dance floor, setting it alight. Screams came from many young girls in a state of panic, all the dancers gradually filed out into Queen’s Road. Canadian soldiers doused the bombs before extra damage was caused.”

Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) was on May 8th 1945. VE Day officially announced the end of World War Two in Europe. It meant an end to nearly six years of a war that had cost the lives of millions; had destroyed homes, families, and cities; and had brought huge suffering and privations to the populations of entire countries.

Millions of people rejoiced in the news that Germany had surrendered, relieved that the intense strain of total war was finally over. In towns and cities across the world, people marked the victory with street parties, dancing and singing. Once more people could use promenades and beaches cleared of mines and barbed wire. The lights came on and people could enjoy each other’s company before returning to the rigours of peace.

VE Day 1945, never was there such rejoicing! Lights went on, fires were lit, it seemed as if all Brighton had congregated around the Clock Tower and West Street. At that time the road was made of tarred wooden blocks, these were ripped up and enormous bonfires were started. I walked home slowly at around 4am.

Gradually, you could see things changing, the street lights came on for the first time, I had never seen a street lit up, it really was a shock. You no longer saw the moon and the stars as brightly!

But it was not the end of the conflict, nor was it an end to the impact the war had on people. The war against Japan did not end until August 1945, and the political, social and economic repercussions of the Second World War were felt long after Germany and Japan surrendered.

All of a sudden there was a big bang at the door and I thought ‘Gosh, who’s that?’ It was Ted back from the war. I have never been so pleased to see somebody. We both cried and laughed together. Beryl came flying in breathless, somebody at the bottom of the road had told her that her dad was home, and the excitement that she showed was really marvellous, lovely … it was a lovely homecoming, you can’t really describe it. You’re quiet, yet you’re happy.

You have now completed this walk.