Events honour 26 women killed in Great Yarmouth WW2 bombing
- Published
The women were in the Auxiliary Territorial Service providing army support services including car mechanics, despatch riders and signallers
Events have been held around the UK to mark the 80th anniversary of the biggest loss of life of British servicewomen in World War Two.
The 26 women were killed in a bombing raid at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 11 May 1943. Only one woman survived.
Eric Beckett, 87, who saw the moment the building collapsed, said: "That so many had died shocked us."
The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) Association, external held commemorations in the hometowns of each servicewoman.
They had been billeted to a small hotel on Great Yarmouth's North Drive when it was bombed in 1943
It was the first co-ordinated event to remember and honour the victims, only half of whom have been remembered on war memorials in their home towns.
Paula Rogers, CEO of the WRAC Association, said: "The WRAC Association charity continues to work in honour of our servicewomen, alive and deceased, ensuring that none are forgotten."
The women, mostly in their early 20s and from towns across the UK, were killed when German fighter bombers attacked their quarters in Great Yarmouth's North Drive.
They served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), external and lived in a building which housed ATS signallers, part of the 103rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, external.
Kathleen Mary Gaunt was 20 when she died. She will be remembered at an event at her hometown Bingley, Yorkshire
Mr Beckett, who was eight years old in May 1943, saw "what looked like a torpedo, it was almost touching the sea".
"I peered over to see a building collapsing across the North Drive with lots of dust coming from it," he said from Western Australia, where he now lives.
"Then all went quiet, except for explosions around the town."
Fourteen bombs were dropped on the seaside town that day, killing 49 people in total.
Mr Beckett said: "It wasn't until a day or so later that we realised the house we saw collapsing across the North Drive was the same house where we had played games with the ATS girls.
"That so many had died shocked us - those ATS girls, who gave us so much joy, have always had a special place in my heart."
Some of the women were buried in nearby Caister-on-Sea
They included Corp Enid Line, who was 23, and had worked at the Bank of England before joining up in 1942.
Her sister Marjorie Thomson said: "I had always looked up to Enid and wished I could be more like her, with her cheerful, friendly manner.
"Her sudden, tragic death was a devastating blow."
People gathered at the ATS accommodation in Great Yarmouth for the commemoration
The events were held at 14:00 BST, external, with the main act of commemoration taking place at the site of the ATS accommodation in Great Yarmouth.
Commemorations will also take place at the Bank of England and New Southgate Cemetery, both in London; Oxbridge Lane Cemetery, Stockton-on-Tees; St Lawrence's Church, Fulstow, Lincolnshire; Handsworth New Cemetery Sheffield; Bingley Cemetery, Yorkshire; The Veterans Monument, Glasgow; St Mary's Church, Rolleston, Staffordshire; Holy Trinity Churchyard, Besthorpe, Lincolnshire; St Cuthbert Churchyard, Corenside, Northumberland; Nigg War Memorial, Ross & Cromarty; High Peak, Derbyshire; Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh; Doncaster Cenotaph; Bournmouth Cemetery; Scartho Road Cemetery, Grimsby, and Louth War Memorial, both in Lincolnshire; Town and County War Memorial, Northampton; Aston-cum-Aughton Cemetery, Rotherham; Hessle Cemetery, East Riding of Yorkshire; Holbeck Cemetery, Leeds; St Joseph's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Moston, Lancashire; St Nicholas' Churchyard, Gosforth, Northumberland.
The victims ranged in age from 18 to 31 years old and came from all around the UK
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- Published11 May 2022
