Return to 
War Menu

Bomb Strikes: The Mines

     

One of the most devastating explosions to hit Whitstable wasn't a bomb in the conventional sense at all. It was a mine that fell at the junction of Victoria and Regent Streest. Sadly, two people died..... 

  

I lived in Harbour Place during the war, next door to Mr & Mrs Keam. We then moved to Albert Street, just after a mine wiped out the buildings in Victoria Street.

Tom Swire
Australia

   

The street was never fully rebuilt and, in the aftermath of war, it became a cinder car park open for public use. It remains a car park to this day - albeit resurfaced and restricted to residents only.

 

The scene today: A car park occupies the bomb site created by the mine at the junction of Victoria and Regent Streets.

 

During an exchange of emails, Brian Smith remarked that the incident may have been a tragic accident as the mine may simply have been intended for the waters of the Thames estuary. Sea mines were dropped by means of large parachutes and it is possible that this one drifted on the prevailing wind.

Two other mines hit Whitstable but these were less damaging. One dropped on land behind Joy Lane. The other fell on the foreshore adjacent to Wave Crest.

   

Return to War Menu:
 

The Simply Whitstable Web Site