History of WW2 in Torquay - By David Scott author of the Funk Hole Myth - CyberHeritage

[@nigelparker5886]

Great story and very well told-too, Cheers

[@markaxworthy2508]

I would also question "642 air braids". Precautionary air raid warnings, perhaps, but these would have included those for any target in Devon, including the Plymouth and Exeter blitzes, and possibly some on south-west Wales. Furthermore, most of the raids were by pairs of light fighter bombers, not by mass bomber fleets. According to an online site, 13 raids caused injury or death in Torquay. The information given here needs to be heavily qualified.

[@markaxworthy2508]

11,000 buildings in Torquay were "badly damaged" (00:54)? According to the 1931 Census, Torquay then had only 9,785 "structurally separate dwellings." This would have dehoused virtually the entire population, which was about 50,000 in 1940. I suspect one, or possibly even a second, stray "0" has crept in. According to an online site, "137 houses were completely destroyed; the number of war-damaged properties is not known but was high."

[@markaxworthy2508]

Circumstantially it seems possible that Torquay was used as a bolt hole from the Blitz. And why not? There is no particular merit in staying to endure the Blitz, if one didn't have to. Evacuee children were OFFICIALLY sent to Torbay, so there was clearly no shame in it in principle. My great uncle had an evacuee boy in Paignton who contacted me only about five years ago. Reading between the lines of our conversation, he doesn't seem to have been particularly happy, possibly because, having no children of their own, my great uncle and great aunt didn't really know how to make children at home. I suspect that the newspaper articles were aimed at upper middle class families with second homes or family homes and relatives in areas like Babbacombe where they could seek relative safety. This was not an option available to the working classes of the cities and must have created understandable resentment exploitable by the newspapers. One thing is for sure, Torquinians can't be accused of using the town as a "funk hole", because they already lived here. Only outsiders could have used it as a bolt hole and, even if they did, this doesn't reflect on Torquay or Torquinians.

[@markaxworthy2508]

What evidence is there that the Luftwaffe bombed the Palace Hotel "deliberately" (02:52) because it contained convalescing RAF aircrew? How did they know this? Germany had no functioning agents in the UK by 1942. The Palace was probably the largest single building in Torquay. It was arguably the outstanding target of opportunity for a low flying fighter bomber at speed. Other targets were also hit in Torquay on the same day. It should also be remembered that "Most of the major hotels in Torquay were eventually taken over for military use. The RAF came first, arriving in Babbacombe in June 1940 to set up a Training establishment, followed by another at Torre Abbey in September 1941. Several hotels were commandeered for accommodation purposes and the Training establishments extended to the Grand Hotel." The Germans had some reason to be suspicious of the purposes Torquay's major hotels were being put to at the time.