VIDEO: Memorial to victims of "Bournemouth's bleakest day" unveiled today

SURVIVORS of Bournemouth's most notorious wartime bombing raid gathered at a memorial ceremony on the site of of the former Metropole Hotel today.

A five minute German air raid killed 130 people and destroyed 22 buildings across Bournemouth.

Read the stories of the 130 killed

Mayor Phil Stanley-Watts was joined by Armed Forces dignitaries from the RAF, Canada and Australia to unveil a plaque to those who died in the raid on May 23, 1943.

Among the local residents who turned out to watch the event was 88-year-old Esme Lambert, who had been enjoying a shandy at the hotel with her father on the day of the bombing.

Her father, railway worker James Wood, was trapped in the wreckage by the blast, suffering severe head injuries, after his daughter headed home.

Fortunately her brother Bill was able to locate him as he always sat in the same part of the bar.

"Dad recovered from his injuries, he was just furious they ruined his bowler hat," she said. "It was a very nice ceremony, but I was hoping to see more Bournemouth people here, people I knew at school."

See all our pictures from the unveiling

Bombing survivor Vernon Masterman was trapped in rubble when a bomb demolished his street, as he and his mother rushed for the nearest shelter. "It was a very moving ceremony," he said.
"Much more so for those of us who were there at the time. I was only four at the time but I still remember it vividly.

"I was trapped in the rubble for four hours. Now whenever I smell rubble it brings it all back."

The ceremony opened with a welcome by mayor's chaplain the Rev Dr Ian Terry, who dedicated the memorial.

The mayor, Phil Stanley-Watts, spoke about the "vital" role Bournemouth played in the Second World War.

He said: "Nearly all the hotels and large buildings in the town were requisitioned for the war effort.

"For more than 30 years there have been calls from both sides of the Atlantic and further afield for a lasting memorial."

He said the raid was "embedded in the psyche" of the town. 

"A small number of people remember this tragic event, it is fitting that a memorial should be unveiled here today on its 70th anniversary."

The event, organised by Bournemouth Council, provoked some criticism from survivors who weren't invited.

Rhona Taylor, who was six when German bombs destroyed the garden she had been playing in moments before, said: "There are so few of us left, I feel we could have been invited. I feel quite hurt. But the ceremony was very tastefully done and very moving."

RAF Air Commodore David Lee paid tribute to the people of the town for their dignity and fortitude in the face of the attack.

He also praised the "tens of thousands" of service personnel from around the world who "stood side-by-side with us against tyranny".