A RICH slice of Poole's fascinating maritime and aviation history is about to be brought soaring back to life.

For eight years during the 1940s, Poole Harbour hummed to the daily take-off and landing of glamorous flying boats which flew all over the world.

Wealthy passengers - and, during the Second World War, generals and spies - came to Poole to fly to all corners of the Empire.

Now a handful of local residents aim to pay homage to those pioneer days and provide a lasting memorial of those days of luxury flight for the Diamond Jubilee.

Ken Sanson, chairman of the Poole Flying Boats Celebration trustees, explained: "We discovered there was nothing for youngsters to latch on to as evidence of the flying boats that came and went in that period."

They intend to put that right with a trail of stone plinths at points around the harbour telling the story of this important piece of local history.

But it is more significant than that. The harbour played an important role in aviation history, as Leslie Dawson, author of Wings Over Dorset, explains.

"Poole Harbour was the birthplace of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), the forerunner of BA," he said. "Really it is the birthplace of British Airways."

Until the outbreak of the Second World War, the passenger and mail-carrying "boats" flew from Southampton, but heavy bombing of the port led to their relocation along the coast at Poole.

The harbour became as busy as a modern regional airport, with a fleet of 32 Empire Boats keeping open essential lines of communication, flying mail and people across the world during the darkest days of the war.

Laid out across the harbour were five main "trotways", or water runways, which will feature on plinths, along with some of the important buildings.

Passengers enjoyed stop-overs at the Harbour Heights Hotel, and were taken to the departure lounge at the Salterns Hotel where they boarded launches to their flying boat.

Among many illustrious passengers were King George VI, Winston Churchill, Lord Louis Mountbatten and General Charles de Gaulle, who travelled in four-engined planes capable of carrying 24 passengers in comfort for 700 miles at 200 knots.

As well as the commercial flights, Sunderland military flying boats flew from RAF Hamworthy, later replaced by Catalinas, and there were seaplanes from 765 RN Seaplane Training Squadron at Sandbanks.

Trustee David Artal said: "We really want to try and get the local schools interested in this and build it into the school history curriculum."

One official launch, supported by Poole's Mayor, Cllr Jeff Allen and MPs Robert Syms and Annette Brooke has been held and another takes place at the Harbour Heights on Thursday.

"This is a great thing for Poole tourism," said trustee Leon Ellis.

"We are trying to do a good turn for Poole as a whole."

However, for the project to succeed, they need sponsorship.

"The more money we have, the more plinths we can put up," said Mr Sanson.

The era may be long gone, and there are only two still flying, but the trustees' ambition is for Poole harbour to once again throb to the sound of flying boats.

The Southern Cross, now at the Solent Sky Aviation Museum at Southampton, was the last to fly into Poole in 1976, and there is another Sunderland conversion in Florida.

"We are aiming to do a flypast," said Mr Dawson.

"If we could get the US one across, that would be fabulous."

l Anyone interested in sponsorship can contact Ken Sanson on 01202 708762 - and there is a website at pooleflyingboats.com