Tales of war-torn Brighton

As communities across the Channel celebrate the anniversary of France’s liberation from Nazi occupation, reproductions of Brighton Behind The Front are being sold in aid of Oxfam.

First published by QueenSpark Books in 1990, the collection of archive material, diary entries and first-hand accounts of how the conflict shook the city is now on sale at the charity’s Kensington Gardens bookshop.

A team of 15 compiled the original book, which is now presented in a faithful reproduction thanks to digital scanning technology.

It also features archive extracts and pictures from The Argus, the University of Brighton, University of Sussex, and the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove.

The second publication comes as the nation marks the 70th anniversary since the D-Day landings and last week several French towns and cities were decked in Tricolour flags, hosting events to remember the day German soldiers relinquished control of settlements in 1944.

Contributor Alistair Thomson, during an introduction to the work, said: “For young Brightonians and visitors to the town there is much in Brighton Behind The Front which will be strange and shocking. For an older generation who lived through the war, the book will revive forgotten stories as well as well-rehearsed wartime anecdotes.

“It will provoke both negative and positive memories, and some sections may be upsetting.”

He said the book is not intended as a comprehensive history, but as a starting point for revisiting memories of the period and how it affected people’s lives.

He said: “We hope readers will become writers and will send us their responses and corrections, as well as their own memories of the war.”

An account of an air raid on September 14, 1940, tells of how cannon fire narrowly missed injuring a family living near St George’s Terrace.

They ducked for shelter under sinks and tables as glass and rubble fell around them.

In the same bombing, the wreckage of buildings on Upper Bedford Street are captured in pictures. The newly built Marine Flats were also damaged, among other buildings.

Entries from a 1939 to 1940 logbook from the Intermediate Girls School in York Place, Brighton, tells how air raids disrupted lessons regularly and pictures show girls taking cover in the school’s shelter, fitted with lanterns in case the electricity failed.

Meanwhile, rationing and a drive for self-sufficiency saw pigs kept in outdoor pens by the Royal Pavilion and volunteer-run field kitchens popping up to provide victims of severe bombing with hot food and drinks while damaged energy supplies were repaired.

Contributor Brian Dungate said: “Virtually everyone tried to grow something, wherever they could, so even very small backyards would be turned over to raising some sort of vegetables, or perhaps rhubarb, which was a popular way of filling someone with a dessert.”

The threat of poisonous gas attacks, the life of evacuees, invasion preparations and keeping up morale with outdoor dancing are also explored in the book.

Hayley Cuttings, manager of the Oxfam Bookshop in Kensington Gardens, Brighton, said: “Any publication which we are permitted to sell is a great help, and we very much appreciate it.

“We often have customers seeking books about Brighton and its history, so this is certainly sparking interest and we are continuing to sell it.

It also ties in with a number of displays around the city, such as a recent exhibition put on by the Pavilion to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, uncovering how the injured were treated in hospitals across the city.

A Second World War exhibition is on display in Brighton Museum’s Exploring Brighton gallery and even more pictures are available to view at http://www.brightonmuseums- collections.org.uk/ QueenSpark Books is a small, Brighton-based publisher run by volunteers, which has told a score of unheard stories about the area.

Copies of the book cost £11.99 from Oxfam Bookshop, Kensington Gardens, Brighton.

For more information, call the Oxfam Bookshop on 01273 698093 or QueenSpark Books on 01273 571710.