HE WAS only a small boy during the Second World War.

But Lionel Fynn has some vivid memories of snapshots of the conflict, growing up in Bournemouth.

And those memories have prompted a lifelong interest and fascination in that turbulent period of history.

So much so that one of his treasured possessions is a fascinating book of aerial reconnaissance pictures of the UK – including many of Dorset and Hampshire, taken by Luftwaffe pilots.

He bought it at auction several years ago for “quite of lot of money” and describes it as “a real piece of authentic history, an incredible record of our country in wartime and the activities of the Germans”.

The solicitor, who lives in Southbourne, was born in 1940.

His first real memory of the war was one fateful day in 1943, the day of the Metropole bombing.

“I still remember it very vividly,” said Lionel. “It was Sunday and my mother and father were inside cooking the lunch and I was outside in the garden of our home in Southbourne, opposite Wentworth School.

“Then suddenly these huge planes, at least they seemed huge to me, swooped over, really low, almost touching the tops of the trees.

“I could see the pilots clearly and waved at that, because obviously I didn’t know they were the Luftwaffe.

“My father came rushing, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and we ran back inside the house. “At that age, the war was all a game to me.

“I was fascinated to see the aircraft because my parents were always pointing out dog fights in the sky which I could never see. My mother thought I was being awkward but she had no idea at that time that I was very short-sighted!”

It was not until years later that Lionel knew of the significance of that day, Sunday May 23.

Shortly after, he remembers a huge anti-aircraft gun being placed on the nearby cliff top.

Another time, Lionel recalls his father Charles walking out of the Anderson shelter during a dogfight and leaving the door open.

His mother called after him loudly: “Don’t get yourself killed and leave me to bring up this boy!”

The following year, Lionel has clear recollections of one of the most significant dates of the Second World War, June 6 1944.

“We were standing on the cliffs and the vast expanse of water crammed with ships heading away from us. “I didn’t really know what they were doing or where they were heading but I think I realised it was very important. “There were lots of people on the cliff watching.

“The US Army has taken over Wentworth School and I could see them from my bedroom window. “At the same time as all these ships set sail, the soldiers disappeared.”

The beaches of Bournemouth were off limits during the war and in the immediate aftermath, but Lionel’s mother, Maud, took him down to paddle in the water in 1946 – a trip that was captured on camera for posterity.

“I went into the sea for the first time. It was a very strange experience. The fortifications put up to deter an invasion were still there.”

Of his purchase of the Luftwaffe book – stamped ‘Berlin 1943’ on the cover and titled Luftgeographisches Einzelheft Grosbritannien, Lionel said: “I bought it a long time ago and I seem to remember I paid quite a lot for it but it was worth it. “It is a fascinating piece of real history. Typically German, very thorough and precise. “It shows very clearly how detailed and serious their plans were to invade Great Britain at one stage.

Worst day

SUNDAY May 23 1943 was the worst day of the war in Bournemouth.
A squadron of the Luftwaffe’s Focke Wulfes wreaked terrible loss of life on the town in just a few minutes.

Estimates of the number killed that day have ranged from 70 to 200, although Angela Beleznay – in her book Incident 48 – suggests the most likely figure is 131.

The buildings targeted that day included Cairns House; West’s Cinema; the Metropole Hotel at the Lansdowne; the Central Hotel at Richmond Hill; the Shamrock and Rambler coach station at Holdenhurst Road; and Beales department store.

Twenty-two buildings were destroyed and 3,354 damaged.

Eighty-one civilians died along with 16 RAF personnel, seven from Royal Australian Air Force, 11 from the Royal Canadian Air Force, six navy and Army personnel and six US infantrymen.
 

One of the dead was a 21-month-old boy. One German pilot was shot down and another crashed on landing at Caen.

Aerial images

THE book contains over 300 pages of aerial pictures and maps taken across the south of England from Kent to Cornwall.
Dorset and Hampshire feature prominently.
 

There are photos of Christchurch and its harbour entrance, Bournemouth seafront and pier and the port of Poole.
 

Some of the pictures are taken from high altitude, others from much lower.
There is a large amount of technical detail supplied for each area in terms of distances, directions and local landmarks.
 

The book devotes seven pages to Portland and its port, Dorchester is also featured and there close-up images of Lulworth Castle, the Cerne Abbas Giant and Corfe Castle.