Joan Heckford remembers when the Luftwaffe bombed Bournemouth in 1943 and a stranger saved her life.
The teenager was on her way home from Pier Approach Baths when a man from the Royal Arms or the Prince of Wales pub bundled her into the doorway of Whittaker & Petre in Commercial Road and attempted to cover her with his raincoat to prevent flying shards from injuring her.
Many were killed in the air raid. Among premises to be hit in the centre of town were Beales, the Central Hotel and adjoining church in Richmond Hill, plus the Metropole Hotel at the Lansdowne. The frontage of Bobby's collapsed on the pavement shortly before Joan passed the store.
Joan's father, Les Heckford, had himself escaped the fate of 34 workmates in the 1941 bombing of Bourne Valley Gasworks. He had already survived WW1 service as a driver in the Royal Horse Artillery.
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