YEOVIL'S ORDEAL FROM BOMBS
107 DROPPED TEN RAIDS
49 PEOPLE KILLED: 122 INJURED
2,754 HOUSES DAMAGED.

During four years of war Yeovil suffered the effect of enemy action on ten occasions. 107 high explosive bombs were dropped on the town, 49 people were killed or died of injuries, 32 were seriously injured and 90 slightly injured. Sixty-eight houses were totally destroyed, 2,377 were damaged but repairable. 309 had windows broken and were damaged by machine-gun attack, making a grand total of repairable buildings 2,754.

It now possible to disclose these details of Yeovil's experience in enemy raids. During a daylight attack on 26ih March. 1941 bombs fell on houses causing considerable damage. Three men, five women and one child were killed or died of injuries during this attack, one man and eight women were seriously injured and 16 men, nine women and two children were slightly injured.

DIRECT HITS ON SHELTERS.

The most serious raids were on October 7th and 8th 1940. This was Yeovil's first experience bombing. On the first occasion 33 high explosive and 18 oil bombs were dropped, and property destroyed or damaged included Burton's, in Middlesex street, the Methodist Church in Vicarage-street, and property in Grove-avenue and Summerleaze Park and Kingston Estate. On the next day 44 high explosives were dropped in the Preston-grove district. These two raids caused considerable damage and casualties eight men, 15 women, three children, and one unidentifiable person killed over many parts of the town. Two of the bombs made direct hits on shelters, one in Preston-grove, and the other at the Methodist Church, accounting for a number of casualties.

Other raids were of a smaller nature, usually one or two machines. The Mudford-road area was bombed on three occasions, on the 16th October, 1940, when only three people were slightly injured, on 16th May, 1941 (no casualties), and the 25th May of the same year, when one man, three women, and a child were killed. In another of the ten raids, at Yew Tree Close, 9th May, 1941, there were neither killed nor injured, but damage was done to 15 buildings.

Other dates and places where bombs fell are as follows: 12th October, 1940, Church House Penn Hill, Park-street, &c.: 26th March, 1941, Westland area: 12th April, The Borough (five men killed). &c.: 5th August, 1942. Dampier-street. Gordon-road, Grass Royal, &c. (two men and one woman killed). There were also sundry machine-gun attacks, and gunfire which caused repairable damageto 67 buildings.

Heaviest casualties were during 7th October, 1940 (45), 26th March 1941 (45), 5th August. 1942 (28), 12th April, 1941 (19), 8th October, 1940 (14), 25th May, 1941 (12). In the remaining raids there were five casualties on 12th October, 1940, and three on 16th October 1940. Casualties for the borough totalled 171, divided as follows: Killed or died of injuries, 49 (19 men, 24 women, 5 children, 1 unidentifiable body: seriously injured, 32 (9 men, 22 women. 1 child): slightly injured 90 (49 men, 36 women, 5 children).

DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS.

No fewer than 972 houses were damaged in Yeovil's last raid (Dampier-street, Gordon-road, and Grass Royal), and 15 were destroyed or had to be demolished. Next heaviest was the first raid, on the centre of the town, when 22 buildings were destroyed or had to demolished, and 563 were damaged; 296 were damaged on 12th October, 1940 (Church House. Penn Hill. &c).

NO FIRE BOMBS.

No incendiary bombs fell at any time the borough, so that there I were no serious fires from this cause, those which did occur being development's from bombs or gas leakages.

COST OF REPAIRS.

The Town Council are agents for the War Damage Commission in regard to repairs, and to date £24,416 has been expended on first-aid repairs, extended first-aid repairs, permanent repairs, &c. Big buildings still requiring reconstruction include the Methodist Church, business premises in the Borough, Hendford School, and the Corn Exchange.

HOURS ON SIREN DUTY

For air raid purposes Yeovil was part of No. 6 Area, of which Captain A. S. Keep was area organiser, and in this area some three thousand personnel were enrolled the A.R.P. Services by far the greater part being unpaid. At one time wardens and other workers were standing by on siren duty for hours at a time. The longest siren was 13 hours on January 4th-5th, 1941. There were no fewer than 368 alerts recorded for the area covering Yeovil, and when danger materialised the zeal and efficiency of the Wardens and other Services came fully up to expectations.

THE RURAL AREA
MORE RAIDS. FEWER CASUALTIES

The rural area had more raids, fewer casualties and less damage. A hundred and sixty high explosives and approximately 350 incendiaries fell the area.

Altogether 10 rural inhabitants were killed, but in fact their deaths took place in the borough and are included with borough statistics. The heaviest occurred on 7th October, 1940, when five rural inhabitants were killed, 1 seriously injured, and two slightly injured. Next day one rural inhabitant was killed and the final date for casualties was on 26th March, 1941, when three rural inhabitants were killed in Westland area. The tenth death was that of a youth standing in the road who was machine-gunned by an enemy plane on 25th September 1940.

The first bomb in the rural area fell at Yeovilton in July, 1940, when five Yeovil residents were killed, followed by two at Manor Farm, West Coker, on 8th August, and four at Half-way, Ilchester, next day. There were 19 raids, 12 in 1940, four in 1941, and one each in 1942, 1943, and 1944, the last occurring on 24th April this year, when bombs fell at East Stoke and Montacute damaging the road and senior school, and necessitating extensive repairs to mains and telephone cables.

Parishes affected in date order were: 1940 Yeovilton, West Coker, East Coker, South Petherton, North Perrott, Haselburv Plucknett, West Chinnock, Martock, West Chinnock, Tintinhull, Hardington Mandeville, Coker, Brympton, Yeovil Without, Chilthorne Domer, and Closworth: 1941 - West Camel, Mudford, Yeovil Without, Mudford, Yeovil Without, Chllthorne Domer, and Chilton Cantelo. Martock got bombs again in 1942, West Coker in 1943, and East Stoke and Montacure in 1944 .

THE DAMAGE.

No building was totally destroyed in the rural area, but five were seriously damaged, and 407 slightly damaged (excluding broken windows only). Many properties for which claims were made comprised hen-houses or cowsheds. Eight head of cattle were killed.

Heaviest damage was done in the Martock raid when (counting several at West Chinnock), 140 houses were damaged. Next heaviest was in May, 1941, at Mudford and Yeovil Without, when houses were damaged on the 16th. and 77 on the 25th.

Rural Inhabitants occupy houses In Yeovil borough at Westland, and nine houses there were destroyed or almost demolished. 41 others being damaged in the incident of 26th March. 1941. All of these have been made habitable since and one of the nine houses is to be reconstructed. To date the sum of £2,400 approximately has been spent on first-aid repairs and certain permanent repairs.