WE'VE had an overwhelming response after our request for memories of the bombing of Chapelhay in Weymouth during the Second World War.

The request was sparked by Chapelhay recently being referred to as 'a bombsite' with traders calling for an overdue clean-up.

But after reading the memories of this very real situation in 1940, the modern day comparison seems very far removed from the horror of the situation in Chapelhay.

During the Second World War 500 bombs rained on Weymouth.

One landmine practically demolished the whole of Chapelhay.

Firstly thank you to Albert Croad of Salwayash, Bridport, who provided Looking Back with the names of those who were killed in the bombing - we'll be publishing them in full next week.

Mr Croad said: "Chapelhay was bombed on Sunday December 17 1940 at 9pm.

"Two parachute mines were dropped, one in the Chapelhay area and one in Bincleaves Road."

Rex Purchase got in touch to share his memories.

He said: "The area I lived in (Chapelhay), was extensively bombed during the war and we were twice bombed out of our house in 1940.

"We returned toSt. Leonards Road in the Chapelhay area in 1943, as our original house in Oakley Place was badly damaged and no longer habitable."

When we featured the request for information on the Chapelhay bombing, we asked for clarification of what the street fighting area was used for.

One of the photos we published showed the bombed-out St Leonard's Road and Spring Gardens are in about 1949.

Writing on the wall showed that this derelict site was used as a 'Street Fighting Area' by the forces.

Mr Purchase told Looking Back: "The Americans used these damaged houses as a 'Street Fighting Area' where they trained for later combat.

"I recall most of all the sweet sickly smell of the smoke bomb canisters that the Americans used in their practice.

"This caused a somewhat dense fog to spread down the street, making things very difficult for all involved and, as I understood, caused some health problems.

"My personal recollections as a youngster, of these American times were mainly ones of excitement.

"Of particular interest to all of us youngsters in the Chapelhay area, were the huge American convoys.

"This was for two main reasons. Being in Chapelhay meant that we had to cross the Weymouth harbour bridge to get to school at the Holy Trinity School in Commercial road.

"These huge long convoys of men and equipment wound their way regularly over the bridge and along the quay, which resulted in us not being able to cross the bridge for some considerable time, making us very late for school.

"As an added bonus we were able to have a very close up view of a large range of equipment."

Mr Purchase remembers the American soldiers who were stationed in Weymouth and Portland as being 'very generous'.

He said: "We were on strict food rationing for several years, and the amount of food that were available to the Americans was enormous with respect to our meagre rations.

"The sweets and chewing gum were readily available to us youngsters, although we were forbidden by our parents to ask for it.

"The expression “Got any gum chum?” was considered to be very discourteous by my parents.

"The American soldiers often gave us “lifesaver” sweets, which were like fruit flavoured polos.

"I believe they were in packets of 25 and when we took them home to our family, we often got into trouble for accepting them.

"Nylon stockings were another great attraction for the girls, but I was too young to fully understand why!

"When the Street Fighting training was in progress we youngsters were often asked if we had any older sisters at home, which I did, but I do not recall them having any nylons.

"It was also the first time that we had ever seen for real a black person, as many of the American soldiers were black."

Mr Purchase's dad was a member of the Civil Defence First Aid section.

*Next week we'll be publishing more readers' memories of the Chapelhay bombing. If you haven't got in touch yet you can do so by writing to us or emailing joanna.davis@dorsetecho.co.uk or calling 01305 830973.