20th Century Dover
Dover's twentieth century history has
been dominated by the two World Wars.
World War One
During the 1914-1918 war Dover became
one of the most important military centres in Britain. Vast amounts
of men crossed from Dover to France.
The harbour was home to the Dover
Patrol, a varied collection of warships and fishing vessels which
protected Britain's vital control of the channel. The first bomb to
be dropped on England fell near Dover Castle on Christmas Eve
1914.
Regular shelling from warships and
bombing from aeroplane and zeppelin forced residents to shelter in
caves and dug-outs. The town became known as 'Fortress Dover' and
was put under martial law.
World War II
During the 1939-1945 World War, Dover
again became a town of considerable military importance. In May
1940, over 200,000 of the 338,000 men evacuated from Dunkirk passed
through Dover filling the town and railway station with soldiers,
sailors and airmen. Vice Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay controlled the
evacuation from his headquarters in tunnels beneath the castle.
Both shells and bombs fell on Dover
causing 3,059 alerts and killing 216 civilians. 10,056 premises
were damaged and many had to be demolished. Dover became a symbol
for Britain's wartime bravery, the centre of East Kent's 'Hellfire
Corner'.