A NEW book gives a first-hand account of life in Poole at the time of the Second World War air raids.
The book entitled ‘Fred Sturgeon’s Poole War Diary & Other Writings’ has been published by Parkstone-based author Ed Perkins.
Frederick Oliver Sturgeon moved to Poole with his family when he landed a job as the Poole reporter for the Bournemouth Daily Echo in 1922.
He remained with the paper for 26 years before becoming assistant curator at Poole Museum.
During the Second World War, Sturgeon wrote monthly accounts of what was happening across the town.
Sturgeon suggests there were as many as 48 German air raids on Poole.
They devastated buildings and resulted in the deaths of 68 civilians.
Ed Perkins, who also worked for many years as a journalist on the Bournemouth Echo, said: “I came across what Fred Sturgeon called his Poole War Diary when volunteering at Dorset History Centre, helping catalogue the Poole Borough Archives.
“Reading Sturgeon’s partly typed and partly hand-written record brought home the shadow that hung over life in Poole during the war years”.
The book, which includes many images of bomb damage in Poole, also looks at the life and other writings of Sturgeon, who was born in London, went to sea at 14, fought against a Zulu uprising, and served as a soldier in the First World War.
He wrote about everything from his experience on the Western Front to volunteering as a Special Constable in Poole during the General Strike of 1926.
Ed added: “The monthly summaries, however, from the Second World War are at the heart of the book and a stark reminder of what was arguably the biggest story in Poole’s history.”
Ed is also the author of Britain’s Forgotten Traitor, about 58-year-old man who came into Britain on a flying boat to Poole to spy for the Nazis.
Fred Sturgeon’s Poole War Diary & Other Writings by Ed Perkins, published through the Independent Publishing Network, costs £13.
