William Arthur Smith benson

Southend during World War II

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Southend became an essential part of the British war machine.[1] In 1939, the Royal Navy had commandeered Southend Pier, renaming it HMS Leigh,[2] with the Army building a concrete platform on the Prince George extension to house anti-aircraft guns. The navy also took over the Royal Terrace for its personnel.[3] The pier was used by the navy to help control the River Thames, along with the Thames Estuary boom that was built at Shoebury Garrison during 1939, and organised over 3,000 East Coast convoys by the end of the war.[4][5][6] HMS Leigh was attacked by the Germans on the 22 November when they dropped magnetic mines and machine gunned the pier, but none of the mines caused any damage and the navy's anti-aircraft guns destroyed one of the German planes. It was the last time there was a concentrated attack on the pier.[7] Southend Airport was requisition by the RAF at the outbreak of war, becoming a satellite of Hornchurch and being renamed RAF Rochford.[8]

On 31 May 1940, six cockle fishing boats: the Endeavour, Letitia, Defender, Reliance, Renown and the Resolute were joined by the Southend lifeboat Greater London at the pier on their way to assist at the Dunkirk evacuation.[9][10] By June 1940, much of the town was sealed off, with all bar 10% of the population that were engaged in essential services, evacuated and only military personnel remaining.[11]


In 1942, the area along the seafront from the Pier to Chalkwell was transformed into HMS Westcliff, a huge naval transit and training camp run by Combined Operations.[12][13]

  1. ^ Ian Yearsley (2022). Secret City of Southend. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781398111554.
  2. ^ Michael Foley (2008). Front-Line Thames. History Press. ISBN 9780750952392.
  3. ^ David C. Rayment (2023). Celebrating the City of Southend. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781398115811.
  4. ^ Bennett, Eric G. (2012). Pull Up the Ladder Jack: Seamen Behaving Badly. Xlibris Corporation. p. 22. ISBN 9781479734757.
  5. ^ "Southend-on-Sea". The Local Historian. Vol. 32–33. National Council of Social Service. 2002. p. 6.
  6. ^ L. M. Bates (1980). The Spirit of London's River Memoirs of the Thames Waterfront. Gresham Books. p. 120. ISBN 9780905418438.
  7. ^ Rachel Lichtenstein (2016). Estuary. Out from London to the Sea. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9780141911533.
  8. ^ Ian M. Philpott (2007). Royal Air Force History. Royal Air Force - an Encyclopaedia of the Inter-War Years - Vol II. Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 270. ISBN 9781844153916.
  9. ^ Adam Culling (2023). Essex's Military Heritage. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781398103085.
  10. ^ "Greater London (Civil Service No. 3), Southend-on-Sea". RNLI. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  11. ^ Cuthbert Lindsay Dunn (1952). The Emergency Medical Services: England and Wales. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 106.
  12. ^ John Lee (2023). A Grateful Nation Soon Forgot. The Remarkable Story of Southend's Contribution in Defence of the Nation. Paragon Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 9781399949606.
  13. ^ "Secret life of HMS Westcliff". Evening Echo. 28 September 2007.
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