Died December 16th 1942
Maureen was only two years old when she died in the bombing which took place in Bridport on December 16th 1942.
Her parents were William Joseph, and Hilda nee Lathey, and at the time the 1939 Register was taken, they were living at Lownsend Cottages near Askerswell. They had been married in Bridport in July of the same year and Maureen was born in 1940. The family moved to 88A Riverside, East Street.
It was a dull day in Bridport on December 16th, 1942. There was thick cloud when a German bomber appeared overhead and circled the town. Anti-aircraft guns were fired as the plane overflew the centre of town dropping four bombs as it passed over West Street and East Street.
One of the bombs lodged in the doorway of the Westminster Bank in West Street, but it did not explode. Another, landed on the cottages behind Jowletts Antique Shop in East Street-the site today of the car park (2022).
A third bomb landed in the fields opposite the Masonic Hall at the end of East Street, causing no casualties but leaving a large crater. However, there were casualties at this end of town.
One bomb fell on the houses at 92 -96 East Street , killing three of the people in the area at that time. Maureen was one of the victims – the youngest of Bridport’s civilian casualties.
She was there, at the home of her grandparents Thomas and Hetty Lathey, who were almost certainly taking care of her, while her mother was at work. Hilda was employed in Dorchester as a typist for the Post Office (1942) and William, who had been employed as a motor mechanic was serving as a Driver in the Royal Army Service Corps
The grandparents lived at 100 East street – just two doors down from the direct hit of the fourth bomb.
Maureen was buried in Bridport Cemetery.
Edit:
Nick Cross writes:
Some of the detail in the article about Maureen Willcox is incorrect. Hilda, her mother, never worked for the post office in Dorchester; throughout the war she worked at the Palace cinema in Bridport. They also never lived at Askerswell, they lived in Litton Cheney. Hilda (my gran) was also in the building with Maureen when the bomb hit – I have clear memories of her telling me how she regained consciousness in the wreckage and was pulled out to safety by a gentleman whose name I cannot remember.