Bournemouth At War / FIRST CIVILIAN DEATH Traditional Cache

Bournemouth has a great history. I have documented many famous people, major events and occurrences in previous geocaching series highlighting the history of Bournemouth. This series focuses on many of the key incidents and stories in the town when Bournemouth was at war. A complete list of all the caches in this series are bookmarked.

1940 was the first full year of WWII. Whilst much of the start of the war was about getting ready for what was to come, and to keep the community of Bournemouth safe, 1940 started coming under attack half way through the year.



It was on 10th July 1940 that the first civilian death in Bournemouth occurred at 6:30am when an enemy plane dropped five high explosive bombs in the Meon Road area. They fell on common land, on allotments and in the Meon and Hambledon Roads. Mr Harold E. Vatter was cycling to work as a gardener at Dean’s Nursery in Curzon Road when he was fatally injured.

The location of this cache is at the former church where Harold Vatter was buried, next to his father who had died a few years earlier. The new owner of the building has confirmed that access to the gravestones at the rear of the building can be reached by following the path on the right after entering the gates. To find this cache you will not need to enter the grounds.