Odeon Cinema, Kemp Town
14 September 1940 · Brighton & Hove, East Sussex
View this record on the map →- Date
- 14 September 1940
- Record type
- Historic bombing site
- Bomb weight
- 50kg
- Location
- Brighton & Hove, East Sussex
- Position accuracy
- Confirmed event, landmark point
What happened
A lone Dornier Do 17, pursued by Spitfires, jettisoned twenty 50kg bombs over Kemp Town at about half past three on a Saturday afternoon. Two struck the Odeon cinema at 38 St George's Road during a children's matinee.
Casualty note
Published figures for the raid range from 52 to 59 killed, of whom roughly six to twelve died inside the cinema itself. Royal Pavilion & Museums gives 52 across the raid; other accounts give 54 or 59.
Also worth knowing
Brighton's deadliest air raid of the war. Other bombs fell in Edward Street, Upper Rock Gardens, Hereford Street, Upper Bedford Street, Rock Street and Kemp Town Place.