Palace Hotel (RAF Hospital), Babbacombe
25 October 1942 · Torquay, Devon
View this record on the map →- Date
- 25 October 1942
- Record type
- Historic bombing area
- Bomb type
- HE
- Casualties
- 21
- Location
- Torquay, Devon
- Position accuracy
- Confirmed event, approximate point (the hotel was demolished in 2020)
What happened
Four Focke-Wulf 190s attacked the requisitioned Palace Hotel, then in use as an RAF officers' hospital, despite a large red cross painted on its roof. A direct hit severed the east wing and a second bomb on the adjacent road wrecked the west wing. The hospital had 203 patients at the time; all theatres and examination rooms were destroyed, so only basic first aid could be given at the scene.
Casualty note
Disputed. RAF medical-service histories give 21: 14 officers, five staff and two Home Guard. Some local hotel histories put the toll at 64. The lower, archive-derived figure is used here.
Also worth knowing
The hospital never reopened. The building was attacked again on 8 January 1943 while under care and maintenance, without casualties, and was not used as a hotel again until 1948. It was demolished in 2020.