Wartime 

First World War 1914 - 1918 and Second World War 1939 - 1945

Hove and Portslade played an active role during both World Wars. In World War I, Hove Cricket Ground, Brunswick Lawns and some local parks were used for military training. Hospitals opened on Portland Road, Holland Road and Dyke Road, whilst German Officers were imprisoned in this building. Several local businesses became munitions factories making shell boxes, fuses and hand grenades. By the close of the war 641 Hove residents and 89 from Portslade Village had been killed in action.

Nineteen days after World War II was declared in September 1939, the Allied Supreme War Council met at Hove Town Hall. Prime Minister Chamberlain and the French Premier Daladier were flown into Shoreham Airport for the meeting and later lunched at the Princes Hotel.

HMS King Alfred on Hove's seafront, became the home of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. It trained over 22,500 naval recruits including actors Sir Alec Guinness and Sir Michael Horden and broadcasters Richard Baker and Sir Ludovic Kennedy.

Hove suffered 27 air raids during World War II, although there were over 1,000 alerts. 4,000 buildings were damaged and 80 destroyed completely, 29 civilians lost their lives and hundreds more were injured. Portslade also suffered bomb damage but accurate figures were not recorded.

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