Invasion – D Day
Invasion – D Day Southampton had a vital role in the WWII D Day preparations with two thirds of the initial British Assault Force leaving from here. Southampton became Military Area C with the town, in effect, sealed off to civilians. The trees on either side of the Avenue were allowed to grow over forming a tunnel to hide the road from the air. Many of those trees were lost to the Dutch Elm outbreak in the 1970’s. The Mulberry Harbour which played a pivotal part in Operation Overlord was built here in Southampton. In the King George V Graving Dock some of the outer protecting bombardons were assembled. The whole unit was towed by some 200 tugs to Arramanches where some parts still remain. The Pipe Line Under The Ocean (P.L.U.T.O.) was also constructed in Southampton. It provided a supply of oil to our forces. The team of engineers responsible was based in the bombed out Spitfire works in Woolston. Opposite the Arcades on the Western Esplanade you can find a very ordinary looking piece of brick wall. At a closer look it is full of graffiti. It is said that while waiting to embark for the Invasion D-Day, American service personnel stationed in Southampton, scratched their names into the brick work.
Charles Dibden
Charles Dibden Born in 1745 and baptised in Holy Rood, Charles Dibden was a choirboy at Winchester Cathedral he then worked in a London music shop. He wrote sea songs and was well known in Georgian England. His shanties were used as an aid to recruitment in the Napoleonic Wars. He is misquoted for saying that a sailor has a girl in every port. He wrote: ‘In every mess I find a friend, in every port a wife.’ In life he only sailed twice – both times to France to escape creditors. A plaque to his memory is outside Holy Rood. His best known song was ‘Tom Bowling’ which is often featured at The Last Night of the Proms.
Disease
Disease Southampton’s leprosy hospital dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene (said to have changed into Marlands) was situated near the present Civic Centre. Leprosy died out in this country and our last warden of the hospital was pensioned off in the 1420’s. There is information about leprosy on the corner of Watt’s Park opposite the James Matthews building of Solent University. In 1348 the Black Death arrived via a boat at Melcombe Regis near Weymouth. Southampton lost about 25% of its population. Plague struck again in 1563 with about 400 deaths. Victims’ houses had red crosses on them. The London Great Plague of 1665 spread to Southampton and one estimate says 1,700 died over an eighteen month period. The Mayor appealed for help and King Charles II sent £50, doctors and 20 tuns of French wine. In 1849 cholera came to the town with some 200 people dying mostly in Simnel Street, Back of the Walls and Kingsland. Further outbreaks in 1865 and 1886 led to 41 and 100 deaths respectively. The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19 also claimed many lives.
Dolphin Hotel
Dolphin Hotel The original building dates from the early 1400’s and its cellars are medieval vaults. During the late 18th century Southampton became a popular spa town. The Dolphin was rebuilt in 1775 to accommodate more visitors. Its bay windows are said to have been the largest in England at that time. Jane Austen lived in Southampton on the site of the current Juniper Berry pub from 1806-09 and she attended balls held at the Dolphin.
Dock Strike of 1890
Dock Strike of 1890 In September 1890 dock workers in Southampton were on strike seeking agreement for union labour only to be employed in the docks and for agreement on wages. Their demands were not met and they had to concede and return to work only to find that the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co and the Union Steamship Co had granted concessions to the Seamen’s and Firemen’s union. As a consequence angry dock workers intimidated and assaulted returning workers at all of the dock gates such that the local magistrates fearing the police could not cope sent to the Commander of the Portsmouth Garrison for military assistance. 250 men of the 19th Regiment and 12 officers arrived in Southampton in the evening and marched into Canute Road where the dock workers had congregated. Police and soldiers were pelted with stones and two soldiers and an officer were injured. The Mayor Mr James Bishop read the riot act which authorised the authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people unlawfully assembled to disperse or face punitive action. The words he read out were as follows: Our Sovereign Lady the Queen chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God Save the Queen! If the group failed to disperse within an hour the authorities could use force to disperse them. Anyone assisting with the dispersal was indemnified if any of the crowd was injured or killed. After two hours of unpleasant street brawling the fighting had not ceased so the soldiers fixed bayonets and were ordered to charge the crowd. Several Dockers were wounded by the advancing soldiers and the crowd quickly dispersed leaving the rioters’ leaders to be arrested and charged. Agreement was eventually reached regarding wages but the employers insisted that employment would be open for all. It is often said that once the Riot Act had been read the monarch would not visit a place again. This may be why Queen Victoria failed to visit Southampton again rather than the matter of the invoice for the red carpet but that story is for another time.