How Blackpool adapted to make a vital contribution in World War 2

Mike Coyle, who blogs about historical events in Blackpool, writes about the end of World War 2 and its impact on Blackpool

Aircrew learning how to identify vessels at sea using models on the Tactical Floor in No. 3 School of General Reconnaissance at Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire, April 1944. Credit: Royal Air Force official photographer

May 8 marked 80 years since the end of the war in Europe—a time to reflect and remember.

It was the end of suffering, the return of loved ones, and a moment to commemorate. Yet, we also acknowledge that the war in the Far East continued for another four months—a significant and challenging period for young men of Blackpool.

This is also an opportunity to reflect on the vital contribution Blackpool made during World War II. From the onset, the town welcomed a remarkable influx of outsiders. Eighty years ago, the Gazette reported that Blackpool’s landladies did an exceptional job, accommodating nearly a million visitors, including RAF personnel, Polish, American, and other nationalities, evacuees, civil servants, and aircraft workers—all while continuing to host tourists. The scale of this influx and achievement is staggering.

The town became an RAF station, the largest in the world. Civil servants, actors, performers, children, teachers, young mothers with babies, midwives, doctors, and nurses fled here to escape the Blitz. Servicemen and women from across the UK, US, and Europe arrived to defend, train, or prepare for deployment. Women of the WAAF flew Wellington bombers built at Squires Gate to operational air stations. RAF Squires Gate remained an operational air base, defending the ports of Liverpool and Preston throughout the war.

Training facilities expanded rapidly, covering wireless and telegraphy, weapons handling, physical training, air-sea rescue, and airfield defense. Local defense forces, including the ARP, fire service, home guard, observer corps, police, medical services, and transport services, grew to manage the influx.