This book explores the impact of the Second World War on Scarborough.
 
The town shared closely in the wartime national struggle, yet its citizens also had their own unique story of community challenge and endurance. Child evacuees, many described as ‘wretched’, descended on Scarborough in large numbers, and the British Army arrived in a ‘sea of khaki’ to defend the town against invasion. The RAF took over the resort’s larger hotels for the initial training of aircrew, whilst code breaking at Bletchley Park was aided by the work of Scarborough’s secret naval listening station.
 
Amid the dizzying changes of wartime, controversy arose about the role of women and about the worrying behaviour of ‘youth running wild’ and ‘good-time girls’. In 1941 a stormy wartime by-election shook local political life. Attacking local fishermen at sea early in the war, the Luftwaffe went on to inflict death and destruction on the town itself. Having reflected on the dislocating changes of wartime, the book looks at how the community responded to post-war challenges, tackling the housing crisis, for example, and reviving the damaged hospitality industry.
 
The author, Stewart MacDonald, taught history at Scarborough Sixth Form College and is now a volunteer at the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre.