Sons' pride as their heroic dad is named on new Portsmouth war memorial

Heroic Stanley Spooner was just 28 when 24 planes of Hitler’s Luftwaffe brought carnage to Portsmouth in the first attack on the city on July 11, 1940.

Stanley was a police officer at the time of the attack. With air raid sirens blaring around him, he rushed scared residents into air raid shelters.

Tragically, Stanley was killed by a Nazi explosive while still helping to evacuate people to safety.

He was the first police officer in the UK to be killed in the Blitz.

To add to his family’s heartache, Stanley died just 10 days before his new sons, Stan and Barry Spooner were born, leaving wife Alice with seven young children.

Stanley is now one of the 1,000 names to be added to the new civilian war memorial at Guildhall Square.

Sons Barry and Stan, now 76, attended yesterday’s ceremony and told of their pride at seeing their dad’s name finally on a war memorial in his home city.

Stan, who lives in Denmead and is a former RAF veteran, said: ‘My father was a hero and it was pretty difficult growing up without him.

‘He was a father of five children but 10 days after his death he was a father of seven.

‘We’re incredibly proud that he finally has his name on a memorial.’

Brother Barry travelled from Weymouth to witness the unveiling.

He said: ‘My father was trying to protect people when he died.

‘He was telling a painter to get into cover when they both got hit.

‘He never went into the air raid shelter himself. He was just trying to save as many people as he could.’

Portsmouth was battered by 67 air raids during the course of the war.

The air raid sirens sounded 1,581 times between 1940 and 1944.

The number of bombs dropped over this time was staggering – 1,320 high explosives, 38,000 incendiaries and 38 parachute mines.