As the nation marks the anniversary of VJ day the memory of an 8 year old Scarborough boy killed in a WW2 air raid is also being kept alive.
The 15th August 1945 marked VJ day and the end of the second world war, but exactly five years earlier on August 15th 1940 bombs were falling on Scarborough taking the life 8 year old Ernest Desmond Gates.
His story is kept alive on a special page of the Commonwealth War Graves website.
Over 60,000 civilians lost their lives in the Second World War as a result of enemy action and in 1942 the Royal Charter of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was amended to ensure that all the names were recorded and that arrangements would be made for them to be appropriately commemorated.
On the website David Dykes tells the story of how his then nine year old father was playing in the "little wood" at the foot of Oliver's Mount when his friend, 8 year old Ernie was killed by a flying brick during an air raid on the town.
David says:
"85 years ago today, my dad was playing with his friend Ernest Gates in Scarborough when Ernest was killed in an air raid, Ernest was 8. My dad has made sure that he will never be forgotten."
"Dad never told me the boy’s name, but I never forgot his story.
Just before he died my dad also gave me a box of old photographs containing a crumpled photo of him enjoying a day on the beach with two friends.
Thanks to online research, social media, and a bit of luck along the way, I now know that the boy who was killed was Ernest Desmond Gates (Ernie), who lived at 18 Quarry Mount, just a few doors away from my dad.
I’ve also been able to confirm that the two friends beside my dad in the old crumpled photo are Ernie and his sister Pat."
Ernie is commemorated on a panel on the Scarborough War Memorial dedicated to all those who were killed in air raids. He is also commemorated by the CWGC in the Civilian Roll of Honour in Westminster Abbey. Ernie is buried in an unmarked grave in Dean Road Cemetery, Scarborough.
You can see David's full story at https://www.cwgc.org/stories/stories/ernest-desmond-gates-aged-8-killed-in-an-air-raid-on-scarborough-15th-august-1940/
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