Sad news: 4 people was found dead in the swimming pool in u.s.a according to…….

 

Historic swimming pool where wartime Cockleshell Heroes trained to be demolished

Portsmouth residents protest against council’s decision to flatten Eastney Swimming Pool, which they argue is community asset

The 120-year-old Eastney Swimming Pool in Portsmouth is to be torn down Credit: Solent News & Photo Agenc

A Liberal Democrat council decision to demolish a historic swimming pool has been criticised by neighbours.

 

The 120-year-old Eastney Swimming Pool in Portsmouth, Hampshire, was used as a training base by the Cockleshell Heroes during the Second World War.

 

Built on the site of an old gravel pit in 1904 as part of the Royal Marine Barracks, it was initially used as a training and recreational facility for the Royal Marines and a place for rehabilitation of injured servicemen.

 

Portsmouth Council closed the pool in 2020 and has now decided to demolish it after it was deemed “unsafe and beyond repair”, a plan locals branded “appalling”.

 

In 1942, the Cockleshell Heroes used the pool to train for Operation Frankton, a “suicide” mission in which the team canoed up the Gironde River in south-west France to attack Nazi ships. Only two of the 10 men who took part survived the raid.

 

A movie about the mission – starring José Ferrar, alongside Sir Christopher Lee and Trevor Howard – was made in 1955, with several scenes filmed at Eastney Swimming Pool.

 

Portsmouth resident Charlene Robinson’s father featured in the film as an extra. He was a Marine at the time.

 

The 71-year-old retired children’s home worker said: “It’s very much part of Portsmouth’s history, and there’s not much left that’s not been demolished or changed. It means a lot to the Portsmouth people.”