Notes
Recovered 31.07.2023 from https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/3113252/gabrielle-marie-henriette-testa/
GABRIELLE MARIE HENRIETTE TESTA Wife of Francis Testa. Died at Royal National Hospital.
Civilian War Dead
Date of Death 01 April 1943
ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY
Friday, April 2, 1943
Heavy Raid on South Coast Town
A few hours before we went to press, a South Coast town which suffered a number of previous raids, was again visited by sneak raiders. Three fighter-bombers came in from the Channel, dropped bombs at a low altitude, and machine gunned the district a little to the west of the centre of the town. Extensive damage was done to residential and business properties. Public buildings damaged included a cinema. This, happily, was not showing at the time, and with one exception, the commissionaire, Mr. E.G. Stickley, who was severely injured and removed to hospital, the staff had not arrived for the evening performance. Five minutes later the whole of the staff would have reported for duty. A post office, a police station, a church, parish hall, and many shops in a main street, lost their windows or sustained other damage in varying degree. Several hotels were involved in damage - including one partially wrecked on a former occasion - and at one a fire was promptly dealt with. In a residential road on a lower level two private dwellings were demolished and a third partially so, and whilst these lines were being written, rescue party squads were digging for inmates known to have been trapped.
TWO PERSONS KILLED : FIFTEEN INJURED.
(Last night's figures).
Late last night two fatal casualties were reported : -
Mr. William Newbery, an octogenarian, and Mrs. D. Capocchi, a visitor from a distant town.
ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY
Friday, April 9, 1943
Raid Victims' Funerals
The body of a fourth victim, Miss Gabriella Testa, was interred in London.
From "Isle of Wight at War", by Adrian Searle
... but April was less than a day old when Ventnor was hammered once again by the 'tip and run' raiders. Four Fw 190s attacked the Island's most southerly town at 4.45 pm on All Fools Day. Their bombs badly damaged the Rex Cinema and several hotels, notably the Royal Marine and Trafalgar. Several houses were demolished. A lengthy rescue operation succeeding in extricating some people from the debris of wrecked buildings, but four people (two men and two women) lost their lives in the attack, and another ten were badly hurt. (p 75).