World War Two
St Margaret's was both bombed and directly shelled from gun sites in France in the Second World War. Over 600 shells landed on the village and many civilians left after 1940. Several cross channel guns were located here with many army and marine personnel billeted in requisitioned properties.
Most views of wartime damage show the seafront where many buildings were destroyed, not by enemy action but by the British Army who used the seafront area as a training school for street fighting.