Welcome to the towns of Dover, Deal and Sandwich, to ancient villages that have witnessed the passage of Kings and Queens, the famous and the infamous, and to the “iconic” White Cliffs famed throughout the world. With just 21 miles of sea between Dover and Calais, a day trip to France is a unique extra feature for our visitors, who can also enjoy a round or two of golf on our championship courses or visit our beautiful castles. In the 20th century Dover became the centre of English Channel defence during World War I, as the base for the Dover Patrol. In World War I it was, with Folkestone, one of the main troop embarkation ports for France. It was also bombed by aeroplanes and zeppelins (the first bomb to be dropped on England fell near Dover Castle on Christmas Eve 1914) and shelled by passing warships. This forced residents to shelter in caves and dug-outs. The town became known as 'Fortress Dover' and was put under martial law. In World War II this developed into sustained bombing and shelling by cross-channel guns, causing 3,059 alerts, killing 216 civilians, and damaging 10,056 premises. A series of underground caves and tunnels in the cliffs were used as air-raid shelters (and as a military base, coordinating Operation Dynamo, whose ships landed at Dover) during the war and Dover became a wartime symbol as part of East Kent's 'Hellfire Corner'.