V1 map?
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In 1944 I lived at 144 The Avenue Sunbury on Thames. I was about 5 and playing in our dining room one morning when I looked out of the window and saw a V-1 gliding [no noise] towards the house. Low level. We kids all knew Spitfires, Mosquitos, Wellingtons etc. Hanworth Air park was fairly close and we saw lots of types, low, probably on their approach?
I shouted to my mother, who was just walking into the room and she saw it, screamed [maybe swore!], grabbing me and throwing me under the table [ which was a sort of air raid shelter with a steel frame under the woodwork and cushions/rugs etc. The V-1 hit our tall chestnut tree in the front garden and blew up houses about 13 numbers on the other side of the road just North of the London Irish Rugby practice ground [as it was then] My ears hurt from the bang, our leaded light windows were all bowed inwards and the oak front door had had its lock smashed and was wide open. I think 2 or 4 people died and I remember bricks strewn all over the road.
I went into the back garden and a shiny, jagged piece of metal with fine machined threads was laying on the path, I picked it up and burnt my finger, it was so hot! Looking on google earth and remembering where I saw the V-1 coming from and holding a ruler on the screen and zooming out, the ruler ends up in the Pas de Calais area. Coincidence maybe but it is something I have always remembered. Be interesting to see if there is a record of a V-1 hitting houses in The Avenue S-on-T. As Kempton Park POW Camp was but a stone's throw away, there was soon a detachment of German POW's clearing the rubble off the street.
I shouted to my mother, who was just walking into the room and she saw it, screamed [maybe swore!], grabbing me and throwing me under the table [ which was a sort of air raid shelter with a steel frame under the woodwork and cushions/rugs etc. The V-1 hit our tall chestnut tree in the front garden and blew up houses about 13 numbers on the other side of the road just North of the London Irish Rugby practice ground [as it was then] My ears hurt from the bang, our leaded light windows were all bowed inwards and the oak front door had had its lock smashed and was wide open. I think 2 or 4 people died and I remember bricks strewn all over the road.
I went into the back garden and a shiny, jagged piece of metal with fine machined threads was laying on the path, I picked it up and burnt my finger, it was so hot! Looking on google earth and remembering where I saw the V-1 coming from and holding a ruler on the screen and zooming out, the ruler ends up in the Pas de Calais area. Coincidence maybe but it is something I have always remembered. Be interesting to see if there is a record of a V-1 hitting houses in The Avenue S-on-T. As Kempton Park POW Camp was but a stone's throw away, there was soon a detachment of German POW's clearing the rubble off the street.
Last edited by aviate1138; 7th Sep 2008 at 22:25. Reason: typo
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Southall
My parents and grandparents recalled it well also. They lived just a little to the west across the Recreation Ground in Leamington Road and the fear created when the engine cut out close by can only be imagined. Apparently it was a relief, of sorts, mixed with horror, when the explosion was heard as it meant someone else had copped it and they were saved. Hard to imagine if you've never been in that situation. Half a litre or so more fuel or a slight change of wind and it might have gone just a little further and I wouldn't be here. Makes you think!
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There used to be a large scale map of V1 bombsites across greater London at the National Army Museum in Chelsea - I think it was reproduced in the third volume of "The Blitz - Then & Now" by After The Battle Press.
I do wish there was an online version as I often wonder where they fell in my okd neighbourhood (Wandsworth) - I know that a high percentage of V1s fell there.
I do wish there was an online version as I often wonder where they fell in my okd neighbourhood (Wandsworth) - I know that a high percentage of V1s fell there.
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It occurs to me that perhaps the reason why these various maps of V1 sites are not available online is that their copyright has not yet expired. If this is the case they would not be "in the public domain".
They were produced and published from 1944 onwards, and copyright often dates from the demise of the author plus a variable period of between 50 and 70 years. Several of them are available in published books, however.
They were produced and published from 1944 onwards, and copyright often dates from the demise of the author plus a variable period of between 50 and 70 years. Several of them are available in published books, however.
V1, V2 and Luftwaffe bomb impact sites
Would it be worth suggesting a "sticky" where info could be stored (say London, Kent, Southern England, South East , Coventry, etc etc??) so that anyone curious about what happened between 1939 and 1945 in their part of the world could at least be directed to appropriate reference sources?
I'm sure that where copyright etc involved this could at least be shown.
There recently was quite a thread on another local forum regarding bombing and possible machine gunning of Kew Bridge which I found fascinating for the amount of recall some people who were just kids at the time had.
Judging by the amount of feedback, I also wonder if there is a "need" for those affected by WW2 to "unload" their memories before it's too late?
I know my father and other relations were very reluctant to talk about their wartime experiences to me, generally only telling insipid events, not "blood and guts". I never expected tales of heroism or singlehandedly defeating Hitlers hordes, but just how life was in general.
That's why I think the "Sunderland" and "Pilots Brevet" threads have been so popular. The "younger" generation DO want to learn about the past, hopefully to ensure that those sacrifices do not occur again.
Please do encourage anyone with wartime memories to at least write them down so they are not lost.
I'm sure that where copyright etc involved this could at least be shown.
There recently was quite a thread on another local forum regarding bombing and possible machine gunning of Kew Bridge which I found fascinating for the amount of recall some people who were just kids at the time had.
Judging by the amount of feedback, I also wonder if there is a "need" for those affected by WW2 to "unload" their memories before it's too late?
I know my father and other relations were very reluctant to talk about their wartime experiences to me, generally only telling insipid events, not "blood and guts". I never expected tales of heroism or singlehandedly defeating Hitlers hordes, but just how life was in general.
That's why I think the "Sunderland" and "Pilots Brevet" threads have been so popular. The "younger" generation DO want to learn about the past, hopefully to ensure that those sacrifices do not occur again.
Please do encourage anyone with wartime memories to at least write them down so they are not lost.
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'Courageous Croydon' published by The Croydon Advertiser Group of Newspapers covers all the V1 hits in the Croydon area. The centre page has a map pinpointing each hit and lists all the affected roads by name. I think it was published in the 1980s.
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Reminds me of when I was a student working one summer on a farm at Robertsbridge in Sussex.
There was an old farm worker name of Jasper (no I'm not making it up) who said one day
"See that field over there? In the war there was one of they Eytalian prisoners of war ploughing it. One of they doodleybugs landed right on top of 'ee.
We never found one bit of him. Did we laugh!"
Presumably it was a prime area for doodleybugs hit by the coast deployed AA to crash. Bit tough on Eytalian POW's though.
There was an old farm worker name of Jasper (no I'm not making it up) who said one day
"See that field over there? In the war there was one of they Eytalian prisoners of war ploughing it. One of they doodleybugs landed right on top of 'ee.
We never found one bit of him. Did we laugh!"
Presumably it was a prime area for doodleybugs hit by the coast deployed AA to crash. Bit tough on Eytalian POW's though.
