Operation Crossbow Sunday 15th May 2100

[GeeRam]

GeeRam

You sure it wasn't a V2? The last V1 sites to target the UK were over run in Oct 1944. After that they only hit mainland european targets. The V2 didn't stop until about Mar 45.

Nope, V1.

According to the Civil Defence file records, it was a V1 launched from Holland (I guess it could have been an air launched from near Holland?)
Date was March 14th 1945. It was last V weapon to hit West London, hitting near the Ordnance Dept in Long Drive, Greenford, killing 14, seriously wounding 11 and with a further 78 slightly injured.
(my Mum and her family lived at No.20 Long Drive at the time)

[MAINJAFAD]

More likely launched over the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk or Suffolk rather than over Holland.

[November4]

Last V-2 Strike on the UK was on 27 March 1945 when two missiles landed in London and resulted in the last British death from direct air attack by a hostile power.

According to The Blitz - Then and Now Vol 3

27 March 1945 -

The Stepney V2 - the penultimate to land on Britain, with the last falling at Orpington at 1645 hours the same day - fell at Hughes Mansions at 0721, demolishing 2 five-storey blocks of flats and badly damaging a third. Casualties were initially put at 59 killed and 43 SI. 48 slightly hurt and an unknown number missing. But by April 1 this was revised to 131 killed, 40SI and 48 slightly hurt and 2 believed missing: the final figures gave the number killed as 134

From the same source

On the 29th the last two V1s landed at Datchworth, Herts and Iwade, Kent. Thereafter there was no further enemy air activity against the UK.

[November4]

Date was March 14th 1945. It was last V weapon to hit West London, hitting near the Ordnance Dept in Long Drive, Greenford, killing 14, seriously wounding 11 and with a further 78 slightly injured.
(my Mum and her family lived at No.20 Long Drive at the time)

All that "The Blitz - Then and Now Vol 3" says about that night is

A few flying bombs were reported during the night of the 8/9th, on the 14th and again by night on the 15/16th, with operations by three V1s and 18 manned aircraft on the night of 17/18th.

No other details given.

[Sven Sixtoo]

27 Mar 1945

130 plus killed by a ballistic missile attack.


Kind of puts 7/7/05 into context, no?

With no disrespect - every death is a tragedy

Iain

[MAINJAFAD]

November4, any details on a V-2 strike in the Bermondsey area on 26 March 45 (thats the one that nearly got my mum), hit a convent, according to what my Nan told me.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by November4

All that "The Blitz - Then and Now Vol 3" says about that night is


Quote:
A few flying bombs were reported during the night of the 8/9th, on the 14th and again by night on the 15/16th, with operations by three V1s and 18 manned aircraft on the night of 17/18th.

No other details given.

Nov4,

Here's another eyewitness account of that last West London V1 hit.

BBC - WW2 People's War - V1 on Greenford

Just as a post note, 3 of the RAOC and one civilian casulty of this V1 raid are buried in the same cemetary in Greenford that my father is in.

[November4]

November4, any details on a V-2 strike in the Bermondsey area on 26 March 45 (thats the one that nearly got my mum), hit a convent, according to what my Nan told me.

Afraid no details about that date other than

Big Ben Incidents March 1945

No 1103 26/0420 Bermondsey

I assume 26/0420 is the date and time of the incident.

The book gives the following for March 1945

There were reports of V2 rockets on every day of the month up to and including the 27th, with a serious incident occurring during the night of the 5/6th (incident No 933) at West Ham where 31 people were killed and 8 SI. Other serious incidents were No 947 at Deptford on the6/7th (52 fatalities, 32 badly injured); No 951 at Poplar on the 7th (25 dead , 40 SI), No 96 at Finsbury on the 8/th (110 killed and 123 SI), No 1027 at Leyton on the 16th (23 killed and 18 SI), No 1066 at Heston on the 21st (33 killed and 98 SI), No 1099 at Enfield during the night of 25/26th (7 killed, 100 SI) and 1114 at Stepney on the 27th when 134 people were killed and 49 SI.

I make that 415 killed and 468 SI in those incidents alone.

[Self Loading Freight]

There are second hand copies of Evidence in Camera on the website of the great South American river, for around a fiver a pop - have nabbed one for the library, so thanks for the lead.

Constance Babington-Smith was interviewed for The Secret War, the 1977 BBC documentary series about all that sort of thing, and was rather wonderful Talked about poaching on other PI's patches, and how browned off recc pilots were if you sent them over to snap what looked like AA emplacements. But you did it anyway.

There's a series that deserves a DVD re-issue, William Wollard staring off-screen and all. It's around on the naughtynet.

[MAINJAFAD]

The Secret War was released on video in 1988 and is still a classic, the only stuff not really covered in depth was Ultra, as a lot of the story had not been declassified.

The Secret War Ep 3 - Terror Weapons

[Hipper]

Unfortunately Constance Babbington Smith died in 2000. Here's an obituary:

Obituary: Constance Babington Smith | World news | The Guardian

She seemed a nice lady and was very helpful when I was in contact with her.

I hope this is a good programme but I don't see what is new about it. The Penemunde photos have been available for years and so have the stereoscopes to look at them in 3D.

In the 1980s and 90s I was researching WW2 German warships and there were plenty of Photo Reconnaisance Unit pictures of them too. To look at them through a stereoscope was excellent - the masts would come up and poke you in the eye!

These PRU aerial photos can be found scattered in many places, including the National Archives at Kew where the full story of the PRU is recorded, along with I believe the complete set of Interpretation Reports of these photo sorties. 'Evidence in Camera' was the name of the PRU's in-house magazine that showed the more interesting photos).

The Photographs they refer to in the programme were originally held at Keele University. Keele did not have the negatives (I was told that as they were made of unstable nitrate film they were destroyed, but I suspect JARIC at RAF Brampton has some and the U.S. National Archives may also have more - I bought photos from both these places). Keele copied the photos to microfilm and it was from this that you could study them and buy copies. This is the most complete collection and is now at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Other sources to fill any gaps include the two mentioned above plus the RAF Museum and the Imperial War Museum.

I wish the Beeb, or someone else, would tell the full story of the WW2 PRU, from Sidney Cotton onwards. It's a great story but only seems to be told in scraps like this programme.

[November4]

Personal memory of a V2

My grandmother lived in Katherine Road, East Ham, and vividly remember the day a V2 landed in the next street. She used to take her 2 children (my mother and uncle) and sleep in the Anderson shelter in the garden. My grandfather was in the Royal Navy and at the time in the Indian Ocean. In 2003 when she was 93, I sat her down in front of a video camera ….



From The Blitz - Then and Now Vol 3

A rocket (big Ben 22) fell to earth at it’s re-entry speed of around 2,500 mph and exploded in Green Street, East Ham, just after 0600. Being a shopping street and empty at that time of the morning, casualties were lighter than they might have otherwise been with seven fatalities. This V2 was fired by Major Schultz’s Sonderunternehmen Walcheren – their parting shot – before pulling back later in the day in the face of the prospect of having their escape route cut off for this was the day of Market Garden.

Green Street was also hit by 2 flying bombs, a parachute mine and several HE bombs through the war.

2 years after filming this, my grandmother died aged 95 – I have the video to make sure her memories are not changed by my retelling. Just wish I had done the same thing with my grandfather but he had died 10 years earlier.

[Hipper]

My mother was Dutch and in Holland during the war. At the time of the V2 launchings she was living in Den Haag.

She had a scar on her forehead which she told us young boys was from a V2 rocket. I assumed the rocket had come down and hit her on the head!

In fact it had been launched at night and her and her then husband had heard it and could also hear that it had failed. She was in the process of diving under the bed when it exploded 200 metres up the road. A door frame broke away and hit her on her head.

V2ROCKET.COM - Den Haag, Wassenaar, Hoek van Holland

[green granite]

Oh dear, nothing like twisting the facts and airbrushing out people like Professor RV Jones and Constance Babbington -Smith et al, and quite how the V1 whose launch ramps were pointed at London could have stopped the invasion of Normandy god only knows.

[JFZ90]

quite how the V1 whose launch ramps were pointed at London could have stopped the invasion of Normandy god only knows.

...hmm - "could have hit troop ships" was one quote. Quite a feat for a basically unguided weapon.

That aside it I thought it was a good watchable programme.

[aviate1138]

Spot on Green Granite.....
I thought the BBC did a very average job with this documentary and to mention Lord Cherwell and avoid any mention of Dr R V Jones, later Prof.... [What would have happened if R V Jones had not existed?] Avoiding any mention of Constance Babington-Smith was a big error too.
Nice to see some of the pilots still around but no real mention of the many PR types who didn't make it back, often due to extremely hazardous and repetitive low level oblique photo flights. Real gutsy stuff IMHO.

As a kid I watched a V-1 glide towards our house [the gyro device couldn't have been working], hit a large chestnut tree in our garden and blow up three houses down the street and all our leaded light windows were bowed in as a result of the blast. The Avenue Sunbury on Thames. Our next door neighbour was a relative of Constance B-S.

I hope a book is produced with some of those 3d views included.

[robin]

Fascinating bit about smuggling out the Wild Stereographs. I was using later models of these in the 1970s and never got tired of the views!! OK I did really

[Tankertrashnav]

...hmm - "could have hit troop ships" was one quote. Quite a feat for a basically unguided weapon.

I did in fact once meet a merchant seaman who was sunk by a V1. In late 1944/early 1945 he was on board a cargo vessel which was transhipping its cargo onto barges in Antwerp harbour. At that time the Germans had turned their attention to targets on the European mainland, including Antwerp. The barge alongside this chap's ship received a direct hit from the V1 and basically disintegrated, whilst the cargo ship's hull was breached and it sank in relatively shallow water. My man said he didn't even get his feet wet, so it hardly counted!

Enjoyed the programme. I liked the American guy and was interested to see the Spitfire in USAAF markings.

[jamesdevice]

-zap- removed as not relevant to the way the thread developed
JD

[MAINJAFAD]

Oh dear, nothing like twisting the facts and airbrushing out people like Professor RV Jones and Constance Babbington -Smith et al, and quite how the V1 whose launch ramps were pointed at London could have stopped the invasion of Normandy god only knows.

Leaving RV Jones and Babbington Smith out was a mistake, but the map shown on the programme maded from the photos quite clearly showed that quite a number of the original 90+ V-1 launching ramps were aligned on the South coast ports, which would have had an effect on the invasion had the V-1 attacks started before D-Day. Forgot the role of the Mossies as well.