This is a very useful interactive map of the V2 rockets which fell on London and the surrounding counties during WW2. It is incomplete but gives some idea of the wave of destruction London endured during the period from September 1944 until March 1945. As can be seen from the story I wrote about my relatives who died in Wanstead, a single bomb caused unbelievable destruction.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2750353/Interactive-map-reveals-hundreds-sites-Hitler-s-V2-rockets-killed-thousands-British-civilians-final-months-WW2.html
By September 1944 most of the V-1 Flying Bombs were being shot down before they reached London. A wave of optimism had been sweeping the country as it was assumed that Germany would capitulate at any time. However, on the 8th September a huge explosion blasted Staveley Road in Chiswick. There was no warning and no air raid siren. This was something new - the V-2 rocket.
The V-2 rocket weighed 13 tons and arrived via the stratosphere at 3,000 miles an hour. It was the world's first long range guided ballistic missile and was specifically designed to attack Allied cities as retaliation for Allied bombings against German cities. The V-2 made a crater sometimes ten feet deep and caused an earthquake effect which cracked washbasins a quarter of a mile away. It was deliberately targeted at civilians.
Missile strikes that found targets could cause a large numbers of deaths — 160 were killed and 108 seriously injured in one explosion at 12:26 pm on 25 November 1944 at a Woolworth’s store in New Cross, South East London. After this incident, British Intelligence leaked falsified information implying that the rockets were over shooting their London target by 10 to 20 miles. This tactic worked, causing the Germans to make erroneous recalibrations and, for the remainder of the war, most V-2’s landed on less-heavily populated areas just outside London. Ironically, the rocket which hit my ancestors house in Wanstead was probably intended for London !
The V-2 rocket attacks continued until 27th March 1945 when the allied advances into Europe curtailed it. After the War ended the V-2 technology directly helped design a series of booster rockets for the Saturn space programme and enabled man to walk on the Moon.
The V-2 rocket weighed 13 tons and arrived via the stratosphere at 3,000 miles an hour. It was the world's first long range guided ballistic missile and was specifically designed to attack Allied cities as retaliation for Allied bombings against German cities. The V-2 made a crater sometimes ten feet deep and caused an earthquake effect which cracked washbasins a quarter of a mile away. It was deliberately targeted at civilians.
Missile strikes that found targets could cause a large numbers of deaths — 160 were killed and 108 seriously injured in one explosion at 12:26 pm on 25 November 1944 at a Woolworth’s store in New Cross, South East London. After this incident, British Intelligence leaked falsified information implying that the rockets were over shooting their London target by 10 to 20 miles. This tactic worked, causing the Germans to make erroneous recalibrations and, for the remainder of the war, most V-2’s landed on less-heavily populated areas just outside London. Ironically, the rocket which hit my ancestors house in Wanstead was probably intended for London !
The V-2 rocket attacks continued until 27th March 1945 when the allied advances into Europe curtailed it. After the War ended the V-2 technology directly helped design a series of booster rockets for the Saturn space programme and enabled man to walk on the Moon.