Saturday 16 January 2016

V Bombs over Peckham and Nunhead ..............a story from Barney

The V1 was one of Hitler’s secret weapons which  he had told his generals would turn the war.

Rolling out a V1, 1944
The V1 was first launched against Britain in June 1944, just one week after D-Day.

The V1 is difficult to classify as a weapon as it was not a true rocket in that it did not leave the atmosphere, but it was also clearly not a plane. Perhaps it could best be described as a winged but pilot-less, fuel propelled, flying bomb.

The V1 was so-called because Hitler saw it as a reprisal weapon – a Vergeltungswaffen.
Wernher von Braun (23 Mar 1912 to 16 Jun 1977) was a German / American aerospace engineer and space architect credited with inventing the V2 rocket for Nazi Germany and later, the Saturn-V for the USA.

V1 & V2 Peckham and Nunhead.

The Peckham and Nunhead areas were badly damaged by "Doodle Bugs", (V1 and V2, flying bombs).
The rockets were to devastate many parts of the capital. Here are just a few examples of the damage and loss of life caused by the V1.

22nd June 1944 at 08:50

After a V1 ....... Upper Norwood, 1944
There was a very serious incident on the corner of Nunhead Lane & Peckham Rye on the 22nd June when 23 deaths occurred when a V1 hit a corset factory.

Many of the casualties were young female workers. The area today has been re-developed as a housing estate. 18 were to die when a V2 hit Waite street on 14th February 1945. This area today is still undeveloped and forms part of playing fields but the original line of streets can still be seen.

The area to the North of Peckham High Street was very badly hit by 10 V1's and 2 V2's.  This is probably one of the highest concentrations of V weapons that I have found anywhere in London. There would have been very few, if any, undamaged buildings in this part of Peckham. This has resulted in the area being more or less totally re-developed post war.

23rd June 1944 at 02:12

50 private houses damaged in Hollydale Road, surrounding property in St Mary's Road, Stanly and Lugard Road, slightly damaged by blast.

Picture; rolling out a V1, 1944, German Federal Archive, and after the V1Men of Civil Defence heavy and light rescue teams and men of the National Fire Service (NFS) listen for survivors as they search a cavity in a large pile of rubble, timbers and debris following a V1 attack in the Highland Road and Lunham Road area of Upper Norwood, 1944, Imperial War Museum, from V-1 flying bomb, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb

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