Event    From 1944  To 1945

V1 and V2 rockets

Categories: Tragedy

Event

The V1 and V2 rockets were developed as a reaction to the heavy allied bombing of German cities towards the end of WW2. (V stands for Vergeltungswaffe - retribution weapon'). In total, over 3,000 V2s were launched against Britain, resulting in an estimated 9,000 deaths.

V1s, known as doodlebugs, flew until they ran out of fuel and then they dropped to the ground. So people on the ground would listen hoping to hear it pass overhead, but if the noise stopped while it was still coming towards them they would dive for cover. The V2s were the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile and as such no one heard them coming.

2018: A London Inheritance has a great post about V2s.

2018: "Drone Warfare: The Development of Unmanned Aerial Conflict" by Dave Sloggett, references "Most Secret War" by R. V. Jones where Tower Bridge is named as the permanent target for all the London V1 rockets. It seems to be generally agreed that the V1s were not at all accurate and many fell short.

2019: LRB has an interesting post about these bombs, particularly in the the comments about their random nature.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
V1 and V2 rockets

Commemorated ati

Adam Faith

Adam Faith (Terry Nelhams), 1940 - 2003, singer & actor born in a house o...

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Canadian WW2 firefighters

{On the floral emblem:} Canada fire fighters. In memory of three members of ...

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First Blackfriars Station

SER Blackfriars Station This is the entranceĀ to the former Blackfriars Statio...

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First flying bomb

From English Heritage: "The plaque was unveiled on 13 June, 41 years after th...

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First V2 rocket attack

An adjacent information panel gives extensive information about the attack an...

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Show all 23

Other Subjects

Ralph Humberstone

Ralph Humberstone

Ralph Humberstone, originally from Horncastle, Lincolnshire, died, aged about 50 years, on 18 November 1987 in the King's Cross Underground Station fire. His body was identified by a publican from...

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
Cynthia Lam
1 memorial
Samuel Saunders

Samuel Saunders

Employed at the Silvertown Brunner Mond works and killed in the 1917 Silvertown explosion. Imperial War Museum has a page. More information about Saunders on another IWM page.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial