After
the horror of the Blitz in 1940 and 1941, London continued
to suffer from air raids but not on the same scale. It wasn't
until June 1944 that Londoners again suffered from daily indiscriminate
bombing but this time it was the V1 (also called doodlebugs)
and V2 rockets.
Throughout
the 1930s German scientists had been working on flying bombs
and rockets. By October 1942 they had successfully tested
a rocket, 46 feet long and able to carry a one ton warhead.
It could travel more than 200 miles at a speed of 3600 miles
per hour. This was developed into the V2 rocket.
At the same
time, the V1 flying bomb had also been developed. Although
it was not as good as the V2, it was cheaper to produce.
The British
Government knew about the development of these two weapons
and tended to take a pessimistic view of the damage and carnage
they could cause. To slow down production, raids were launched
on German factories.
The British
and Americans commenced Operation Overlord, the invasion of
France, on 6th January 1944. Just six days later the first
V1 flying bombs descended on London. Only one of the ten launched
arrived in London killing six people in the East End. Within
days V1s were being launched at the rate of 100 per day. Almost
half were shot down by fighter pilots and guns but the remainder
hit the capital.
As these rockets
were launched in daytime, they caused large numbers of casualties
because there were more people out and about.
Londoners became
accustomed to hearing the sound of a rocket's engine and to
breathing a sigh of relief when it went over or waiting for
death if the engine cut out just overhead.
As the allies
advanced in France, the Germans lost their launch sites so
by the end of August the V1 raids had largely ceased although
some were still launched from planes.
Now though,
the V2 rockets were launched. Although they were not much
more destructive than the V1, they could not be detected by
radar, nor could they be shot down because of the high speeds
at which they travelled. As the allied forces advanced in
Europe, the V2 launchers were either captured or pushed back
out of range. The attacks finally ended at the end of March
1945.
Although the
V1s and V2s did not cause the large scale devastation seen
in the Blitz, they did cause terrible
carnage and destruction in the immediate area they hit. Amongst
the damage and casualties were:
Rockets over London - 1944-45 
