V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
1–10 of 31 posts
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#2see also http://www.bombsight.org/
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#3WOW I had no idea how many landed in London. I always thought that they were inaccurate and weren't effective. Sure would have terrorized me and came close to Big Ben.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#4It's scary to look at an area of the city where friends and family live and see just how many people died there. Frequently 10 or 20, the highest number is 168 when a V2 dropped on a Woolworths in New Cross.
These things hit the ground at around 1800 mph. I guess when you get absolutely no warning there's no time to seek shelter.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#5WOW I had no idea how many landed in London. I always thought that they were inaccurate and weren't effective. Sure would have terrorized me and came close to Big Ben.
Good thing they didn't have any on-board guidance systems back then.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#6It's scary to look at an area of the city where friends and family live and see just how many people died there. Frequently 10 or 20, the highest number is 168 when a V2 dropped on a Woolworths in New Cross. These things hit the ground at around 1800 mph. I guess when you get absolutely no warning there's no time to seek shelter.
This prompted me to look up UK total civilian casualties at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#Human_... , giving the surprisingly small figure of 67,200 (including commonwealth!). We didn't do so badly when you look at some of the other horrifying figures in that table.
That figure of total civilian deaths is also smaller than the death toll of either of the two nuclear bomb attacks or the firebombing of Tokyo. The RAF firebombing of Dresden has unclear casualty figures but seems to be about 20,000.
Edit: thinking about it, the difference between that low number and the others is really the debt owed to the "few" of Fighter Command and the ability to maintain air superiority over England and the Channel, preventing truly extensive bombing and an invasion.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#7It's scary to look at an area of the city where friends and family live and see just how many people died there. Frequently 10 or 20, the highest number is 168 when a V2 dropped on a Woolworths in New Cross. These things hit the ground at around 1800 mph. I guess when you get absolutely no warning there's no time to seek shelter.
Supposedly the general feeling was of relief when you heard a V2 rocket strike. Because you knew you were still alive.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#8WOW I had no idea how many landed in London. I always thought that they were inaccurate and weren't effective. Sure would have terrorized me and came close to Big Ben.
Good thing they didn't have any on-board guidance systems back then.
The V2 had a guidance computer. Early rockets were purely inertial while some later rockets also rode radio beams to their targets.
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good thing they didn't have any on-board guidance systems back then.
The V2 had a guidance computer. Early rockets were purely inertial while some later rockets also rode radio beams to their targets.
The Germans had guided weapons in WW2 - notably the anti-ship Fritz X guided bomb (not powered):
Re: V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties
#10Just visited DC area, USA and went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. That have a V2 on display there. It gives one a palpable impression of their power especially in WWII.