The Flying Bomb
In June 1944 Henry and his father Philip had a lucky escape when a flying bomb nearly hit the family home while they were asleep. Had there been just a smidgen more fuel in the flying bomb’s fuel tank, they might well have been killed.
Henry took the figures in his reminiscence below from the book “Safe as Houses: Wimbledon 1939 – 1945” by Norman Plastow, 1972.
At 3.30 am of 16 June 1944 one of the very first flying bombs, or V1s, hit Cliveden Road, Wimbledon. Dad and I were at home in bed in No. 25 and we had already had an air-raid alarm and gone downstairs to sit under the table before the all clear let us back to bed. We had done our duty therefore and both of us decided independently we were not going downstairs again. Shortly afterward in my bedroom asleep I heard a muffled bang, was awakened and saw the windows had lost their glass and the curtains were moving in the wind. Dad then came in and said “I think we have been hit, Tim”. I got up, we went downstairs and found the front door on the floor of the hall. After a short while we walked to the air-raid shelter at the end of the road and waited there until it got light.
Then we went back home and saw the extent of the damage. One end of the road had disappeared. According to later information (Plastow, N. 1972: Safe as Houses) Numbers 39-51 and 36-54 had been destroyed, Nos. 53-56 were damaged beyond repair, 12 people and been killed and 53 injured. All the windows in our house had been blown in and the house was no longer habitable.
Dad contacted his family in Putney and it was arranged that we stayed with a great friend of Auntie Ede’s named Daisy Collis in Putney. Mum and David were in Ilfracombe.
I was studying science at Kingston Technical College at the time and Dad was teaching at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich. Dad would take the bus to Dulwich from Putney, teach and then travel by bus to Wimbledon. I would go by bus to Kingston and return from Kingston to Wimbledon by trolley-bus, and both of us having seen the house was in reasonable order would go back together to Putney from Wimbledon. This routine was followed for a few weeks but the Wimbledon house was still uninhabitable as late as December.
A half mile by half mile area centred on Henry’s family home, showing bombs that fell on the area between 1939 and 1945. Pink: V1 flying bombs. Orange: high explosive bombs. Blue: unexploded high explosive bombs. Green: misfired anti-aircraft shells. (Source: “Safe as Houses: Wimbledon 1939 – 1945” by Norman Plastow, 1972.)
The last V1 was at 3.05 pm on 28 August 1944. Many fell on Wimbledon between 16 June and that date; total casualties 150 killed, 440 with serious injury, 305 houses destroyed, 505 damaged beyond repair and 2119 people made homeless. Several V1s fell within easy walking distance from Cliveden Road; viz. on the bottom of Wimbledon Hill on Jun 19, 3 killed, 16 injured and nearby there on Aug 3, 1 killed, 21 injured. On Wilton Crescent at 3.23 am, 6 killed, 20 injured on 20 July, on Springfield Flats on 27 July and on the Rutlish School New Buildings on July 29th.
The map in Plastow’s book shows that 36 V1s fell on Wimbledon in all; each V1 killed on average 4.2 persons and injured 12.2. A very bad 10 weeks. Wimbledon was fortunate to escape the V2 Rockets which hit many places in London and caused similar destruction.
Henry, Reminiscence, 2019
What was a Flying Bomb?
The V1 flying bomb, also known as the “buzz bomb” or “Doodlebug”, was a German unmanned weapon powered by a pulsejet that gave it a distinctive sound. If the sound stopped, it meant that the bomb had run out of fuel and would imminently fall to the ground and explode. The V1 had a range of approximately 150 miles, travelled at speeds of up to 400 mph and carried a 1,870-pound warhead. It was launched from specially constructed ramps and used a rudimentary guidance system. Between June 1944 and March 1945 more than 9,500 V1s were launched at England. The majority were intercepted and destroyed but just over 25% reached their target where they caused widespread destruction to property and resulted in the deaths of over 6,000 people and 17,000 injuries in London alone.
War Damage Contributions
During the war, property owners paid a compulsory War Damage Contribution to the government. This money was then used to compensate for war-related property damage.
It’s likely that Henry’s father Philip made a claim under this scheme, although we have no documentation relating to this.
Private Chattels Scheme
The Private Chattels Scheme allowed people to insure household contents such as furniture and clothing against war-related damage or loss. Unlike the War Damage Contribution, contributions to the Private Chattels Scheme were not compulsory.
Henry’s father Philip made a claim under the Private Chattels Scheme. We have his list of items claimed for and the receipt for his claim from the War Damage Chattels Office. We do not know if or when he received compensation.
