Under bombardment by V1 & V2 missiles

At the time of the D-Day landings on 6th June 1944 I was a 19-year-old student in digs in Balham, London. Although I was not in the Armed Forces I felt caught up in the battle to free France and other countries for soon afterwards London was under bombardment from V1s & V2s.

I estimate that a V1 passed me about 10 metres overhead - I was in a group of students taking a Physics practical exam high up in a King‛s College building in the Strand when, without any warning, we heard an unfamiliar whining sound which prompted us to duck between the benches as it became very loud. Mercifully for us, but not for those killed and injured, the V1 travelled on about 100 metres, to explode a second or so later at Bush House, Aldwych.

Similarly I experienced a V2 exploding about 1km away - I had left a Metropolitan line train at Latimer Road station and had walked half way to my home in St. Quintin's Avenue when a V2 hit close to the station, on the other side.

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