The working life of Museum of London

At 10am on Valentine’s Day in 1945 a V2 rocket hit our area of Burgess Park.  Reports state that it fell in the gardens between Waite Street and Pepler Road.  18 people were killed, 49 were injured & 25 houses were damaged.  The house we are excavating was damaged beyond repair.  At 10am the majority of people were at work or school, 193 people lived in the vicinity of the bomb site.  Had the bomb landed in the evening the casualties could have been much higher.   

The full name of the V2 rocket is Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Reprisal weapon 2).  The rocket that landed at Waite Street was fired from German occupied Holland.  A V2 rocket would fire 50miles up into the air before plummeting to earth at such speed that the impact felt like an earthquake.  There was no warning and so the people who died were not in shelters rather they were visiting neighbours or at home, going about their everyday business.

Here is a list of those that died,
Thomas Richard Aplin (53) of Shakespeare Road, Lambeth at No. 112
James Wladen (81) and Sarah Ann (78) Brown of No. 80
Frederick Hastings (72) and Sarah Ann (69) Burgess of No. 78
Eleanor Dean (51), also Home Guard Sidney George Robert Easton (60) and Grace Mary Easton (58) W.V.W. of No 82 at No 112
Beatrice Violet (52) and Jean (12) Duncan of No. 72
Jack Horsman (52) of No. 76 At No. 82
Emma Alice Maggs (58) of No. 80
Charlotte Elizabeth Manley (74) of No 74
Florence Patient (47) of No 84
Beatrice Kate Sansom (70) of No 78 at No 112
Ellen Ward (69) of No 74 at No 112 (in garage)
Katherine Elizabeth Weightman (54) of 132 Cator Street at No 112 (in garage)

Sunday 18th Feb
Annie Harriett Purser (46) of 9 Limerick House, Sumner Road at St Giles’ Hospital

[Taken from FlyingBombsandRockets]

Pupils form a circle showing how big the crater was after the V2 hit. People who lived locally later said that they used to play in the crater as children.  They reported that the crater measured 40ft across and 10ft deep and there was an omnipresent smell of gas escaping from the severed pipes.

Charlesworth, T. 2000. The Story of Burgess Park. Groundwork, Southwark, London. Thanks also to David Benson, local resident.

Kate Sumnall, Museum of London