WW2 Bomb Census

History of Hackney

A new website has been published today mapping bomb hits in London during WW2. http://bombsight.org/ The site is getting hammered at the moment but while it recovers you can read a bit more about it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20637222

10 Comments

  1. I have a mention on the V2 rocket website, a rocket fell on Walthamstow Marsh when I was a kid, blowing in our windows.I have written about it in my website http://www.tales-of-the-old-east-end.co.uk“

  2. I was born in 1942, My father  I was told many many years latter ,went into our house In Clapton way when it was hit by a bomb, he was an amputee, with just one good leg the other being artificial came back out of our house carrying an unexploded bomb , everyone thought he was mad.

  3. The map doesn’t cover all the bombs that fell (on Hackney) in WW2, it only covers the period of Oct 1940 to June 1941. There were many more bombs that fell on Hackney before and after that period, for example the devastating bombs that fell on the Simpsons Factory and West Hackney Church are not shown. Whilst on the subject has anyone read the book ‘Just like the end of the world’ about Coronation Avenue Stoke Newington? Looks like a good read.http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2012/10/19/just-like-the-end-of-the-world-review/I’m glad I didn’t have to live through that period must have been awful!”

  4. its really nothing compared to places like Poplar, which has virtually no pre-war buildings at all. Hackney got off lightly relatively which really shows you what an absolute nightmare it must have been.

  5. my Father-in-Law who died in 2012 told me that he was nearly hit by a V2 in London, he was on a bus near Streatham, he heard the explosion and the windows  of the bus were blown out!

  6. Strange but true, there is still a ‘crater’ on the marsh, known as Bomb Crater Pond, (what else?) but it is not where the bomb fell. I suppose it was sensible to move it nearer to the footpath so that passes by could see it without too much effort!

  7. Here’s a link to the LCC’s Bomb Damage Map 1939-45 for Stoke Newington. It shows the extent of bomb damage to each house in Stoke Newington as well as the locations of V1 and V2 explosions.http://www.flickr.com/photos/alandenney/11728746906/Click on the map for the key and larger size map.

  8. Thanks for sharing this Alan, can I download a copy? It would be helpful for some research I am doing on the bombing of the Shacklewell area, bottom right of the map.

  9. Feel free.

  10. Hi – here’s an entrance to a bomb shelter in the yard outside my warehouse studio.  I’d love to get permission to have a look inside. Anyone know who I should contact at Hackney Council?  I’ve tried once but had no reply.

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