Bombing Raids inc. V1&2

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by spconnolly007, Aug 27, 2012.

  1. spconnolly007

    spconnolly007 The 'Shiny Seventh'

    Hope this is the right place for this, as I am trying to find a record of all bombing raids relevant to Rainham, Essex between 1940/45. As part of my local war memorial research, I have almost 60 men, women and children that were killed over the period and would like to include details of the raids that were taking place in which they were killed. Any information or help with where to look would be most appreciative. Kind regards Sean
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Further to this are there a series of files at TNA that cover air raids on the UK during WW2?
     
  3. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Yes, there are bombing maps with plots of each bomb and V-weapon plus bomb dropping reports in the HO series. Just looking now for Rainham...
     
  4. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    This could be an interesting one to look at:
    HO 186/2360, AIR RAIDS, Major and minor bomb incidents: reports. 1939-1945
     
  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Had a shufti in Norman Longmate's 'Hitler's Rockets' - couple of brief mentions but sadly not the detail with which it covers many V1/2 hits.
    Maybe at least a pointer to which casualties are likely down to rockets:

    5 Nov. '44 - "Two minor incidents, in Rainham, Essex & at North Romford"

    &

    "Rainham was the site of another of Essex's 'outstanding incidents', shortly before midnight on Monday, 15 January 1945, when 14 people were killed & 4 seriously injured"

    Also mentions a near-miss V2 which blew Rainham Church's windows in while a wedding was going on.
    The service continued...
     
  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    From The Blitz Then and Now Vol3

    Rainham
    V2 attacks (Big Ben incidents)

    Nov44
    Nov 5th 12.45pm
    Nov 17th 21.45pm
    Nov 26th 11.01am

    Dec44

    Dec 3rd 06.15am

    Jan45
    15/16 Jan 14 killed 4 badly injured 23.12pm
    Jan 21st 18.53pm

    Feb45

    Feb 20th 13.23pm

    Mar45

    Mar 5th 22.32pm
    Mar 6th 03.07am
    Mar 14th 21.22pm

    152 05-11-44 § 12:42 Rainham Rainham, Essex. Fell on waterlogged land. L 977 025 50' diameter
    205 17-11-44 § 21:38 Rainham Rainham, Essex. Fell in field L 964 017 41' x 7'
    259 26-11-44 § 11:02 Rainham Rainham, Essex. Fell on waste ground. L 966 021 38' x 8' 2 30
    302 03-12-44 § 06:13 Rainham Rainham, Essex. Fell in field. L 984 018 38' x 7' 25
    540 K 15-01-45 § 23:13 Rainham Rainham L 973 004 Direct Hit 14 4
    581 N 21-01-45 § 18:52 Rainham Rainham L 943 005 53' x 11'
    831 N 20-02-45 § 13:23 Rainham Rainham (Airburst) L 9601 Airburst
    930 ? 05-03-45 22:29 § 22:32 Rainham Rainham L 968 006 50' diameter
    932 K 06-03-45 03:03 § 03:07 Rainham Rainham L 968 009 Direct Hit
    1013 K 14-03-45 21:20 § 21:22 Rainham Rainham L 955 018 Direct Hit 8 killed

    V2 Rocket Attacks - Welcome » WWII V2 Rocket Attacks

    regards
    Clive
     
  7. spconnolly007

    spconnolly007 The 'Shiny Seventh'

    Also mentions a near-miss V2 which blew Rainham Church's windows in while a wedding was going on.
    The service continued...

    We are like that in Essex, nothing fazes us:lol:. Thankyou all for the responses. Thanks Clive for the list of 'dud uns' which thankfully kept the memorial list a lot shorter than it already is! There is obviously a lot more info out there than I imagined. TNA maps next...kind regards Sean
     
  8. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    hello Sean

    I have gone through After the Battle Blitz vol 1 and 2

    Vol 1

    Thursday November 30th 1939 A barrage balloon grounded at 10 mins past midnight at Rainham Railway Station.Interupted traffic on both lines and caused some damage to signals and telegraph wires.

    Wednesday May 22nd 1940
    A British plane was brought down by AA fire at Rainham.No serious damage to property has been reported but 2 persons were slightly injured by broken window glass.
    Aircraft Hampden (L4067) was from no 83 Squadron and had been on a bombing mission to attack munitions trains in Germany.Hit by flak over Germany the pilot E.Coton ordered the crew to bale out.Humphrey Jones and Walter Smith were captured but Cyril Shewry was killed.Coton stuck with his plane and managed to reach the English coast only to be fired at by Gun Sites H5 and N20 having been illuminated by Searchlight DA41.Coton escaped by parachute,landing uninjured and the aircraft crashed in Berwick Road Rainham.

    The Starfish site was ignited 1940May 10/11 At Rainham at 12.13am but up to 3.40am no bombs whatsoever had been attracted to it.

    Saturday 31st August 1940
    Me Bf 109E-1 (4806) Shot down by B.J.G.Carbury 603 Squadron during combat over Hornchurch.Lost a wing crashed inverted and burned out at Bridge Road Rainham 12.45pm.Oberlt L Hafer bailed out but fell dead with unopened parachute and discovered in Ingreborne Crekk 2 days later.


    Vol 2



    Sunday September 15th 1940

    Bf 109E-7(2061)
    shot down and crashed in flames in Hartlip Churchyard near Rainham 3pm.Uffz H.Streibing baled out and captured unhurt.





    Wednesday March 19/20 1941
    9 fatalities were reported from Rainham.

    regards
    Clive
     
  9. billgj

    billgj New Member

    I think this one (see below) actually refers to a V2 impact that destroyed Nos 5 & 7, Manser Road and caused significant damage to other properties in the vicinity.
    I lived in No 7 from 1976 until 1992.
    My neighbours in 5 & 9 both told me that a V2 destroyed 5 & 7. My neighbour in No 5 was married to the daughter of the original inhabitants of 5 - her parents were killed in the incident.

    Incident Number 1013
    @ 21:22 on Wednesday 14 March 1945
     
  10. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    GALE JANE JENNIE 14 March 1945 Age 58 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    GALE WILLIAM JOHN 14 March 1945 Age 58 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    COLE AGNES MAUD MCGREADY 14 March 1945 Age 61 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    COLE CHARLES JOHN GEORGE 14 March 1945 Age 67 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    MOCKERADGE FRANCES 14 March 1945 Age 66 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    MOCKERADGE WILLIAM GEORGE 14 March 1945 Age 60 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    TURNER DAINTRY MICHAEL 14 March 1945 Age 11 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT
    TURNER GLADYS 14 March 1945 Age 44 HORNCHURCH, URBAN DISTRICT

    The Gales lived at No 11; the Coles at No 9; the Mockeradges at No 5 and the Turners at No 7.

    Don't know how I'd feel, living in the rebuilt home where my parents died, but perhaps there was a comfort in that....
     
  11. billgj

    billgj New Member

    I think this one (see below) actually refers to a V2 impact that destroyed Nos 5 & 7, Manser Road and caused significant damage to other properties in the vicinity.
    I lived in No 7 from 1976 until 1992.
    My neighbours in 5 & 9 both told me that a V2 destroyed 5 & 7. My neighbour in No 5 was married to the daughter of the original inhabitants of 5 - her parents were killed in the incident.

    Incident Number 1013
    @ 21:22 on Wednesday 14 March 1945
    ===============

    Daintry was a surname that my old neighbours from No 9 mentioned to me. It seems probable that a Daintree inherited No 7 at some point as my neighbour indicated that the 1950s Daintree was a bit of a hoarder. 5 & 7 were rebuilt in around 1948.
    The gardens of 5 & 7 extend about 10 feet from the rear of the properties. I once dug a moped frame up near the end of the garden.

    PS: Where did the name information come from, please?
     
  12. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    The Commonwealth War Graves (CWGC) website, first port of call when looking for casualties :)
     
  13. billgj

    billgj New Member

    Many thanks Kevin.
    The garden length should have read 150 feet, not ten.
     
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  14. Listy

    Listy Well-Known Member

    There is a Big document in Kew plotting all the V1 strikes on a map, and sorted by date. It, in the usual Kew style, is utterly misfiled. In World War Two the V1 was described as "Pilotless Air Craft", which got abbreviated down to PAC.
    The Kew minion cataloguing it saw PAC on the title and entered it as "P.A.C (Parachute and Cable)", so I got very excited when researching PAC and I saw the following record and attendant dates. Parachute and Cable, in use in 1944!! Whoohoo! Jackpot!

    Cumulative plot: P.A.C. (Parachute and Cable) activity | The National Archives

    Imagine my disappointment...

    Couple of pictures of the contents. I did not record the entire thing due to time.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The last one is neat though. Its clear paper with the plots for a 24 hour period. Each day is a different sheet of paper. Thus you can adjust the sample by selecting the appropriate dates. Want a week of plots? Just select the start and end dates with all in-between sheets. How about locations hit on every Saturday for the month of August? Just pull out the sheets, line them up and you have that info.
     
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  15. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    A thought occurs. The Germans were relying on reports from networks of agents on the fall of the bombs to make adjustments to the settings on subsequent launches and 'tune' the footprint. However the network of agents did not exist and were fictional entities run by British counter intelligence as part of the Doublecross system so that offset false coordinates were provided to cause the settings adjustments to create either under or overshoots. However when a bomb hit a significant target that would be reported, for example, by neutral observers the "agents" would have to return a correct report so as to remain credible. To make the false reports consistent with each other a map of them would have to be maintained. I wonder if this exists anywhere.
     
  16. HappyDays

    HappyDays New Member

    Have you reported the error in the item description using the link on the TNA page which says" Have you found an error with this catalogue description? Let us know"?
     
  17. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

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