´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Simon Harris and has been added to the website on behalf of Kenneth Kirby with his permission and they fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

On Sunday 18th June 1944 at about 10.30am I was getting ready to go out with my family when a V1 shut off and came down. We lived in Norry Road, Putney and the doodlebug landed on an embankment on the corner of Upper Richmond Road and Charlwood Road — about the width of four railway tracks from our home.

At the time I was only three years old. My little brother, Roy was one year, one month, one week and one day old when he was tragically killed in the incident. The records showed that 11 other people died but I think there may have been more. We were trapped in rubble for hours before being dug out. My mother was very badly injured and needed grafts, which I think came from her stomach, in order to save an arm. She was sent to a different hospital to the one me and my father went to. We went to Putney Hospital to begin with — my father with a neck injury and me with a fractured skull and the loss of most of my left eyelid. After a while we transferred to Friern Barnet. I still have scars on my forehead to this day but the emotional scars caused me to have nightmares for about eight years afterwards. Shrapnel would ease its way out of my forehead for years and throughout my school days I was paid a pension due to the disabilities incurred. After our hospitalisation we ended up living in Birmingham for a year before returning to live in Wandsworth and Putney again.

I started to visit the site of the impact 50 years ago having tried not to think too much about it before. My parents would never speak of it but I have found out about more of the historical details by reading the book, ‘The Doodlebugs.’

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.