大象传媒

A V1 rocket came from the East targeting Whale Island and Portsmouth Dockyard. The Navy shot it down using a Pom Pom gun from Whale Island and it landed in the Winstanley Road area of Stamshaw. Joan Northern, as a young girl lived in Meyrick Road, the next road to the south. When it exploded it demolished several houses in Winstanley Road and Gruneison Road killing a few people not in shelters.

One elderly lady and her grandson took shelter under the stairs. When the building was destroyed, only the wall and staircase remained standing and they were found still under the stairs with no obvious physical injuries but had been killed by the blast.

The blast carried through the buildings to the south into Meyrick Road shattering windows and doors. Joan and her family were in a shelter in the rear garden. Her Aunty Nell who lived next door was in the middle downstairs room. After the blast she found she had lost her hair net. When she put everything back straight and war damage was repaired, she did her spring cleaning and saw a cobweb in the corner of the room. When she swept it down she realised it was her lost hair net.

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