大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by CSV Storygatherer Robin.D.Bailey on behalf of the author George Laity. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

On Sunday 18th June 1944, I was a Lieutenant RNVR, serving as a Duty Officer in the Coastal Forces Materials Department of the Admiralty, Whitehall at Queen Anne鈥檚 Mansions, St. James鈥� Park, London S.W.1.

The first German V-1 flying bomb had landed in England six days previously. These weapons, said to have been christened 鈥淰ERGELTUNG鈥� (Requital, Revenge) by Adolf Hitler, were propelled by RAM engines which cut out over the target area allowing the bomb to glide down to earth and explode.

In the middle of the morning, a V-1 cut out over us and there was a severe explosion in the vicinity. We checked our large building, but damage was light. There were some minor casualties in the WRNS Headquarters on the floor above us.

We then discovered that the bomb had ploughed into the Guard鈥檚 Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, where the morning service was being held. Our doctors went round to assist, but could do little as it appeared that the weapon had killed everyone in the Chapel.

One of the doctors told me how he was amazed at how lifelike the dead Guards鈥� Bandsmen looked. They were playing in the gallery around the side of the Chapel, where the blast had probably killed them by bursting their lungs, but they were in their original positions, holding their instruments, in natural colour as if made of wax.

In our building the hydraulic lifts had been put out of service by the explosion and we had been running vigorously up and down the stairs during the incident looking for casualties and damage. I vividly remember how strained my leg tendons were for some time afterwards.

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