Flyingbombsandrockets.com
I was born in South London and spent most of my life living there; I have always been interested in the effects the war had on the area. In particular, I am intrigued by stories I heard about the V1s and V2s from my family who lived in Dulwich and Beckenham.
In 2003 I decided to find out for myself exactly what the impact was, both in terms of the destruction of buildings and the tragic fatalities. South London was moulded by these events, and I wanted to find out exactly what happened on each street. I spent countless hours poring over bomb damage maps, Fire Brigade, and ARP reports in the London Metropolitan Archive and Local Studies libraries—this website is the result. I do hope you find it interesting.
I have now moved to East Sussex. By coincidence, there is a memorial on Crowborough Beacon Golf Course, which is at the bottom of my garden. It remembers nine Canadian soldiers who were killed when a V1 hit their camp in July 1944.
In July 2026, I undertook a complete redesign of the site; it was over 20 years old and looking very dated. I hope you like the new look. I have also taken the opportunity to add data for some new areas and show some different statistics
I have no hesitation in using AI to present some of my work (for example, the timeline presentation), but all images are original, and all research was carried out by me in physical archives—none of it is computer-generated. I am not a web designer, and using AI enables me to show you my research in a far more professional-looking manner.
Stephen Henden, Crowborough, East Sussex, 2026