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How I Researched the Data

 

When I embarked on the Flying Bombs and Rockets project back in 2003, I had two clear objectives. First, I wanted to tell the broader, general story of the V-weapons and how they changed the nature of the war. Second, I wanted to discover exactly what their impact was locally—mapping the reality of the devastation and the human cost across South London, from Wandsworth in the west all the way to Lewisham in the east.What started as a focused idea turned into hundreds of hours spent deep in archives, meticulously scanning and deciphering wartime records to build the site you see today.

 

Telling the Broader Story

 

 

To build the narrative around the general V-weapon campaign and understand the overarching history of these attacks, I relied heavily on a couple of definitive historical works. These were instrumental in helping me contextualise the local strikes within the larger picture: Doodlebugs and Rockets by Bob Ogley and The Blitz Then and Now (Volume 3) edited by Winston Ramsey

 

Digging into the South London Data

 

To piece together the truth of what happened on each specific street in the area South LondonI studied, I built the dataset using four main pillars of wartime intelligence:
 

  • London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) Bomb Damage Maps: These iconic color-coded maps gave me the physical footprint, showing the structural devastation and blast radiuses of the strikes.

  • London Fire Brigade Records: Also housed at the LMA, I spent countless hours reading through operational logs to extract the exact dates, times, and emergency response details for each incident.

  • Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Records: I visited various local studies libraries to dig into localized ARP logs, which provided incredible on-the-ground, neighborhood-level perspectives.

  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC): I used the online CWGC database to verify civilian and military fatalities, ensuring the human cost was recorded as accurately as possible.

 

Building the Database and Cross-Checking the Facts

 

As I gathered this mountain of information, I needed a structured way to make sense of it all. My method was to manually input every single detail into a Microsoft Access database. Building this database allowed me to organize hundreds of disparate data points into a clear, searchable format.However, wartime record-keeping was done under unimaginable pressure, and I quickly learned never to rely on a single piece of paper.To achieve a high degree of confidence in the figures and timelines presented here, I used the database to cross-check every single incident against two to three independent sources. If a Fire Brigade log gave me a date and casualty count, I measured it against the local ARP reports and the CWGC databases to ensure the facts aligned before publishing them to the site.

 

Navigating the Discrepancies

 

Despite hundreds of hours of cross-referencing, historical data is never completely perfect. The "fog of war" is very real in these documents. Throughout my research, I’ve identified many discrepancies—from differing casualty counts between local authorities to mismatched street names and shifting timelines.While I have done my absolute best to resolve these anomalies, some inconsistencies just can't be ironed out and remain a permanent part of studying wartime history.

 

Help Improve the Archive

 

This website is a living, ongoing project. If you are a local historian, a relative of someone involved, or simply a sharp-eyed reader who spots an error or missing detail, I want to hear from you.Please contact me if you spot something that needs correction or if you have details to add.

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