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The V-Weapon Campaign in SE11: Kennington & Lambeth In total, SE11 was struck by 11 V-1 Flying Bombs (and 1 V-2 Rocket, killing 90 peple

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The Morton Place / Surrey Lodge V-2 Disaster (4 January 1945)•

Location: Corner of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road (Morton Place)

 

Weapon:

V-2 Rocket

 

•Casualties:

42–43 killed, dozens severely injured.

 

The single most destructive V-weapon incident in SE11 occurred on the evening of Thursday, 4 January 1945, at approximately 8:25 PM. A V-2 rocket plunged directly into Surrey Lodge, a five-storey residential apartment building on the corner of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road, immediately adjacent to Morton Place. The massive explosion reduced the multi-storey residential complex to rubble, killing 42 people on the spot (with total fatality estimates reaching 43). The blast wave rippled across the district and damaged:

 

Lambeth Baths, Washhouse and a neighbouring chapel situated on the opposite side of Lambeth Road suffered catastrophic structural damage.

 

The Imperial War Museum, located barely 150 metres away, had its northern and western facades blown out.•

 

Rescue operations continued through the night into the cold daylight, with emergency services, soldiers, and local volunteers digging through tons of masonry.

 

Legacy Today:

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The ruined Lambeth Baths were eventually cleared, and the site was redeveloped into local authority housing in the late 1960s—most notably Lambeth Towers, designed by Ted Hollamby, which stands on the site today.

 

Summary of Impact on SE11

 

The V-weapons reshaped the urban landscape of Kennington and Lambeth. Because the area contained tightly packed 19th-century housing and local industrial premises, the lateral blast of the V-1s caused widespread devastation across a large radius. Scores of nearby properties suffered "roof-off" damage, windows were shattered across entire streets, and rescue teams worked for days clearing debris to retrieve buried residents.While the V-1s caused widespread surface blast damage due to their high-explosive warheads detonating above ground, the V-2 at Morton Place demonstrated the terrifying deep-penetration destruction of rocket artillery.