Flyingbombsandrockets.com
V1 & V2 strikes on London 1944-5
Gibbs Square SE19 after a V1 strike
1st July 1944 and then the same scene today
SE19 was struck by a total of 18 V1 flying bombs. Fortunately, the area was entirely spared from the later ballistic threat; no V2 rockets landed in the SE19 postal district.
The Human Toll:
With 18 deaths from 18 strikes, the fatality rate was 1 death per missile.
In the context of the V-weapon campaign, this is remarkably low. To understand why, we have to look at the urban geography of Upper Norwood compared to central London districts. In inner-city areas like Southwark and Bermondsey (SE1), strikes averaged a much higher death toll per missile. The devastation there was catastrophic because the V-weapons were falling onto densely packed multi-story Victorian tenement blocks, crowded factories, and bustling transport hubs.
By contrast, Upper Norwood was a quieter, outer-suburban environment. Its housing stock consisted mostly of lower-density, two-story terraced and semi-detached homes rather than towering "model dwellings" or heavy industrial complexes. When a V1 struck a street in SE19, it certainly obliterated houses and displaced families, but it wasn't collapsing the ceilings of crowded five-story apartment blocks or packed warehouses. The dispersion of the population directly saved lives.The destruction of homesDespite the relatively low death toll, the sheer destructive power of the V1s left deep scars on the Upper Norwood community. On July 1, 1944, a V1 completely devastated Gibbs Square in Upper Norwood, necessitating a massive post-war rebuilding effort. A particularly devastating strike also occurred in the Highland Road and Lunham Road area.