Incident in Ilford
Subject: Early V2 attack
My father who would have been about 17 was knocked unconscious after a V2 exploded somewhere in Ilford. He was taken to hospital with a suspected injury to his thumb which turned out to have been dislocated playing in goal for West Ham !
Terry Horner
11 Responses to “Incident in Ilford”
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Grew up in Ilford during WW11 and many memories of houses around us being bombed and especially remember walking with my Nan past a piece of waste ground at the top of our street and looking at an unexploded bomb sticking out of the ground. We were going to visit relatives and they would not let us return home past that, we had to take a long way around. Remember also being in school and having to go to the bomb shelters as soon as the siren went off. Many many memories !
My dad, ( Charlie Wiles ) lived in Staines Road, he would have been about 9 years old during the Blitz, he told me about the AA batteries in Loxford park just behind his house. One of his friends who lived very near the school was killed when his house was bombed.
My dad will often recount stories of playing in the streets during WW2. Almost to the day, 76 years ago, he and his older brother were playing in Goodmayes Park and a V2 rocket came down close to them. There was no warning with V2s, ‘The V1s you could hear coming but the V2s just appeared from nowhere.’
Had it come down a minute or two earlier, they would have been obliterated.
They ran home to their mum to tell her and she just gave them a scalding for being late for their tea.
Years later we’d go boating in the pond formed from the crater and would often be reminded that we had Mr Hitler to thank for the opportunity.
please advise the exact location of this incident
My dad James Edmunds was killed in this attack. He was walking home through Goodmayes Park and died near the impact Point having survived service in the London Rifles in Flanders. His name appears on the war casualties at Barkinside. My brothers and I were evacuated to Lancashire at the time.
A gap in the terraces in Hazeldene Road Goodmayes was a bombsite until the site was developed with new houses in the 1950s. Does anyone recall the date of this event.
Hi, A V2 hit Ilford Hippodrome drome on 12/1/1945 and destroyed the row of cottages behind . my aunt lost five children in that attack
My mother, now aged 90, but age 12 in 1945 was injured in a V2 rocket impact in Goodmayes Park. She lived close by in Milner Road and was playing in the park with her friend (next door neighbour). She suffered severe damage to her leg and was subsequently treated for ‘shell shock’ (as it was then known). She was able to walk again after surgery and physiotherapy. Her parents received compensation for damage to the new coat that she was wearing. Her friend survived uninjured but she was aware of a gentleman being killed. She is alive today (5th March 2023) and still remembers the incident very well.
I was having my 6th birthday on February 3rd when the V2 rocket landed in Goodmayes Park.My father James Edmunds was the only fatality in this attack.His death left my mother to bring up 12 children the youngest only 3weeks old.We lived in Dunkeld road and my father was walking through the park to return home after buying me a skipping rope for my birthday present. our house backed on to the park which resulted in all our windows were blown out ,ceilings falling down, a sofa blown up a tree in the garden.We spent weeks sleeping on kind neighbours floors until our house was habitable again. I would love to hear if anybody knows any more details of this incident.
I was six years old on my birthday 3rd February 1945 .that was the day my father was killed by the V2 rocket that landed behind the shops in Goodmayes Park .We lived in Dunkeld Road and our house was severejy damaged in the blast My mother was left with 12 children the youngest only 3weeks oldMy father was James Edmunds the only fatality in this attack.If anyone knows more details of this I would love to know.
I was having my 6th birthday on February 3rd when the V2 rocket landed in Goodmayes Park.My father James Edmunds was the only fatality in this attack.His death left my mother to bring up 12 children the youngest only 3weeks old.We lived in Dunkeld road and my father was walking through the park to return home after buying me a skipping rope for my birthday present. our house backed on to the park which resulted in all our windows were blown out ,ceilings falling down, a sofa blown up a tree in the garden.We spent weeks sleeping on kind neighbours floors until our house was habitable again. I would love to hear if anybody knows any more details of this incident.