Description of a V2 Impact

 

According to the excellent web site www.v2rocket.com

A description of a V2 impact would be as follows.

First, a whip cracking  sound of a blast wave created by the rocket (moving faster than the  speed of sound) bounces off of the point of impact just split seconds before the flash of impact. This was followed by the chaos of the explosion with debris and earth churned skyward. Soon, the whine and  rush of whistling air as the sound catches up with the rocket followed by a deafening roar of the incoming rocket, which tapers off to silence. There could be no warning. The V2 impacted at 3 times the speed of  sound.

(Quote courtesy of and used with the kind permission of Tracy Dungan www.v2rocket.com)

 Posted by at 12:23 pm

  3 Responses to “Description of a V2 Impact”

  1. Incident 536 Jan 15 1945 09-07am

    It was school assembly at CCHS on Nevin Drive. Some 400 pupils sat in a hall that featured a couple of ‘Port-hole windows (some 4ft in diameter) on the north side and floor to ceiling glass, nearly as tall as a house, on the majority of the south side.
    At 09-07 an orange flash crossed the ceiling from the porthole windows. There was the thunder of a vast explosion and the complete glass wall of the south side bent outwards and then came back to its normal position. NOT A PANE OF GLASS WAS BROKEN. There was as far as I can remember no panic.
    On returning to my classroom on the Northside of the building the window against which I sat was glass shards spread across the rest of the room.
    I celebrated my 13th birthday the following day
    The rocket fell just off King’s Head Hill, about 3 to 4 hundred yards away from the school.
    We later learnt that the mother of one of girls was killed in the incident.

    • My mother, Ann Middleton, went to your school and lived on Kings Head Hill. The house was heavily damaged but my grandmother survived with minor injuries.
      The story goes that the bus my father, John Carter, was on was running five minutes late and should have been there if on time. My parents met at that school.

  2. My mum survived a V2 rocket hit 6 March 1945 . On 6th March 1945 a V2 landed on Earlham Grove, destroying a number of houses. In 6 Earlham Grove the following were killed. Mark Golding 63, Sarah his wife 61, Hilda a daughter aged 30, Jack a son aged 23, Sadie his wife aged 22 and their 2 year old Geofrey. My mum, aged 14 was a grand daughter to Mark and Sarah. She remained alive buried under rubble for 2 to 3 days until dug out.

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