Commemorating the Chiswick V2

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Sixty years on from the first attack on Staveley Road

On 8 September 2004 a memorial will be unveiled by the Mayor of Hounslow in Staveley Road, Chiswick, to commemorate those who died when the first V2 fell 60 years ago. This event has been organised jointly by the Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society and the Battlefields Trust.

The V2 landed in the centre of Staveley Road, towards the junction with Burlington Lane. The memorial will be placed close to this spot, where today there is a small electricity sub-station. Three people died and 22 were injured, 11 houses were demolished and 27 more were seriously damaged in the immediate area.

There will be short speeches before the unveiling, which will take place as close as possible to the time the V2 landed, at 6.44pm. The event will be held in the street and all are welcome to attend; those who wish to do so should arrive by 6.15 pm.

The V2 was launched from Wassenaar, a suburb of The Hague in the Netherlands. On the same evening as the Chiswick ceremony, the local authority and community of Wassenaar will also be marking the event with their own memorial at the launch site. Jos Borsboom, President of Foundation V2 Platform in The Netherlands, has provided expert information about the V2s and will be attending the commemoration in Chiswick.

Some survivors and eyewitnesses have already come forward and told their stories. The Local History Society would be interested to hear from anyone who was present at the time of this attack, on the scene soon afterwards or involved in any other way. The Society has prepared an information sheet about the Chiswick V2 which will be available on the evening of the commemor-ation and a durable information panel, with similar information, will be placed at the memorial site later this year. A pack of information for local teachers is also being prepared, together with scrapbooks of copies of historical evidence relating to the Chiswick V2, which will be presented to the council in Wassenaar and the museum at Peenemunde in Germany, where the V2 was developed. Memories, photographs or other items can be included in these packs and albums and would help to make a more complete picture.

The Local History Society and the Battlefields Trust wish to thank may individuals and organisations who have made the commemoration possible. Chiswick residents and a sponsored marathon run by Scott Mackinlay have paid for the memorial stone. A grant from Home Front Recall, the new lottery grant scheme for commemorating World War 2 events has provided the funds for the commemoration event, the information sheet and other educational materials.

Ian Marchant, the Chief Executive of Scottish and Southern Energy plc, generously agreed to the placing of the memorial on the company’s site in Staveley Road and Andrew Blincow, their Operations Manager, has provided practical support with its installation. Christopher Jolly has paid for the cost of landscaping around the memorial and John Reynolds of L B Hounslow has co-ordinated all the works on site. Carolyn Hammond, Local Studies Librarian at Chiswick Library has provided considerable help with the research for the project. Cllr Paul Lynch, Chairman of the Chiswick Area Committee, LB Hounslow, assisted with the grant applications and the com-memoration event.

September 2, 2004