New book on Doodlebugs and rockets in Norfolk and Suffolk

During the Second World War we were the ones under attack as hundreds of men, women and children across Norfolk and Suffolk were killed as the bombs dropped causing mayhem and misery.

Much has been written about the attacks in the early 1940s but as the war was slowly coming to an end there were a series of other raids across our region which rarely get a mention…until now.

It has taken East Anglian author John Bridges five years to write Doodlebugs and Rockets Norfolk and Suffolk 1944-1945….and he has produced an extremely important book looking at a time when we were on the receiving end of raids from the mysterious V1 and V2 rockets.

The facts and figures are revealed along with harrowing stories from the people of the time, the impact these attacks had on the people and how we responded.

Hitler’s Vengeance weapons were primarily targeted on London, but for various reasons, many ended up in Norfolk and Suffolk.

This book tells the largely untold story of how we were caught up in this totally new form of warfare and how we responded as these rockets headed our way.

The VI’s were initially ramp launched, but following D-Day, these sites were overrun, and from September 1944, they were all launched from aircraft over the North Sea with many passing over Norfolk and Suffolk.

To counter this anti-aircraft guns were all moved to locations along our coast where they put up an effective barrage against them.

Countless missions were flown from our airfields to attack the launch sites. The V2 rocket reached 3,600mph on its flight to England, and there was no means of stopping it.

When these launch sites were overrun, they moved further away and found the only targets then in range were Ipswich and Norwich but their accuracy was poor and most fell a long way off.

The Royal Observer Corps and radar played a leading role in detecting the Vis heading our way at a time when people were hoping to rebuild their lives, They resulted in evacuations with many people coming to Norfolk and Suffolk.

As well as telling the story of the doodlebugs and rockets so well and in great details the author has spoken to many of the people involved and the impact these rockets had on their lives.

“There were 106 V1 and V2 incidents in Norfolk and Suffolk along with a great number that blew up or were destroyed off the coast,” says John.

They were aimed at London so why were so many ending up such a long way from their intended target?

“This started a long and interesting journey into a period of time that is almost lost to memory,” he added.

“Anyone who is at least 80 years of age might recall such incidents as a young child or teenager and I have been fortunate that several people have provided me with their first-hand experience,” said John.

Official figures show that between June 1944 and March 1945, excluding military personnel, 8,938 civilians were killed and 24,504 were seriously wounded by these weapons.

The foreword has been written by former EDP and Evening News journalist Steve Snelling, a man who has written books and countless articles about wartime activities.

As Steve says intertwined with the impressive array of statistical data are the personal recollections of mostly ordinary people, many of them no more than children at the time, who were caught up in one of the lesser-known “blitzes” of the war.

*Doodlebugs and Rockets. Norfolk and Suffolk 1944-1945 by John F Bridges is published by Poppyland Publishing at £10.95 and is in the shops now.