First Term at School - A Wartime Puzzler
We lived in Ulleswater Road, which was the first road in N14 Southgate, but was really much closer to Palmers Green N13. At age 5 and a few weeks I started at Hazlewood Lane Infants School in September 1944 and during my first term an incident occurred which I have never been able to identify for certain. One day during class our teacher suddenly told us to get under our desks as quickly as possible and take cover. As soon as we had done this there came the sound of a most enormous explosion not very far away. I'm sure it happened in that order, with the teacher's warning before the explosion and not the other way round. Now I can remember my parents telling me about a German V2 rocket which landed on the railway line near Palmers Green station. I don't actually remember that rocket but it definitely happened and I know the date and time of its landing. However I'm certain that rocket was not what led to the incident at school. Firstly the V2 at PG station is reported in the official records as landing at about 6.45 p.m. which was well after school hours. I know that time is about right because a fragment of the railway track came though the roof of the house where one of my classmates lived, and she remembers it was in the evening before bedtime. The second reason why it could not have been a V2 is because no-one could hear or see a rocket coming and it would have been impossible for our teacher to warn us. Even the Germans when they fired off the rockets didn't know exactly where they would land. One possible explanation which fits with my recollection of what happened is that the explosion during school hours was caused by a V1 flying bomb landing somewhere near Palmers Green. The V1s were known as ' buzz-bombs' because of the noise made by their jet motors, and when that noise stopped you knew the bomb was going to land close by within a few seconds. If what our teacher heard was the sound of a V1 engine cutting out then a warning to take cover could have been given. The problem is that, not for the want of trying, I have so far been unable to track down a date or time for V1s which landed in or near Palmers Green. There were several V1s within the Borough of Southgate which in 1944 also included Palmers Green. This information must exist somewhere. The date would probably have been fairly close to that of the known V2, which was 26 October 1944, otherwise it is unlikely that I would have remembered my parents telling me about that incident. If anyone reading this has the details, please post them here. Many thanks.
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RE: RE: First Term at School - A Wartime Puzzler
Hello Martin, You must be about 5 years older than me; I was born whilst my ma was evacuated to Yorkshire in Sept 1944, and it seems it was soon thereafter deemed to be 'safe' to return - in my/our case, to Winchmore Hill (Compton Road). Obviously I cannot comment on first hand about the events you describe, but apparently there were indeed a number of German missiles being chucked about at that time. I have always suffered the unhappy affliction of impaired hearing, which I came to understand was caused by a V2 rocket - supposedly the one that fell at Ringwood Way Winchmore Hill, on 15th November 1944. Not surprisingly, I have long since cursed that particular V2 rocket, and all who sent it! I much enjoyed reading your account, particularly as a longtime exile of Winchmore Hill, having left in early 1956 to go to Ilford, Essex (now East London). I later relocated to rural North Essex, where I am still. I have been engaged since retiring (early) 4 years ago, on checking out my family ancestry, the family name of which is Downes, who were quite prolific in the Southgate, Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill, Enfield, & Edmonton locality well into the 18th century. Are you still resident locally? I last hit this website a few years ago when I was searching for something else, and stayed up most of the night in utter fascination with the various 'town' photos, which included some gems of Winchmore Hill from my short trouser days in the 1950s! Happy days! Bob H.
Comment from Robert Hill on Wednesday, 23rd February 2011.
RE: RE: First Term at School - A Wartime Puzzler
Hi Robert, there was a bomb nearer to you than that. It landed in The Stationers' School field, bordered by Haselmere Road. It killed a donkey allegedly. I am sure there are others which will hopefully be revealed.
Comment from Richard Starling on Tuesday, 20th March 2012.