Rebecca: ''Under The Tables!''

Rebecca

Robert Erskine

A V1 at Regent's Park

By Robert Erskine

My late mother Rebecca was working in a building on the corner of Euston Road and Warren Street, as a PA to the then MP for Trade and Industry.

She told me that one warm sunny afternoon she was standing by an open window, working. She glanced up just as a dark grey, silent shape appeared to pass right in front of her window. Immediately, she screamed out ‘’under the tables!’’ to all the other individuals in the room.

Everyone reacted and a few seconds later there was a terrific explosion which rocked the building. A V1 had landed just up the road near to Regent's Park. My mother said of the experience that "the shape was silent as it flew by but I knew what it was."

The memory remained with her as did another when a V2 struck Valence Road, killing some 134 individuals. She was in the office when it exploded and everyone heard the impact.

Despite these dangers, she explained that most people had a defiant attitude and continued with their daily routines.