V1 story

I was pumping up my bicycle tyres on a Friday night during the summer of 1944. I was suddenly aware of a strange whistling noise coming, as I thought, from one of my cycle tyres. Wartime tyres were not very good owing to the shortage of rubber. I remember a Dunlop cycle tyre, unless my memory plays me false, cost 5 shillings (25p) but they did not last very long!
Anyway it wasn’t the tyres so I looked around to see a flying bomb (V1) gliding along, engine off. I didn’t take cover as its course was across and not towards me so unless the darned thing turned round I was safe. I continued to watch it glide along but its speed was slowing and as it finally reached the stall its wings rocked and it dived into the ground. The expected explosion followed, it was somewhere near Hounslow railway station. It would have given little, if any, warning as its approach with no engine was silent.
Why no engine? It may simply have run out of fuel or perhaps it had been damaged by a fighter or ack-ack fire but no-one will ever know.
Ones feeling at the time? That’s another one that did not get me was the main thought whilst wondering whether it had killed anyone or what damage there was.

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