On Saturday 25th November 1944 at 12.26 pm [only 2 weeks since the first V2 rocket hit London]
at a busy shopping parade in New Cross a V2 rocket hit without warning destroying most of the parade [including the Woolworths and Co Op stores, now Iceland and New Cross Library] in the massive explosion 168 people lost their lives [24 were never identified] and 122 were injured.
The parade was bustling with shoppers and included a Woolworths store. The dead included Mothers with their children and the elderly as well as local people many came from outside the Borough.
Saturday 25 November, 1944 was mild. The Allies’ success in Europe had raised peoples’ spirits at home. In New Cross word spread that the local Woolworth’s had 144 tin saucepans. These had been in short supply, so a queue built up quickly. Mums, grandparents and even soldiers on home leave stood in…
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