Bomb Crater Pond (Walthamstow)
Bomb Crater Pond is a pond in the Walthamstow Marshes in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
| Bomb Crater Pond | |
|---|---|
 Bomb Crater Pond, from the South West footpath by the River Lea. | |
  Bomb Crater Pond  Bomb Crater Pond  Bomb Crater Pond | |
| Location | Walthamstow, London |
| Coordinates | 51.566948°N 0.048746°W |
| Type | pond |
History
In February 1945, the German 485th Artillery Regiment of the Wehrmacht was renamed 902nd Artillery Regiment and relocated to Holland.[1] The regiment's special purpose (German "z.b.V." i.e. "zur besonderen Verwendung") was to launch V-2 rockets.[2] On 11 February 1945, its 3rd Artillery Battery launched one of its many attacks against London.[3] The V2 rocket, however, did not hit its aim and ended up in the Walthamstow Marshes instead.[4] Nobody was killed but one person was injured, and the nearby Latham Timber Yard was covered in thick mud.[5]
The crater was left untouched. Over the following years, it gradually filled up with water. Today, it can be seen in a cattle enclosure by the footpath following the River Lea on the south-west corner of the Walthamstow Marshes.
Literature
- Ashon, Will (2017). Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London's great forests. London: Granta. Chapter 2, "Walthamstow Marshes".
- Campbell, Sue Ellen (2011). The Face of the Earth. Natural Landscapes, Science, and Culture. Berkley: University of California Press, p. 129.