Teddington Parish's planned drama and church service to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day on Friday 8 May will have to wait until later in the year.

However, the parish is marking the date in several ways.

The Teddington Story

Robin Field-Smith has collated the following information showing how Teddington was affected by the Second World War:

Parish records at St Mary's give the names of 132 people who served in the Armed Forces during the Second World War.

Of those, the following died on, or as a result of, active service, but their names do not currently appear on any local memorial:

Nelson BEARD

William COCHRANE

Alan DILNOT

Sidney George GALLOP

Peter HOLDER

Dennis KING

William John Boston WADIE

At home in the Teddington and Twickenham area, as a result of enemy air attacks, about 500 houses were destroyed and over 32,000 damaged. 143 civilians were killed and nearly 500 had to be rehoused locally.

Key dates to recall were:

29th November 1940 – 130 bombs and over 4000 incendiaries were dropped, resulting in 74 people killed, 150 houses destroyed, especially in Church Road, including the Baptist church, and Walpole Crescent.

25th February 1944 – 45 bombs dropped in an effort to destroy NPL and the recently constructed US base in Bushy Park, but targets were missed and bombs fell on Fulwell golf course and Hampton Hill.

17th April 1944 – 900 tons of HE dropped on London and about 1200 civilians killed. A Teddington resident recalls:

"I fear London is having a dreadful time. The roar of planes has never stopped since nine last night, and guns have been busy nearly all the time. There are huge banks of red smoke all over the east in an otherwise clear sky"

From June 1944 V1 flying bombs started to land indiscriminately. As a result 7,000 women and children were evacuated from the borough in July.

5th July 1944 – a V1 scored a direct hit on Teddington Film Studios killing the production manager, 'Doc' Salomon. The peripheral blast damaged the two east facing windows in St. Mary's.

Early 1945 – the only V2 to land in Teddington left a crater 12 metres wide and 3 metres deep at the rear of Fairfax Road.

As the hostilities ended in 1945 that same resident observed:

"Teddington is a disgrace and looks more so in the sunshine. More and more empty shops and if they have not been shocked by bombs they are left in a mess"

Nissen huts were erected in Little Queen's Road as temporary accommodation for those who had lost their homes.

We should not overlook the 10 names from WW2 which are inscribed on the war memorial outside St Peter and St Paul church, which include two families killed in the bomb raid on 29th November 1940:

Walter BUTT

Kathleen, Michael and Paul RUMBLE, from Walpole Crescent

Peter WILLIAMS