ROTHERHITHE'S REVENGE
ROTHERHITHE'S REVENGE
In Southeast London on the South bank of the Thames River is a small residential community named Rotherhithe. It was here on the first day of the Blitz that the Commercial docks were targeted by the Luftwaffe and set ablaze, causing the most intense single fire ever seen in Britain. These attacks continued throughout the war culminating in the last V1 rocket attack made by the Germans hitting the community and destroying the City Hall.
Funds were raised to purchase four bombers by the community and in a ceremony one of the bombers was named 'Rotherhithe's Revenge'. She sustained battle damage but kept on fighting with the same spirit that sustained the British through the relentless onslaught they had also bravely faced. She flew a total of 122 missions.
The B-17G was based at Ridgewell in Essex with the 381st Bomb Group, 533rd Squadron. She survived the war and returned to the United States in September of 1945 where she was scrapped.
