The Air Defence Marathon

On Sunday 8 September, three UK-based runners (Dmitri, Andrew and Andy) will be running a 37 mile / 60 km route across World War II Blitz, V1 and V2 rocket impact sites in London. They are doing this to try and:

1. Raise awareness of the ongoing situation in Ukraine

Ukrainian civilians are still facing daily attacks from Russian warplanes, missiles and drones. We have seen high levels of support and compassion for Ukrainians from the British people, and we want this to continue.

2. Raise money to support Ukraine's air defence capabilities

Ukrainians need as much help as we can give them to protect their people, cities and infrastructure from Russian aerial bombardment. We are fundraising for the purchase of electronic intelligence equipment, to assist Ukrainian air defence units in intercepting Russian military communications and disrupting air attacks.

3. Commemorate the victims

There are parallels between the aerial bombardment Ukrainians are facing today from the Russian Federation, and the aerial bombardment Londoners faced in the 1940s from Nazi Germany. Along our route, we will stop and commemorate those whose lives were impacted by both sets of attacks.

Background

Eighty years ago, and into the last months of the Second World War, Nazi Germany unleashed the V2, the world’s first long-range ballistic missile, on the civilian populations of northern Europe. Between September 1944 and March 1945, over a thousand rockets were launched at the British mainland, the vast majority aimed at London, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 2,754 civilians and injuries to 6,523 civilians in the capital.

Today, another European country, Ukraine, is under constant bombardment from missiles and other weapons from the sky unleashed by the Russian Federation. The numbers of civilians killed and injured in such attacks since February 2022, the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, run into the thousands.

Eighty years after the beginning of the V2 attacks on London, a group of us are undertaking a commemorative fundraiser run. This will take place on 8 September, the date of the first V2 attack on the British mainland, which resulted in the death of three people in Chiswick. Our run will begin in Chiswick and crisscross London, visiting the sites of some of the most horrific V2 attacks on the capital, as well as several sites hit during the Blitz and V1 attacks earlier in the Second World War. At each site where we stop, we will recall the bombing that took place there and those individuals who were impacted, and recall those who face similar terror and tragedy in Ukraine today from aerial bombardment.

In 1944 and 1945 there was no effective air defence against V2 rockets. While Ukraine has air defence capabilities to meet many of the threats it faces today, they are nowhere near the scale required to be able to effectively protect its people, cities and infrastructure from Russian aerial bombardment. As part of our run, we will be fundraising for air defence units in the Ukrainian armed forces, trying to help them minimise the death and destruction wrought by Russian missiles and other weapons from the sky.

How can I get involved?

You can get involved in our fundraiser run in two ways:

1. Donate

We would be extremely grateful for any donations to this fundraiser and if you could also spread the word about it.

All donations will be directed to Come Back Alive, Ukraine’s most respected military assistance charity, in support of its invaluable work for Ukrainian air defence units. We will be fundraising specifically for the purchase of electronic intelligence equipment by Come Back Alive, to assist air defence units intercept Russian military communications and disrupt air attacks. For a sense of the work the charity has done in this area, and the types of equipment it has previously provided Ukrainian air defence units with, please visit this link (click on English-language version in top right corner).

2. Commemorate

You are welcome to join us at any of the bombing sites from the Second World War we will be visiting on our run. A map of all the sites we will be visiting, and estimated commemoration times at each of them (based on how much long we we think it will take us, as runners, to arrive at them), can be accessed at this link.

If you would like to get in touch and find out more about the Air Defence Marathon, please contact us at: airdefencemarathon@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support.

Dmitri, Andrew and Andy

Photo credits: The Historic England Blog, Reuters