Hughes Mansions, scene of one of the most devastating tragedies of the Second World War in the East End, is among the focal points of a 37-mile run through London by three British runners on September 8, the 80th anniversary of the first V2 rocket attack on London.

The Hughes Mansions disaster, on March 27 1945, was the result of the last V2 rocket attack, which killed 131 people, most of them Jewish, when the rocket landed on this single block of flats in Vallance Road.

The three, Dmitri Macmillen, Andrew Macmillen and Andy Lewis, making what they call an Air Defence Marathon, are visiting 17 sites from Chiswick to Bow, from Archway to Lewisham, where some of the worst losses of life by Londoners under air attack took place during the Second World War. As well as Hughes Mansions the run will take in a number of other sites in the East End in Bow and Bethnal Green, as well as a site in New Cross Gate where 168 people were killed.

Their aim is to draw attention to the parallels between the experience of Londoners under attack during World War II with those suffering a similar fate today in Ukraine, and to raise funds to purchase vital equipment for Ukrainian air defence units.

Dmitri Macmillen, the organiser, says: “We thought that an initiative which links London’s experience of air attacks during the Second World War (including in Chiswick where the first Nazi V2 rocket landed 80 years ago) with what Ukrainian cities are experiencing today, would help raise awareness of what’s happening there.

There will be a short reading at each of the sites to recall the bombing that took place there and those individuals who were impacted, and also to recall those who face similar terror and tragedy in Ukraine today from aerial bombardment.

The full route is available from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Donations to help reach the £15,000 target can be made at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/airdefencemarathon