Hi War listeners, I'm Tim Harford here to bring you a preview of my podcast

Cautionary Tales, a show that minds stories of human error and fiacos of the past

for the most valuable lessons.

If you're a fan of war history, I think you'll enjoy this episode.

It's the first part of our trilogy on the Nazi V2 rocket.

I first started working on this story back in the spring of 2022. It was a real labor of

love, initially sparked by curiosity about a strange statistic my producer Ryan Dilly had told me and then just going deeper and

deeper and eventually darker and darker too. There's tragedy, there's moral

complexity, brilliance, courage, pure evil, and of course there are rocket ships

and the dream of traveling into space. If you enjoy this episode, visit

cautionary tales with Tim Harford to hear the rest of the series,

available wherever you're listening now.

By late November 1944 there was no doubt that the allies were winning the Second World War

and London was far from the front line. Still, Londoners had to make sacrifices. To pick a

trivial example, it was awfully difficult to get hold of a new source pan. So when a young woman called Betty, heard rumors that a

branch of Woolworth's in Southeast London had a new consignment of kitchenware,

she didn't hesitate.

I was a very young bride of a couple of years with my first baby of about two months.

So I promptly thanked my informer, dressed my baby daughter in her outdoor clothing, put on my coat and hat and set off for a hopeful purchase.

Betty had to travel across the city to reach the store.

It was Saturday the 29th of November, and she arrived in Southeast London just before half past 12.

The road was very steep at this point and I walked up the road on the right hand side

...