This day in history: Rockets.

[Michel Ryckx]

"Fickt nicht mit den Raketenmensch".
When I read this little phrase for the first time, boy, it felt like a
bomb exploding in my face.  A journalistic account from 1945 on the
Rocket Campaign on Antwerp gives following statistics for today in 1944:

"On October 21, 1944 rocket nr. 11 and 12 fell on the city of Antwerp:
the first one at 15.53 h on a station in the harbour.  No damage to
houses, nor were there any victims.  The second one at 18.50 h, at docks
nr. 33.  30 houses damaged, one dead."

You want cause and effect?  Here's more:

"The first V2 hit (the village of) Brasschaet on October 7th, 1944 at 10
o'clock in the evening, the last one hit (the village of) Mortsel, March
27th 1945 at 22.48 h.
[. . .]
Number of  rockets (V2) in the city area: 598.  Number of bombs (V1) in
the city area: 616.  In 50 villages around the city: 1,832 V1 and 663 V2
[then more statistics] Total: 4,248 V1; 1,712 V2."

The previous page states that 6,406 of 106,436 buildings in the city
were completely destroyed.  2,903 dead, 53 missing and 7,883 injured.
Every 176th inhabitant of the city was killed, every 66th injured.

>From "Gemarteld Antwerpen", Jan De Schuyter, 1945.  A gem.

Ting-a-ling. And: poo-tee-weet.

Michel.