Hughes Mansions had been completed in 1929 as a replacement of the back-to-back houses originally here. They were named after Mary Hughes, a Quaker philanthropist and member of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney’s Housing Committee.
On 27 March 1945, a V2 rocket was fired towards London from remaining German forces in the Haagse Bos area of The Hague, Netherlands. The missile hit the very centre of the Hughes Mansions, totally destroying the centre block in the process. It was the final Second World War bomb to fall on London.
Hughes Mansions was rebuilt after the war and some of those who survived the V2 incident were rehoused here.
