World War 2
During World War Two Chertsey got off relatively lightly from the ‘Blitz’ in terms of civilian casualties as there were only a few bombs dropped here and there. London evacuees arrived in the town, some staying here for the duration. At the end of May 1940 a few well informed or curious Chertsey folk saw a cluster of ‘little ships’ go down the Thames on their way to Dunkirk.
Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) came to ‘Botley’s Park War Hospital’ on 28th May 1940 to visit Dunkirk survivors who were being treated there. Late on the 29th of December 1940 Chertsey people would have gone up St. Ann's Hill to get a better view to watch the City of London burn from the largest air raid of the Blitz which started at 6pm. Living eye witnesses describe a huge ark of orange and red to the North East.
MVEE, ‘The Tank Factory’ as it was known in the town was set up at Lyne in the early part of World War Two and provided Chertsey’s greatest contribution to the war effort by testing tracked military vehicles of all sorts, including variations on the populous American Sherman tank. 
Saunders Row of Addlestone set up a building and a circular concrete installation on Chertsey Meads to in order to water-test the small slow 3 seat ‘Walrus’ amphibian aircraft built under contract from Supermarine of Southampton.
This rugged little single engine biplane designed by R.J.Mitchell of Schneider Trophy and ‘Spitfire’ fame, and was used for reconnaissance and S.A.R (search and rescue) and could be catapulted from ships at sea if required. Eight a month were built here. 
According to one living eye witness, the craft taxied up and down the River Thames “flapping their wings”. Many ditched airmen owe their lives to these rather antiquated looking biplanes. In service it rejoiced in the two nick names of “Shagbat” & ”Steam Pigeon”. 
The Sea Otter, a refined version of the Walrus from the same company was also built and tested here and was the last biplane to go into service with the R.A.F. in 1944!
A week after D.Day over a period of 9 months, four German crude and noisy V1 flying bombs dubbed ‘Doodlebugs’, or ‘Buzzbombs’ flew in from France or Holland and crashed in various places in the locality. These loud and destructive incursions happened into Chertsey airspace between June 1944 and April 1945. The last one in Surrey fell opposite the Canlo Club in Addlestone Road one Sunday lunchtime. Neighbouring children ran to look into the crater according to living eye witnesses. 
On a freezing cold Sunday the 11th of February 1945 at 2am in the morning, a V2 rocket, the product of the cutting edge of Nazi technology, and which was built by slave labour, fell on the frozen Chertsey Meads creating the loudest (double) bang ever heard in the district for those still awake to hear it. This particular V2 rocket had been launched from Holland (probably The Hague) just 6 minutes before. Its parabolic flight curve and 3000 mph descent and explosion broke a few windows, woke people up, and disturbed the contents of the sleepers chamber pots in Mead Lane. 
The evidence of the forty foot wide crater can still be seen, although it is filled in and covered with weeds.