V-2 rocket launching sites were set up by the Germans around The Hague in the Netherlands on 6 September 1944. The first was launched from here against London on 8 September 1944 and took an estimated 5 minutes to fly the 200 miles (320 km) from the Hague to London, where it struck at 6:43pm on 8 September on Chiswick, causing 13 casualties.[19] As the V-2 explosions came without warning, the government initially attempted to conceal their cause by blaming them on defective gas mains.