History of German Rocketry in World War II

History of German Rocketry in World War II

Wernher von Braun Joins The VfR

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In 1927, an eager 17-year-old scientist named Wernher von Braun joined the VfR, or Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel), which had been formed in June, 1927. This group of mainly young scientists immediately began designing and building a variety of rockets.

Membership in the VfR quickly soared to about 500, a sufficient member base to allow the publication of a periodic journal, "Die Rakete" (The Rocket). A number of VfR members, including Walter Hohmann, Willy Ley and Max Valier, had written, and continued to write, popular works on the field of rocketry.

Hohmann's book "Die Erreichbarkeit der Himmelskörper" (The Attainability of Celestial Bodies) published in 1925 was so technically advanced that it was consulted years later by NASA. Valier would later seek to popularize rocketry by helping to organize tests of German rocket cars, gliders, train cars and snow sleds.

Other VfR members, including Hermann Oberth and von Braun, participated in the Ufa Film Company project in the late 1920's through 1930, which also sought to popularize the field of rocketry.

The VfR Begins Rocket Tests

In 1930, the VfR set up permanent offices in Berlin and began testing rockets which would ultimately change the nature of warfare and propel the world into the space age.

These at first humble tests began at an abandoned German ammunition dump at Reinickendorf nicknamed Raketenflugplatz (Rocket Airfield). The true genius of the VfR team at this time was reportedly Klaus Riedel, although he had no formal training. Riedel was killed in an automobile accident prior to the close of World War II.

By August, 1930 tests began on the first of the VfR rockets, called Mirak-1 (Minimum Rocket-1). Powered by a combination of liquid oxygen and gasoline, Mirak-1 employed a 12-inch long liquid oxygen tank that shrouded a combustion chamber, thus cooling it. Gasoline was carried in a three-foot long tail stick.

Mirak-1 was successfully static test fired in August, 1930 at Bernstadt, Saxony. During a second static test firing in September, 1930 Mirak-1 exploded when its liquid oxygen tank burst.

German Rocket Testing Continues

On March 13, 1931 Karl Poggensee launched an experimental solid-fueled rocket near Berlin. The rocket carried an altimeter, cameras and a velocity indicator. It reached an altitude of 1,500 feet and was successfully recovered by parachute.

The first European liquid-fueled rocket was launched on March 14, 1931 not by the VfR but rather by German scientist Johannes Winkler, supported in his research by Hugo A. Huckel. The pair launched a 2-foot long by 1-foot wide rocket called the Huckel-Winkler 1, powered by a combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane.

The Huckel-Winkler 1 was launched near the city of Dessau and reached an altitude of 1,000 feet. This was followed by the launch of Huckel-Winkler 2 near Pillau in East Prussia on October 6, 1932. This rocket caught on fire and crashed after reaching an altitude of just ten feet.

In April, 1931 a German scientist named Reinhold Tiling launched four solid-fueled rockets at Osnabrück. One exploded at an altitude of 500 feet, two reached altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet and one reached an altitude of 6,600 feet at a maximum speed of 700 m.p.h.

Tiling later launched two more solid-fueled rockets, each more advanced than the first four. These rockets were launched from Wangerooge, one of the East Frisian Islands. Details of these tests are not certain, but one of the rockets is believed to have reached an altitude of 32,000 feet.

The VfR Makes Advances In Rocket Testing

Also in the spring of 1931, VfR tested the Mirak-2, which was similar in design to the Mirak-1, but incorporated an improved propulsion system. Like the Mirak-1, the Mirak-2 rocket was destroyed during a static test firing when its liquid oxygen tank burst.

VfR then moved on to tests of a new series of rockets called Repulsor, so named by VfR member Willy Ley. Repulsor rockets, like their Mirak ancestors, also burned a combination of liquid oxygen and gasoline. But the Repulsor combustion chamber was cooled by water stored inside a double-walled aluminum skin.

Repulsor-1 was successfully launched by VfR to an altitude of 200 feet on May 14, 1931 in the second European launch of a liquid-fueled rocket. Repulsor-2 reached an altitude of 200 feet and range of 2,000 feet on May 23, 1931.

VfR then introduced a series of rockets under the designation Repulsor-3, which were intended to be launched then recovered intact via parachute. The first Repulsor-3 reached an altitude of 2,000 feet and range of 2,000 feet, although its parachute was torn off and the rocket crashed. Several Repulsor-3 tests followed with mixed results.

These tests were followed by the Repulsor-4 series, which introduced a rocket incorporating a single tail stick for stability. In August, 1931 the first Repulsor-4 reached an altitude of 3,300 feet and was recovered by parachute. Subsequently tested Repulsor-4 rockets typically reached altitudes of about one mile.

German Army Considers Support Of VfR Rocket Tests

Membership within the VfR dropped dramatically in 1932 as German police began objecting to rocket tests within the Berlin city limits. This was coupled with a fear of Adolf Hitler, who began restricting the activities of organizations, like VfR, that had significant ties to the international community.

Facing total elimination, VfR made pleas to the German Army to aid in the continuation of rocket testing. In the summer of 1932, the German Army allowed VfR to launch a Repulsor-type rocket at an army proving ground at Kummersdorf.

The German Army then allowed Wernher von Braun to continue experiments while working on his doctoral thesis in rocket combustion phenomena using the facilities at Kummersdorf.

First Modern Manned Rocket Is Proposed

The first definite plans to construct a manned rocket emerged in 1933 as a part of the Magdeburg Project, headed by German scientists Rudolf Nebel and Herbert Schäfer. A test rocket was launched on June 9, 1933 at Wolmirstedt near Magdeburg. The rocket never left its 30-foot launching tower.

Several tests followed with mixed results. On June 29, 1933 a rocket left the launch tower, but flew horizontally at a low altitude for a distance of about 1,000 feet. This rocket was recovered undamaged and refashioned into a design more closely resembling the VfR Repulsors.

This rocket was eventually launched from Lindwerder Island in Tegeler Lake near Berlin and reached an altitude of 3,000 feet before crashing about 300 feet from the launching tower. Additional test launches were conducted from a boat on Schwielow Lake through August, 1933 at which time the Magdeburg Project was completely abandoned.

German Army Absorbs VfR Rocket Testing

The VfR was forced to disband in the winter of 1933/1934 because the organization could not meet its financial obligations. Rocketry experiments ceased at the Raketenflugplatz facility in January, 1934 and the area resumed operation as an ammunition dump. Upon the disbanding of VfR, all private rocket testing in Germany ceased.

Wernher von Braun, however, went to work officially for the German Army at Kummersdorf. There, the Heereswaffenamt-Prüfwesen (Army Ordnance Research and Development Department) established the Versuchsstelle Kummersdorf-West as a static testing site for ballistic missile weapons.

Kummersdorf also became a site for the development and testing of a number of prototype jet-assisted take-off (JATO) units for aircraft. These tests were conducted by Wernher von Braun in association with Major von Richthofen and Ernst Heinkel.

Under the direction of Captain Walter Dornberger, the Kummersdorf team was quickly able to design and build the A-1 (Aggregate-1) rocket. The A-1 was powered by a combination of liquid oxygen and alcohol, and could develop a thrust of about 660 pounds.

A 70-pound flywheel gyroscope was carried in the nose of the rocket to provide stability during flight. The A-1 was ultimately unsuccessful because its small fiberglass liquid oxygen tank housed inside its alcohol tank was fire prone. In addition, the gyroscope was located too far from the center of the rocket to be effective.

The A-1 was soon followed by the A-2, which employed separate alcohol and liquid oxygen tanks. The A-2 gyroscope was located near the center of the rocket between the two fuel tanks. In December, 1934 two A-2 rockets, nicknamed Max and Moritz, were launched from the North Sea island of Borkum. Each reached an altitude of about 6,500 feet.

But the feasibility of effective military rockets remained speculative at best, exemplified by the fact that in 1935, Adolf Hitler rejected a proposal from Artillery General Karl Becker for a long-range bombardment rocket.

Lesser Known Rocket Tests Commence In Germany

Sanctioned German rocketry research was also conducted by engineer Eugen Sänger, whose work began in 1936 and eventually yielded experimental rocket engines which burned a combination of liquid oxygen and diesel fuel. These engines could produce a sustained thrust of 50 pounds for up to 30 minutes, but had no military value.

Rockets Carry Propaganda Leaflets In Spain

Solid-fueled sea-rescue rockets were used in a particularly interesting manner during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939. These rockets were converted for the purpose of carrying propaganda leaflets behind enemy lines.

The sea-rescue rocket nose cones were modified to burst open at a predetermined time and altitude to release a payload of leaflets, which were printed on an especially thin paper to conserve weight.

German Rocket Tests Commence At Peenemünde

In April, 1937 all of the German rocket testing was relocated to a top-secret base at Peenemünde on the Baltic Coast. The first task of engineers at what was established as the Heeresversuchsstelle Peenemünde (Army Experimental Station Peenemünde) was to develop and test a new rocket called the A-3.

By the end of 1937, the Peenemünde team had developed and tested the 1,650-pound, 21-foot long A-3 rocket, which burned a combination of liquid oxygen and alcohol. Although the propulsion system of the A-3 functioned well, its experimental inertial guidance system did not. The guidance problems were solved, and larger rockets were planned.

By 1938, Germany had begun invading huge portions of Eastern Europe, and Adolf Hitler began recognizing the need for an effective ballistic missile weapon. The German Ordnance Department requested that the Peenemünde team develop a ballistic weapon that had a range of 150 to 200 miles and could carry a one-ton explosive warhead.

The size of the weapon would need to be compatible with existing railways in terms of tunnels and bends and would need to be transportable in the field by truck. These criteria led directly to the development of the A-4 rocket.

An interim test vehicle to bridge the gap between the A-3 and the A-4 was named the A-5. The A-5 was similar in design to the A-3, but employed a simpler, more reliable guidance system and stronger structure. The A-5 was fashioned with the exterior appearance of the proposed A-4 weapon.

A-5 tests were conducted from the fall of 1938 through 1939. The rockets were launched both horizontally and vertically, and were often recovered by parachute and launched again. The first A-5 launched vertically reached an altitude of 7.5 miles.

Germans Seize Rocketry High Ground As World War II Rages

Civilian and military efforts in the field of rocketry in all other nations combined paled in comparison with the strides made in Germany, where the first A-4 was tested with complete success on October 3, 1942. The very first A-4 rocket reached an altitude of 50 miles and flew a distance of 120 miles.

The A-4, later renamed V-2, would go on to lay the cornerstone of modern rocketry.

The German V-1 Buzz Bomb

Although Germany produced and deployed a number of rocket and missile weapons during World War II, the potency of their weapons was based on the so-called "V" weapons. The "V" was short for "Vergeltungswaffen", roughly translated "weapons of retaliation", "weapons of reprisal" or "weapons of vengeance".

The V-1 was the first of the numbered V-weapons. The V-1 was a pilot-less bomber that employed a gasoline-powered pulse-jet engine that could produce a thrust of about 1,100 pounds. The entire V-1 weighed about 4,900 pounds.

V-1 test flights began in 1941 over the Peenemünde range. The V-1 was originally called the Fieseler Fi-103. The V-1 bore no resemblance to the V-2, which was under development at Peenemünde at the same time.

British intelligence received information that secret weapons were under development at Peenemünde, so hundreds of Allied heavy bombers attacked Peenemünde on August 17, 1943. About 800 people were killed, including Dr. Walter Thiel, who at the time was in charge of V-2 engine development.

Allied forces did not know the extent of weapons development at Peenemünde, nor that their bombing raids did not significantly hinder development of the weapons themselves. Indeed, the V-weapons were soon to be used in combat.

V-1 attacks aimed at targets in England began in June, 1944. Each V-1 was launched from a ramp, and was unguided. After it was launched, the V-1 flew a preset course until a switch cut off its engine, causing the V-1 to simply fall on whatever was under it.

The distinctive sound of the V-1 engine resulted in the vehicle being nicknamed the "buzz bomb" by Allied forces. People on the ground knew they were relatively safe if the buzzing sound came and then faded as the weapon passed out of range. However, if the buzzing sound stopped abruptly, it was quickly understood that a powerful explosion could occur nearby.

Each V-1 carried about 2,000 pounds of explosives, and was capable of causing great damage. But, since the V-1 was unguided, the weapon rarely hit a specific target. The V-1 had a top speed of about 390 m.p.h. so could be intercepted by fighter aircraft or destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery.

The V-1 airframe was also prone to failure due to engine vibration. It is believed that about 25 percent of all V-1 missiles launched were destroyed by airframe failure before reaching their targets.

Although specific numbers vary from source to source, a British report released after the war indicated that 7,547 V-1 missiles were launched at England. Of these, the report indicated that 1,847 were destroyed by fighter aircraft, 1,866 were destroyed by anti-aircraft artillery, 232 were destroyed by flying into barrage balloon cables and 12 were destroyed by Royal Navy ship artillery.

That left about half of all V-1 missiles launched at England unaccounted for, and a large number were able to cause extensive property damage. The British reported that 6,139 people were killed as a direct result of V-1 attacks, about three times the number that were killed by the V-2.

Allied reports also indicated that about 5,000 V-1 missiles were launched toward Antwerp, Belgium which was captured from German forces by British and Canadian troops in September, 1944. Antwerp became a major staging area for Allied forces and thus became a popular target for the V-weapons. Although V-2 rockets caused extensive damage at Antwerp, V-1 barrages reportedly had little effect there.

A Pilot For The German V-1 Buzz Bomb

It is lesser known that the Germans designed a manned version of the V-1 called the V-1e. The V-1e was not intended to be recovered. It would have been launched, then guided to its target by a pilot on a suicide mission. Similar to the Japanese kamikaze concept, the V-1e group was code-named Project Reichenberg.

The V-1e was about 27 feet long and employed a cockpit and pilot instrumentation. The V-1e was test flown several times by German test pilot Hanna Reitsch.

Reitsch confirmed that the basic V-1 airframe was prone to severe vibration resulting from engine noise. She believed the deployment of the V-1e as introduced would result in significant pilot losses, even if the pilot had agreed to perform a suicide mission. The Germans could not sustain design changes late in the war, so the V-1e was never deployed in combat.

The German V-2 Is Designed And Tested

The German V-2 rocket, developed under the designation A-4, is believed to be one of the most significant scientific advances of World War II, second only to the development of the atomic bomb.

Aerodynamic data was generated for the basic V-2 design during wind tunnel tests conducted in 1936 and 1937. Certain V-2 components were in production as early as the spring of 1939, when launches of a test version of the rocket called the A-5 were being conducted.

Through 1942, development of the V-2 was conducted 24 hours per day under the supervision of Wernher von Braun. The first models of the V-2 were ready for firing by the spring of 1942.

The first test launch of a V-2 occurred on June 13, 1942. The rocket pitched out of control and crashed as a result of a propellant feed system failure. The second V-2 test launch was conducted on August 16, 1942. This V-2 flight was also considered a failure, but the vehicle became the first guided missile to exceed the speed of sound.

On just its third test launch on October 3, 1942the V-2 scored a complete success. The rocket achieved a maximum altitude of 50 miles and maximum range of 120 miles, meeting the initial performance criteria for the weapon.

Following this achievement, Adolf Hitler, just a few years earlier unreceptive to the potential of guided ballistic missiles, established a military production committee within the Ministry of Armaments and War Production to manage further development of the V-2.

While this did inject needed resources for the V-2 program, Wernher von Braun later stated that the military organization placed in charge of V-2 development by Hitler lacked scientific judgment, and ultimately hindered the capabilities of the weapon significantly.

Indeed, von Braun was not to participate in the V-2 development program without great personal risk. As the potential of the V-2 as a potent weapon became better and better documented, the German SS, in particular SS General Hans Kammler, sought to take over its development.

In February, 1944 von Braun was called to Gestapo headquarters in East Prussia where he was extended an invitation by Heinrich Himmler to abandon the V-2 program in favor of developing weapons for the Gestapo. The invitation was denied, and three days later von Braun was arrested by three Gestapo agents and taken to a prison in Stettin.

Two weeks later, von Braun was accused of not being interested in war rockets, but rather having space exploration as his sole motivation for developing the V-2 missile. It was also alleged that von Braun sympathized with the British, and had hatched a scheme to escape to England by airplane and share his rocketry knowledge with the enemy.

These were serious charges, but the matter was dropped after Walter Dornberger appealed directly to Adolf Hitler, claiming the charges were false and that von Braun was not expendable where continued development of the V-2 was concerned. Hitler agreed, and von Braun was released from prison. The infighting over development of the V-2, however, would remain a constant thorn to von Braun.

Hundreds of V-2 missiles were manufactured and test launched through 1944 to validate the performance of the vehicle and train the troops that would deploy it. A number of these test launches resulted in spectacular failures, one of which was particularly advantageous for the Germans.

In June, 1944 a V-2 outfitted with a radio guidance system intended to test this radio guidance system for the proposed German Wasserfall surface-to-air missile strayed off course and crashed near Kalmar, Sweden. The wreckage was recovered and examined by British forces.

Identifying the missile as radio-guided, the British incorrectly concluded that the new German weapon would be radio-guided and subject to radio jamming as a defensive method. This left allied forces totally unprepared for the onslaught of V-2 missiles which followed using an on-board gyroscopic guidance system against which there was no defense.

The German V-2 Enters Production

Wartime production of the V-2 began at a virgin facility at the Peenemünde Experimental Center. Following the Allied bombing of August 17, 1943. V-2 production was relocated to an underground facility at Mittelwerk, near Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains. The site was converted from an oil depot.

The Mittelwerk site consolidated all of the production efforts previously carried out at Peenemünde, and eventually became the sole location for V-2 production. V-2 production plants were originally under construction at sites near Vienna, Berlin and Friedrichshafen, but construction of these sites was abandoned because of a persistent threat of Allied attacks.

Certain individual V-2 components were manufactured at sites throughout Germany, and troop training was also conducted at other sites. But V-2 production was based at the plant at Mittelwerk. A remarkable 900 V-2 missiles per month were being produced at the Mittelwerk plant by the close of the war.

The German V-2 Technical Specifications

Each V-2 was 46 feet long, had a diameter of 5 feet, 6 inches and finspan of 12 feet. The entire rocket weighed about 27,000 pounds at launch. The top six feet of the V-2 was a warhead containing up to 2,000 pounds of conventional explosives.

Below the warhead was a 5-foot section containing instrumentation, a 20-foot section containing the fuel tanks and a 15-foot section containing the engine.

The instrumentation section contained an automatic pilot, accelerometer and radio equipment. The automatic pilot was made up of two electric gyroscopes that stabilized the rocket's pitch, roll and yaw motions.

As the rocket moved about the axes of the gyroscopes, the movement was measured by electronic potentiometers. This caused electric command signals to be sent to a series of steering vanes at the base of the rocket.

The V-2 employed two sets of steering vanes. An external set of four steering vanes was made up of one steering vane at the base of each of the four V-2 fins. An internal set of four steering vanes was located at the base of the engine.

Both sets of steering vanes were designed to work together to deflect the engine exhaust and steer the rocket. Movement of the steering vanes was intended to cause the potentiometers in the instrumentation section to read zero voltage, thus keeping the rocket on a predetermined path.

Whenever the potentiometers read any voltage, an electric command would be sent to corresponding steering vanes to correct the motion of the rocket until the voltage again read zero. The steering vanes were controlled by electrohydraulic mechanisms.

The accelerometer was used to measure the velocity of the rocket, while the radio equipment was used for a variety of purposes. In some instances, the radio equipment was used merely to receive commands from the ground to shut off fuel flow to the engine.

In more complex applications, a radio transmitter and second receiver were employed to measure the rocket's velocity through the Doppler principle. In some cases, radio equipment allowed the V-2 to be radio-guided from the ground.

The instrumentation section also carried a number of steel bottles that contained compressed nitrogen used to pressurize the fuel tanks and operate some valves.

The V-2 contained two fuel tanks. One contained liquid oxygen, while the second contained a combination of 75% alcohol and 25% water. These were the fuels that powered the V-2 engine.

The engine itself was composed of a combustion chamber, venturi, fuel pipes, a liquid oxygen fuel pump, an alcohol fuel pump, a steam-driven turbine that drove the two fuel pumps and hydrogen peroxide auxiliary fuel that operated the steam turbine.

Through a natural chemical breakdown, the hydrogen peroxide decomposed into oxygen and water. The breakdown occurred at a high enough temperature to instantly turn the water into steam, which in turn drove the turbine. The turbine then pumped fuel into the engine.

The German V-2 Deployment And Launch

Completed V-2 rockets were transported by rail car from the factory to storage areas, where they were moved to special trailers by portable cranes. Storage time was kept to a few days, since testing determined that excessive storage time resulted in more V-2 failures.

After being stored, the V-2 rockets were moved by truck and trailer to their launch sites. Although deploying the V-2 at fixed launch sites would simplify launch processing, it was felt that fixed launch sites would be too prone to attack. Therefore, the V-2 was deployed as a mobile missile.

Prior to launch, each V-2 missile was transferred to a vehicle called a "Meilerwagen". Here, the rocket was clamped to a cradle in a horizontal position. The cradle on the "Meilerwagen" was then raised by hydraulic pistons until the rocket reached a vertical position.

A launching platform was then raised up until it assumed the full weight of the rocket. The cradle clamps were then released, and the "Meilerwagen" was withdrawn several feet.

The launching platform was a 10-foot rotatable ring housed in a square, angle-iron framework supported at its corners by jacks. The launching platform was very simple in design, and could be readily moved from launch site to launch site.

Each launch site was supported by about 30 vehicles, including transport trucks and trailers, the "Milerwagen", propellant storage trucks, command and control trucks, personnel carriers and military support vehicles. The operation was very efficient, and a V-2 could typically be launched from four to six hours after a suitable launch site was selected.

Electrical power for the V-2 was provided by ground sources when it rested on the launching platform and by batteries while in flight. Ground power was necessary for launch preparations, including the firing system.

During launch preparations, the V-2 could be accessed by a vertical arm on the "Meilerwagen" or by ladders extending from nearby fire trucks. Launch preparations included the installation of guidance components, steering vanes, engine igniters and the loading of fuel.

A number of tests were also performed, including a "dry" purge of the fuel tanks with compressed nitrogen to locate any leaks. A similar test to locate leaks in rocket fuel tanks remains in use today. Great care also was taken to make sure the V-2 was properly oriented on its launching platform.

The actual launch was controlled from a remote location some 200 to 300 yards away from the rocket. An armored vehicle of some type was typically used as a "firing room".

When the rocket was ready for launch, the control officer would fire the igniters by electric command. The flow of fuel would then be activated by solenoid valves.

The liquid oxygen and alcohol then flowed by gravity to the exhaust nozzle, where they were lit by the igniters, which resembled a 4th of July pinwheel. This burning in itself was not sufficient to launch the rocket, but it did give the control officer a visual indication that the rocket was functioning properly.

Once the control officer believed the rocket was ready for launch, an electric command was sent to start the fuel pumps. After about three seconds, the fuel pump steam turbine reached full speed, the fuel flow reached its full value of 275 pounds-per-second and the engine thrust reached about 69,000 pounds.

The V-2 was then launched, and began to rise slowly. It continued in a vertical rise for about four seconds, then was pitched to its programmed launch angle by the gyroscopic guidance system. The maximum pitch angle was typically about 45 degrees, which produced the greatest range.

After about 70 seconds, the V-2 fuel flow was stopped, and the engine shut down. By this time, the rocket had achieved a speed of 5,000 to 6,000 feet-per-second. The rocket would then complete an unpowered ballistic trajectory, reaching its target just five minutes after being launched.

Achieving a maximum altitude of 50 to 55 miles, the V-2 could impact a target within an operational design range of 180 to 190 miles, although some are believed to have flown as many as 220 miles. Because the V-2 flew so high and so fast, there was no defense against it. The missiles could not be detected until they exploded on the ground.

The German V-2 Becomes A Weapon Of War

Death and Terror

Despite the fact that the V2 was a weapon of war, more slave labourers died building the rockets than people were struck down by the explosive warhead that the V2 carried.

Since the V2 was not operational until late 1944, the countless funds, materials, and manpower that were used in its construction could have been better used to produce more planes and tanks. It was purely a "Vengeance Weapon", but there was no countermeasure that the Allies had to stop it.

From 1943, the V2 rockets were constructed in an underground system of tunnels under Kohnstein Mountain, near Nordhausen. This move was as a response to Allied bombing of existing works - an environment protected from bombing needed to be found. The new plant became known as Mittelwerk.

After meeting with Hitler on August 18th, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler had informed Armaments Minister Speer that he was personally taking over V2 production and placing SS Brigadier General Hans Kammler in charge of the complex. It was Kammler who had been in charge of building of the infamous extermination camps and gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Maidenek, and Belzec.

On August 28, 1943, two days after the choice of Mittelwerk, the SS delivered the first truckloads of prisoners from the concentration camp at Buchenwald to begin the heavy labour of expanding and completing of the tunnel system. Dora was the name given to the Buchenwald sub camp.

The Mittelwerk V2 factory produced some 4575 V2s between August 1944 and March 1945.

Prisoners were divided into two groups of workers: Transport Columns and Specialists. The former did the often backbreaking work of manually transporting much of the material that entered or left the tunnels, while the latter did other more skilled assembly and testing work. Detainees working in the tunnels were divided into a day and a night shift, each working for 12 hours straight. Every four weeks, the workers changed shifts. Each prisoner work group, or kommando, was headed by a prisoner leader (Kapo).

Teams of six transport prisoners were assigned to carry into the tunnels the empty aluminium tanks for the rocket from the outside storage depots. Designed to be lightweight for their size, each tank still weighed about 150kg - or about 25kg per worker. The workers formed two parallel columns and grasped the hand of their counterpart alongside. The tank was then slung on their joined arms. If a group dropped its tank (not uncommon, since these skeletons of men were often already weak and sick), the SS guards and Kapo were there to kick and beat them with truncheons until they could lift their burden and continue once again. Since much of this work was done in the dead of one of the coldest winters on record, the workers were usually slogging though snow, ice, or freezing rain and mud. It is hard to imagine what is must have been like. On their feet they wore wooden clogs, and had very little protection from the elements.

It is estimated that of the 60,000+ detainees employed in and around the Mittelbau complex over a 20-month period, 26,500 did not survive. One author attributes 15,500 of these deaths to the camps or to "transports", and 11,000 to the period in April 1945 when the camps were evacuated by the SS in the face of the American advance. This evacuation was especially barbaric. The SS shot prisoners, herded them into barns and burned them alive, left them to die if they were too sick to walk, or made them part of walking or rail convoys headed to other concentration camps.

Each operational V2 to come off the Mittelwerk line cost about six terrible deaths.

The first hostile V-2 missiles were launched on September 6 1944. On that day, two V-2 missiles were launched toward Paris but failed to inflict any damage.

V-2 attacks on England began on September 8. 1944. V-2 missiles were typically launched toward London and Antwerp, Belgium. Allied forces also reported that eleven V-2 rockets impacted near Remagen, Germany on March 9 and 10, 1945 as the Germans made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent engineers from completing a pontoon bridge across the Rhine River and hinder an Allied advance there.

German forces initially maintained V-2 launch sites in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Launch capability from France and Belgium were quickly eliminated as Allied forces advanced across European soil through the latter half of 1944. As a result, the lion's share of V-2 launches took place from launch sites near the Hague in the Netherlands.

The loss of launch sites in France and Belgium caused the Germans to test a winged version of the V-2 intended to increase the range of the missile. Called the A-4b, the missile was a V-2 outfitted with winds to allow a glide path to a more distant target.

The first A-4b prototype was test launched on January 8, 1945 but failed to meet its test objectives. A second A-4b prototype was launched on January 24, 1945. This missile validated the winged V-2 concept, and became the first winged missile to break the sound barrier. Although promising, A-4b missiles never went into production.

Specific numbers vary from source to source, but it is generally believed that about 1,100 V-2 missiles reached England until V-2 attacks ceased on March 27, 1945. About 2,800 people are believed to have been killed and another 6,500 injured as a direct result of V-2 attacks.

It is generally believed that about 5,000 V-2 missiles were manufactured by the Germans prior to the close of World War II. About 600 were used for test launches and troop training, with the remainder launched toward targets. Given these numbers, the V-2 failure rate was quite large.

The V-2 failure rate was due to a number of factors. In many instances, the missiles failed to be successfully launched. In other instances, the guidance system failed, causing the missile to miss its target. The missile often exploded or broke up due to the stress of supersonic flight, and in many cases the V-2 explosive warhead failed to detonate after impacting a target.

Both the V-1 and V-2 proved themselves to be potent weapons, but they suffered from basic weaknesses that did not allow the weapons to turn the tide for Germany at the close of World War II.

The weapons were rushed into deployment before they could be completely tested and refined. As a result, they lacked accuracy and the ability to carry explosive payloads large enough to compensate for this lack of accuracy.

While barrages of huge numbers of V-1 and V-2 missiles might have compensated for the basic weaknesses of the weapons, the Germans were unable to introduce sufficient numbers to overwhelm Allied advances.

German Concept Weapons Based On The V-2

It should be noted that a number of follow-up versions of the V-2 were envisioned by German engineers, and historians will continue to wonder how World War II would have played out if Germany had the time to develop these concepts, along with perhaps an atomic or biological weapons payload.

The German concept weapons carried the "A" designation, like the A-4 which eventually became known as the V-2. The A-5 actually preceded the A-4, and was used as an interim test prototype of the A-4. German concept vehicles considered to follow the V-2 began with the A-6.

Standard V-2 (~280 km range);
Winged A4b (~580 km range);
A10/A4b two-stage supersonic-glide missile (~2500 km range);
A10/A9 two-stage hypersonic-glide missile (~5000 km range)

Although design of the A-6 was completed, the vehicle was neverbuilt. The A-6 would have been identical to the V-2 with the exception of fuel. The A-6 would have used nitric-sulfuric acid as oxidizer and vinyl isobutyl ether mixed with aniline as fuel.

These fuels were storable, and were intended to quicken the speed and ease with which the weapons could be handled and launched. The same operational improvement was incorporated when the U.S. Air Force liquid-oxygen burning Titan I was replaced by the Titan II, which employed storable propellants.

The A-7 was a winged missile based upon the design of the A-5. Dummy versions of the A-7 were dropped from aircraft for the purpose of gathering ballistic flight data. Test versions of the A-7 were launched using a 3,500-pound thrust engine adapted from the A-5.

The A-7 was found to have a 30-mile glide path when launched from an aircraft flying at an altitude of five miles, or a 15-mile range when launched from the ground. The vehicle was intended for testing only, and was never deployed as a weapon. The A-8, which was never built, would have been a winged version of the A-6.

The A-9, similar in concept to the short-lived A-4b, was proposed to increase the range of the V-2 to 400 miles through the incorporation of wings. The wings would allow the A-9 to glide toward its target, rather than drop to the ground, at the end of its ballistic flight.

However, since the A-9 would have a greater range than the V-2, it would be required to glide toward its target at relatively low speeds. Like the V-1, the A-9 would have been relatively easy to intercept in flight. As a result, the A-9 was neither built nor tested.

V2 EWM A9

An interesting application of the A-9 concept was a manned version of the A-9 employing a triangular landing gear. Had it been built, the manned A-9 could potentially have carried a pilot a distance of 400 miles in just 17 minutes.

The designation A-10 was given to what would have been the first stage of a missile employing the A-9 as a second stage. The A-10 stage would have been 65 feet long and had a diameter of 13 feet, 8 inches. It was designed to produce a 400,000-pound thrust by burning nitric acid and diesel oil.

Calculations indicated that the A-10 first stage coupled with an A-9 second stage could carry a 2,000-pound payload a distance of 2,500 miles. If built, this would have been the world's first intermediate-range ballistic missile.

But, the von Braun design team did not stop there, and indeed had plans on the drawing board that could have resulted in the first space launch vehicles. The designation A-11 was given to the first stage of a vehicle that would have employed an A-10 as second stage and an A-9 as third stage. The specific intention of von Braun was to carry a manned A-9 third stage into space. The A-12 designation was given to a powerful first stage concept capable of producing a liftoff thrust of 2.5 million pounds. The A-12 would have been mated to an A-11 second stage and an A-10 third stage. Calculations indicated that the total vehicle could have carried a 60,000-pound payload into space. |

One must wonder what might have happened if World War II had turned out differently for Germany. The von Braun design team had laid the groundwork for the development of the world's first space launch vehicles even before the close of the war. It is likely that, given the time, Germany would have applied these concepts to the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Unlabeled and undated photo but released to the public in 1954
This concept drawing is as striking as today's space shuttle It appears to have four booster motors mounted on the airframe

One of these German long-range concept weapons was based not on research of the von Braun team, but by research of German scientist Eugen Sänger. Sänger envisioned a weapon called the Antipodal Bomber which would have been about 92 feet long and weighed about 220,000 pounds.

The Antipodal Bomber would have been launched from a rail-based sled powered by rockets capable of developing about 1,345,000 pounds of thrust. The sled would propel the Antipodal Bomber into the air at a speed of about 1,000 m.p.h. An engine capable of producing a 220,000-pound thrust would then fire, carrying the Antipodal Bomber into space at an altitude of about 160 miles.

The Antipodal Bomber would then skip along the Earth's atmosphere, somewhat like a stone skips along the surface of a pond. Calculations indicated that the Antipodal Bomber could carry a 12,000-pound payload from Germany to New York in about 80 minutes.

Scientists in the U.S. and Russia were intrigued with this concept after the war, and the U.S. military performed limited research on the Antipodal Bomber concept under the designation "Skip Bomber".

Other German Ballistic Missiles

While the V-weapons remain the best known of the German war missiles, a number of other missile designs were either tested or deployed by Germany during World War II.

The German Rheinbote missile was a solid-fueled, four-stage rocket that weighed about 3,700 pounds. It had impressive performance for a solid-fueled missile, with a first stage capable of producing about 84,000 pounds of thrust and a fourth stage capable of producing about 7,500 pounds of thrust.

But, like the V-weapons, the Rheinbote was rushed into service before it was sufficiently tested. The Rheinbote never incorporated a guidance system, and was very erratic in flight. It could only carry a maximum 88-pound payload, of which half was an explosive charge.

This made the Rheinbote a nuisance weapon only. About 60 Rheinbote rockets are believed to have been launched toward Antwerp in January, 1945. None of the rockets caused significant damage.

The German Nebelwerfer missile was originally designed to create a smoke screen for infantry assaults. The Nebelwerfer was produced in diameters of 15, 21, 28 and 32 centimeters. The missile itself was about 4 feet long and weighed about 200 pounds.

Each Nebelwerfer missile could carry a 22.5-pound payload to a maximum range of about four miles. The solid-fueled missile could be launched from multiple-rocket launchers typically able to launch five or six missiles each.

The Germans produced an imitation of the U.S. bazooka, styled in two different weapons. The Panzerfaust fired a missile with a diameter of 2.36 inches. The Panzerschreck fired a missile with a diameter of 3.46 inches. The projectiles fired by both weighed from seven to nine pounds each, making both effective single-soldier anti-tank weapons.

A prototype "tow missile" concept was also developed by Germany, but never used in combat. The X-7 was a proposed anti-tank weapon designed to be launched from a spring, rail or shoulder launcher.

The X-7 projectile was 2.5 feet long, had a diameter of 5.5 inches and a wingspan of 1.3 feet and employed a two-stage solid-fueled motor. Once launched, the X-7 would be guided by electronic commands sent along a wire unrolled from spools located on the wingtips.

The Germans also experimented with a submarine-launched ballistic missile, adapted from barrage rockets that were sealed and fitted with a special ignition system. The rockets would be launched underwater from a specialized deck-mounted steel firing rack. The concept was abandoned when tests determined that deck-mounted firing racks hindered a submarine's maneuverability.

German Surface-To-Air Missiles

Germany was able to develop a number of surface-to-air missiles, the priority of which heightened toward the end of World War II when relentless Allied bomber attacks on German soil went virtually unchallenged by German fighter aircraft.

These missiles included the ramp-launched Enzian, a winged missile that was 12 feet long and weighed about 4,350 pounds. The Enzian was assisted at launch by four solid-fueled Jet-Assisted Take-Off (JATO) units and had a range of about 18 miles. The missile could achieve a maximum speed of 600 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of nine miles|.

The Feuerlilie F-25 was 6.7 feet long and weighed about 265 pounds. It had a range of three miles, and could achieve a maximum speed of 600 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of 1.8 miles. The Feuerlilie F-25 was a solid-fueled, winged missile. The Feuerlilie F-55 was 15.75 feet long and had a range of six miles. A winged missile, the Feuerlilie F-55 could achieve a maximum altitude of three miles and a maximum speed of 900 m.p.h. The missile employed a solid-fueled booster engine and a liquid-fueled sustainer engine.

The Hecht was a liquid-fueled, ramp-launched winged missile that resembled a small airplane. It was 8.3 feet long and weighed about 308 pounds. The Hecht could achieve a maximum speed of 650 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of four miles.

The Rheintochter 1 was a liquid-fueled missile with a length of 20.7 feet and weighed about 3,850 pounds. The missile was aided at launch by a single solid-fueled JATO unit, and employed six stabilizing fins in the rear and four control fins at the forward.

An impressive missile, the Rheintochter 1 employed a gyroscopic stabilizer system and could achieve a maximum range of 7.5 miles, a maximum speed of 680 m.p.h. and a maximum altitude of 3.7 miles.

The Rheintochter 3 was an improved version of the Rheintochter 1. It was 16.6 feet long and weighed about 3,450 pounds. The missile was aided at launch by multiple JATO units, and was powered by either a solid-fueled or liquid-fueled sustainer engine. The Rheintochter 3 could achieve a maximum range of 22 miles, maximum speed of 750 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of nine miles.

The Schmetterling, referred to as the V-3, was a 12.5-foot long monoplane that weighed about 980 pounds. It was launched from rotatable platforms and employed two externally mounted solid-fueled booster engines and a liquid-fueled sustainer engine. The Schmetterling could achieve a maximum range of ten miles, maximum speed of 540 m.p.h. and a maximum altitude of seven miles.

The Taifun was a modified barrage rocket intended to be fired in large numbers against enemy bombers. Each missile was 6.3 feet long and weighed about 66 pounds. The Taifun could employ either a solid-fueled or liquid-fueled motor, and could achieve a maximum range of 7.5 miles, maximum speed of 2,800 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of five miles.

The Wasserfall was an impressive weapon based upon the V-2. Toward the close of World War II, the Wasserfall took production priority over the V-2 as Germany desperately needed a powerful anti-aircraft weapon as opposed to a ballistic barrage weapon.

Wasserfall was essentially a one-third scale version of the V-2. Each was 26 feet long and weighed about 7,800 pounds. Like the V-2, the Wasserfall employed a pressure-fed, liquid-fueled engine. The missile was radio-guided and was controlled by a set of four control fins located about 11 feet under the nose.

The Wasserfall could carry a 674-pound explosive payload detonated by radio command from the ground. The missile could achieve a maximum range of 17 miles, maximum speed of 1,900 m.p.h. and maximum altitude of eight miles. Although an innovative infrared homing device was designed for the Wasserfall, it was never actually used.

German Air-To-Surface Missiles

Air-to-surface missiles, designed to be launched from aircraft at surface targets, like other types of missiles developed by Germany, were introduced toward the end of World War II. Some never left the drawing board, and the remainder saw limited deployment with little effect.

The Bv-143 was a solid-fueled anti-ship missile that was 19.5 feet long and weighed about 4,000 pounds. It had a maximum range of ten miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 600 m.p.h.

The Bv-246 was a solid-fueled anti-ship missile that was 11 feet long and weighed about 1,600 pounds. It had a maximum range of 12 miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 260 m.p.h.

The Hs-293 was made up of a glide bomb attached to a liquid-fueled rocket motor. The missile was 12.5 feet long and weighed about 2,300 pounds. The Hs-293 was radio guided and was responsible for the sinking of several Allied ships, including the HMS Egret in the Bay of Biscay in August, 1943. The Hs-293 had a maximum range of ten miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 470 m.p.h.

The Hs-294 was 20 feet long and weighed about 4,800 pounds. The Hs-294 was an air-to-underwater torpedo missile that was powered by two liquid-fueled engines. The wings and engines were torn off at water impact, allowing the missile to continue toward its target as a torpedo. The Hs-294 had a maximum range of 8.5 miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 580 m.p.h.

The Hs-295 was designed to neutralize lightly armored ships. It was 16.2 feet long and weighed about 4,600 pounds. The missile was radio guided and employed a high-explosive armor-piercing warhead. The Hs-295 had a maximum range of five miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 500 m.p.h.

The Hs-296 was an experimental missile that incorporated features of the Hs-293, Hs-294 and Hs-295. It was 17.1 feet long and weighed about 6,000 pounds. The Hs-296 had a maximum range of four miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 500 m.p.h.

The SD-1400 was an extremely advanced missile in its day. It was 15.4 feet long and weighed about 5,500 pounds. The SD-1400 was an armor-piercing Esau bomb with four added wings and tail spoilers. The missile was radio guided, had a maximum range of nine miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 625 m.p.h.

SD-1400 missiles were credited with the destruction of the 42,000-ton Italian battleship Roma, considered to be a remarkable achievement for a guided bomb. The Roma broke in two and sank after a number of SD-1400 strikes in September, 1943 following Italian surrender to Allied forces.

The SD-1400 was also called the X-1, with follow-up concepts tested as the X-2, X-3, X-4, X-5 and X-6, each of which tested different types of guidance systems. While German air-to-surface missiles met with limited success and had promise, the Germans could not adequately train the crews launching them. Allied forces also became quite adept at jamming the radio guidance systems of these missiles.

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The "X-4 German Aircraft-launched Anti-Armor Rocket"
Some of the design characteristics of this 1945 wire-guided rocket are virtually identical to today's modern weapons, such as the TOW anti-armor missile
German air-to-air missiles were tested during World War II, but were never deployed.
The Germans did modify barrage rockets for the purpose of firing from aircraft at aircraft, but these were largely ineffective.

German Air-To-Air Missiles

Concept missiles included the Hs-298, which was a two-stage, solid-fueled missile employing a radio guidance system. The Hs-298 was 6.7 feet long and weighed about 265 pounds. It had a maximum range of five miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 535 m.p.h.

The X-4 was a concept "tow missile" which was guided by electronic commands sent along a wire unrolled from spools located on the wingtips of the missile. The X-4 was 6.6 feet long and weighed about 132 pounds. It had a maximum range of three miles and could achieve a maximum speed of 550 m.p.h.

German Rocket-Powered Aircraft

German rocket-powered aircraft were under development as early as 1937, but saw limited action during World War II. The first of these, the He-176, was powered by a 1,300-pound thrust engine but never left the testing phase.

von Braun Interceptor 1 - 1941
The rocket design work of the Wernher von Braun group at Peenemünde originally included the development of rocket-powered aircraft, but these efforts were canceled in their early stages by the German Air Ministry.

The von Braun group was, however, able to successfully develop a jet-assisted take-off (JATO) unit that was employed during the war. The JATO unit burned a combination of liquid oxygen and water-diluted alcohol and could produce a thrust of 2,200 pounds. Two JATO units fired in tandem could allow He-111 or Ju-88 aircraft to take off with heavy payloads from a short grass strip.

An experimental aircraft called the Me-163A underwent extensive unpowered tow tests without an engine, and was able to achieve a maximum speed of 640 m.p.h. when a liquid-fueled engine was installed. Me-163A tests led to the development of the Me-163B.

General Dornberger eventually joined this group as well, much to the delight of von Braun.

Word reached the group on April 30, 1945 via radio that Adolf Hitler was dead. The timing couldn't have been better, because this was just a few days after the von Braun team had settled in the area. This prompted von Braun to finalize his plans to escape to U.S. forces.

The plan was high treason, and directly involved General Dornberger. Secretly, von Braun and Dornberger sent von Braun's brother, Magnus von Braun, to attempt to contact U.S. troops and offer surrender terms for the von Braun team. The choice of Magnus von Braun was based on the fact that he could be trusted and could speak English.

Just days before the official German surrender of May 8, 1945 Magnus von Braun successfully surrendered to U.S. forces at Reutte, Tyrol. Circumstances were at first confusing, and U.S. troops did not know what to make of Magnus von Braun and his claims.

No Allied scientists or scientific advisors were available at the scene, and a large number of German citizens not related to the von Braun activities were also seeking surrender terms at the same time. Magnus von Braun was finally able to convince U.S. troops that Wernher von Braun and his closest associates, now living at an inn behind German lines, wanted to surrender.

Magnus von Braun did this by convincing U.S. troops that the U.S. was the best nation to continue the research started by von Braun, with the ultimate goal of interplanetary travel. He also asserted that Wernher von Braun's life was in immediate danger due to a German directive to kill key personnel prior to surrender.

Arrangements were made for Wernher von Braun, Dornberger and one Colonel Axter to cross German lines and stay with U.S. troops. During this meeting, U.S. officials were convinced that the von Braun team was vital to U.S. interests. But permission for a mass evacuation of the team was slow to come.

After screening key von Braun personnel, a decision was made to move von Braun and about 150 of his staff to a more secure location and a higher command location. This group was moved to a captured German army barracks at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where they languished for several months.

General Dornberger was eventually transferred to British forces, who promptly placed him in a prisoner of war camp where he spent two years before being released to the U.S.

U.S. military leaders would not allow von Braun to be treated in this manner, primarily because of his knowledge of where the bulk of German rocketry documents and hardware were located. U.S. intelligence recognized that valuable hardware was housed at the Mittelwerk plant, and needed to be secured for transport to the U.S.

Evacuation of Peenemünde

V2 rocket: A romance with the future

On 8 September 1945 the first V2 rocket struck England. At the time, it was the most complex weapon ever employed. But it did not prove to be the decisive weapon that Hitler had hoped would force Britain out of the Second World War.

Why did Germany spend fifteen years and huge sums of money tying up some of its best scientists to build the new weapon? Was it to evade arms controls on guns and aircraft imposed after the First World War? Or was the rocket the product of something more romantic and obsessive - a love affair with an imagined modernity?

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The German rocket cult

The V2 rocket weapon was the culmination of rocket dreams and experimentation that had surfaced in Germany over twenty years earlier.

Space exploration

The first promise of the rocket was for space exploration. In 1923, Hermann Oberth published a booklet in Munich arguing that it was now possible to build rockets, and even spaceships, which could leave the earth's atmosphere.

Oberth was a visionary, but he supported his claims with detailed mathematical analysis.

The arguments attracted the energetic science populariser, Max Valier. His writings and his rocket demonstrations made the idea of space flight and rocket propulsion highly visible and interesting to the German public.

The VfR or Society for Space Travel 'Verein für Raumschiffahrt' was founded by Valier and others in 1927 and gathered hundreds of members.

Rocket showmanship

Max Valier performed his own experiments and also persuaded the automobile manufacturer Fritz von Opel to get involved.

Opel piloted his own rocket glider Rak.2 for flights near Frankfurt and built rocket-powered racing cars.

These were publicity stunts for they used simple solid fuel 'black powder' rockets of the type developed for coastguards to send ropes out to ships wrecked on coasts. Used in applications like cars and aircraft they were highly inefficient, dangerous and could not be stopped once ignited.

These dramatic smoking stunts with cars and aircraft kept the idea in the public mind and promised future progress, although another rocket promoter, Willy Ley, called these carefully staged shows 'colossal nonsense'.

Eventually Opel developed the 24 rocket Rak II which in 1928 achieved 125 mph (200 km/h) on the Avus racetrack near Berlin.

After much criticism Valier continued with even more serious liquid fuel rocket experiments with the Heylandt company - an industrial oxygen manufacturer - but was killed by an engine explosion in 1930.

One of the details of FRAU IM MOND would have a lasting influence. As the Moon rocket neared the moment of launch, a loudspeaker announced: "Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ... zero ... FIRE!" Lang had invented the "countdown", if only for dramatic effect. The effect was so dramatic that rocketmen have kept the tradition to this day.

V-2 Trivia

Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon)

In 1927 the German film-maker Fritz Lang released his extraordinary futuristic vision Metropolis, so rocketry received a terrific boost when he announced that his next production would deal with space flight.

Willy Ley, one of the advisers to the film Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) recalled that 'a Fritz Lang film on space travel could scarcely be surpassed for spreading the idea. it is almost impossible to convey what magic that name had in Germany at that time'.

Lang also paid Hermann Oberth to build a real liquid-fuelled rocket which, it was hoped, would be launched to high altitude as the film was released.

Oberth was unable to engineer a practical rocket in time, and following an explosion which nearly cost his eyesight, suffered a nervous breakdown and left Munich before the film premiere. However, the propaganda influence of the film was still powerful and Oberth's assistant Rudolf Nebel went on to work with the young Wernher von Braun at the Raketenflugplatz - a test field started by Nebel near Berlin.

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Military backing

In the First World War Lieutenant Colonel Karl Becker had worked on a giant howitzer intended to attack Paris from 80 miles away. That project failed for technical reasons, but Becker thought that rocket technology could provide a new method for a decisive long-range bombardment. Now in charge of army artillery research, Becker arranged army sponsorship for rocketry, alongside the conventional gunnery programmes, which he also ran. A few months later, Hitler came to power and funding increased for weapons research.

From September 1930 Rudolf Nebel and rocket society members established a test site, the Raketenflugplatz, on disused land near Reinickendorf, a suburb north of Berlin. They made some advances with liquid-fuel rockets, discovering that alcohol fuel could be diluted with water to give cooler running and a longer motor life than the gasoline they had used till then.

The contacts between Nebel and the army brought some results, but army engineer officers viewed Nebel as unreliable and cut off contact. However, one of Nebel's associates Wernher von Braun had the background and the engineering knowledge to hit it off with Becker. In December 1932 von Braun began official work at the army weapons range at Kummersdorf, south of Berlin.

The rocket groups started to be closed down by officialdom. The army disliked their amateur approach and thirst for publicity. It would like to use the best of them 'but behind the fence of Army post'. The long-range rocket had begun the journey from the innocent world of imagination to the world of the terror weapon.

The beginning

To run the new German army rocket programme Lieutenant Colonel Becker called on fellow artilleryman Walter Dornberger. He was to direct the rocket and V2 programme throughout the war. With von Braun and some of the other experimenters they began work at the army range at Kummersdorf, in a pine forest about 30 kilometres south of Berlin.

The army wanted scientific results but Dornberger recalled 'it was not easy at first to get my young collaborators away from their space-dreams and make them settle down to hard research and development work'.

By spring 1936 the group had achieved successful launches of small rockets but then achieved a step-change with the A-3. It was nearly seven metres tall with 1.5 tonnes of thrust.

Most importantly, it had a new system of gyroscopic stabilisation with four gyro-controlled vanes working in the rocket gas-stream. For the first time a large heavy rocket could take off vertically and under full control.

The move to Peenemünde

By 1935 the army weapons range at Kummersdorf was getting too small for rocket experiments. Wernher von Braun started looking for a remote coastal site where long-range missiles could be fired safely out to sea. 'Why don't you take a look at Peenemünde', his mother had said. 'Your grandfather used to go duck-hunting up there'.

By now, the Luftwaffe had also started to take an interest in rockets and in the possibility of developing new high-speed aircraft. Peenemünde quickly took shape as a lavishly equipped joint army and air force research centre with large funds contributed by each service. It had a huge test stand, capable of measuring the performance of rockets of up to 100 tonnes thrust, a comprehensively equipped airfield and the most advanced supersonic wind tunnels then built. However, for a long time the Peenemünde team wrestled with the problem of making the rockets work.

The A-3 proved to be aerodynamically unstable and four crashed within seconds of launching. The team eventually moved to the larger A-4 - the rocket that would become known as the V2.

However, so much of the A-4 was new that for a long time launch failures were frequent. The pipes, valves and controls of the rocket motor itself were extraordinarily complex and a failure in almost any part could cause an explosion or loss of thrust. Similarly, any problem with the gyroscopic control system was likely to be catastrophic. Rockets could also break up in flight under air loads.

Armaments minister Albert Speer witnessed one such trial:

'At the predetermined second, at first with a faltering motion, but then with the roar of an unleashed giant, the rocket rose slowly from its pad, seemed to stand upon its jet of flame for the fraction of a second, then vanished with a howl into the low clouds.'

Wernher von Braun was beaming:

'For my part I was thunderstruck at this technical miracle, at its precision and at the way it seemed to abolish the laws of gravity, so that thirteen tons could be hurled into the airThe technicians were just explaining the incredible distance the projectile was covering when, a minute and a half after the start, a rapidly swelling howl indicated that the rocket was falling in the immediate vicinity. We all froze. it struck the ground only half a mile away. The guidance system had failed.'

Images with the text:

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Great Britain 1939:

Rumours of new German secret weapons had circulated since the start of the Second World War. The anonymous 'Oslo Report' received by British Intelligence in 1939 mentioned several new weapon developments. British intelligence analysts and scientists attempted to learn about the V2 and to understand the German secret weapon programme.

Great Britain 1942:

In 1942 a Danish chemical engineer overheard an apparently well-informed conversation about a long-range rocket. There were also continuing hints via foreign forced labourers at Peenemünde. But there was much scepticism about a long-range rocket, because some experts in Britain considered it impossible to engineer.

Great Britain 1943:

Peenemünde began to be surveyed by British photo-reconnaissance Mosquito aircraft. Duncan Sandys, Winston Churchill's son-in-law and formerly the commander of an anti-aircraft rocket battery, was put in charge of a committee to study the rocket threat. Eventually, R. V. Jones, as head of Air Intelligence at MI6, detected a rocket on a 'cover' of the site made on 12 June 1943. Another rocket was confirmed by a reconnaissance flight a few days later.

These reports finally convinced the War Cabinet that Peenemünde should be bombed on the heaviest possible scale on 17 August 1943.

Great Britain 1944:

The bombing of Peenemünde did not end the intelligence hunt. Rocket reports continued to be received. In May 1944 a V2 variant went astray and fell in Sweden. British experts studied this in detail. Almost at the same time rocket reports and sample parts began to be received from Blizna, in Poland, where some experimental work had been relocated.

Lord Cherwell, Churchill's personal scientific adviser, still considered the long-range rocket almost impossibly elaborate and expensive to engineer. He argued that it was much more likely that Germany was developing a type of pilotless aircraft or 'flying bomb'. Cherwell was partly right. There were two different secret weapons being tested at Peenemünde: the rocket and a far simpler pilotless winged bomb - the V1. This partly explains the disagreements and confusion among British experts about the secret Peenemünde work.

As this picture was emerging, concrete structures, some massive, some lighter and aligned on London, began to appear on the Channel coast of France. These appeared to be the launch sites for the weapons. By the time the V1 and V2 attacks began in 1944 they were beginning to be understood by the British. The major task for the Allies was to use their air superiority to reduce the threat of the V1s and V2s.

Almost 40% of all Allied photo-reconnaissance effort was now devoted to the secret weapons' threat and massive heavy bomber attacks were mounted on all the V-weapon sites that could be found.

The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill:

'We have heard, from Mr Sandys, of the real possibility that a long-range bombardment rocket is under development at Peenemünde, the German research station on the Baltic, and that it may quite soon be put into use against us, aimed certainly at London. The size of the device is uncertain but we have heard estimates that a single rocket might create 4000 casualties killed and injured.''If this were to be proved correct, and if the enemy had the capacity to fire a rocket every hour for a month, the casualties would amount to over two million. We would be forced to evacuate a major proportion of the population of London, with a grave effect on our war effort and on preparations for the invasion of France.'

Lord Cherwell:

'I do not accept that a single rocket would cause anything like 4000 casualties and for the purpose of this discussion I propose acting as a devil's advocate.''It is incredible to think the Germans have reached a stage which our own rocket experts tell me would take us more than five years.’ As for the objects in the air reconnaissance photographs, they may be either torpedoes or wooden dummies. The whole rocket story may be a great hoax to distract our attention from some other weapon. I believe, at the end of the war, when we know the full story, we shall find that the rocket was a mare's nest.'

Winston Churchill:

'I want to introduce to the meeting Dr. Jones of MI6, who was responsible for piecing together the evidence which enabled us to detect and defeat the enemy's night bomber radio-navigation beams in 1940. Now Dr. Jones, I want the truth!'

R. V. Jones:

'Prime Minister, I have been studying the possible existence of a rocket weapon since December 1942 when a report was smuggled out through Sweden. Since then, there has been a continuous series of reports, many of them identifying Peenemünde as the location of the work, and now we have these quite definite photographs.''Now regarding Lord Cherwell's speculation about a torpedo, it is my information that there is no type of aircraft in Germany capable of carrying a torpedo thirty-eight feet long and six feet in diameter or that could lift ten or 20 tons.'

Winston Churchill:

'Stop! Hear that, Lord Cherwell. That's a weighty point against you!'

R. V. Jones:

'As for the deception theory, surely if it was a successful deception, we would attack Peenemünde and there is plenty of evidence to show that it one of their most important air establishments. It's as though we set out some dummy weapons at Farnborough to mislead the Germans. It would be a very silly hoax that resulted in it being bombed flat.'

Winston Churchill (to the meeting):

'Peenemünde is a very long way east. I am told that it is beyond the range of our radio navigation beams and that we must bomb by moonlight, although the German night fighters will be close at hand and it is too far to send our own. Nevertheless, we must attack it on the heaviest possible scale as soon as conditions are suitable.'

The attack: August 1943

Bombing Peenemünde challenged the RAF to achieve far more accuracy than the 'area bombing' raids it had used up to then. Nearly 600 aircraft were to bomb from 6000 feet - less than half the usual attack height, and in bright moonlight.

To draw off the night fighters, a force of fast Mosquito bombers flew ahead to Berlin, ejecting 'Window' - radar-reflective aluminium chaff which simulated a major attack on the city.

New techniques were used. 'Pathfinder' aircraft laid bright-burning incendiaries to mark the target for the main force. 'Backers up' followed to keep the incendiary signals alight, while 'shifters' could place markers of different colour to correct errors.

Controlling this was a 'master bomber', Group Captain John Searby, who continuously circled in his Lancaster radioing which markers were correct or asking for new ones to be laid. A pilot recalled 'it seemed so strange to hear this nice English voice, so calmly telling us what to do'.

The initial attack was intended for the area housing German scientists and technicians. Unfortunately, it fell too far south, destroying the Trassenheide labour camp which housed captive foreign workers, killing 732 Polish, Russian, French and other prisoners.

Searby corrected the aim of the following two waves of bombers, ensuring the destruction of the German housing area, further north, and creating substantial damage to the assembly workshops and test areas. Perhaps 150 German scientists and technicians died there, although many more escaped, warned by the first attack.

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After the raid: V2 production

The attack on Peenemünde was the most accurate night bombing operation carried out by the RAF at that time. The destruction, though immense, was not as complete as hoped but it showed that the importance of Peenemünde was understood by the Allies; production and work there was no longer safe.

The effect was to cause a dispersal of secret weapons work around German-held territory and a delay - probably of two vital months - in using the rocket against England.

The Mittelwerk factory

Following the RAF raid, production went underground. A factory was created by prisoners by enlarging a former mine in the Harz mountains. This built V1s, V2s and a range of other weapons on production lines running 1.8 kilometres through the rock.

The project was run by SS General Hans Kammler - creator of the Auschwitz gas chambers, and concentration camps were combed for skilled workers from Russia, France and other occupied territories.

At first prisoners slept in the damp tunnels, sleeping in shifts. About 10,000 were living underground. In the first six months of production about 6000 died from starvation, dysentery and respiratory diseases. Conditions were unimaginably brutal with frequent beatings and executions, but production was worked up to about 20 missiles a day, totalling around 6000 missiles until the US Army liberated the site in April 1945.

The V2 killed more people in its creation than in its use. Some 20,000 out of the 60,000 people sent to Mittelwerk died. In London and Antwerp almost 7000 were killed by V2s.

Historian Michael J. Neufeld has called it 'one of the 20th century's most horrifying lessons; that advanced industrial technology is perfectly compatible with barbarism, slavery, and mass murder'.

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Did V2 change the war?

From June 1944, London and southern England came under attack from V1 flying bombs. By September the V2s also began falling. Hitler and the Nazi leadership hoped that bombardment from the secret V weapons would force Britain to pull out of the war, although German cities had endured far worse devastation from conventional bombing.

The Anglo-American armies were now engaged in Operation Overlord to liberate Europe. The invasion landing (on 6 June 1944) and the break-out from the beaches was desperately risky, especially in the first few days when German armour might have been brought up to attack the small bridgehead.

Much of the success was due to overwhelming Allied air power. There was continual air cover and 'tank busting' missions, but also a sustained heavy bomber attack on the French railway system with 13,000 aircraft sorties.

The Allied bombers were also reducing the V-weapon offensive by attacking launching sites and storage depots with some 50,000 tons of bombs. Churchill observed during the V1 bombardment, that 'everyone saw that we just had to lump it', but if the weight of attack from the V2 rocket and the V1 flying bomb had proved intolerable, popular pressure might have forced the use of more Allied aircraft against launch sites.

If V-weapon production had built up sooner, too much Allied air power might have been drawn away and this could have robbed the Overlord armies of essential air support. The two months of grace, bought by the attack on Peenemünde in 1943, was a vital contribution.

The missile age

Although the V2 was strategically insignificant during the Second World War it led to enormous changes in the world.

Wernher von Braun and his team surrendered to the Americans, because, he apparently said, the team was afraid of the Russians and 'the British couldn't afford us'.

However, Britain acquired a number of V2s and carried out test firings from Cuxhaven into the Baltic. British post-war research and development concentrated less on rocketry, though, and more on building long-range V-bomber aircraft for the new atomic bomb.

Wernher von Braun's team, in a well-known episode, was exported to the USA under 'Operation Paperclip' where the rocket pioneers remained remarkably cohesive for many years.

The Saturn rockets, which first took men to the moon in 1969, were the direct descendants of the V2 and were engineered by Wernher von Braun and many members of the same rocket team.

The V2 technology also led to the nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) developed by the USA and Russia from the late 1950s. These missiles have changed our view of the world and of war forever.