Figure 1.--The V-2 was the first guided missle used in warfare. It was a technological achievement of the first order. It was, however, destipte the techological achivement, not an effective weapon system. Itwas only capabl of killing civilians. And the cost and complexity of the V-2 meant that the Germans paid dearly for every civiian killed. TeV-2 had no real impact on the War. The V-2s were primarily fired on London, but after the liberation of Belgium, the Germans trgeted Antwerp, deperate to prevent the Allies from opening the port. A few were fired on Paris and other French ciies. This one fell on Rheims, but did not explode.

The NAZI V weapons are sometimes referred to as rockets. Rockets were effectively used in the World War II, but the German V-weapons were not rockets. The V-1 was a unmanned jet bomb or primitive cruise missle. The V-2 was a much more complex weapon system, a balistic missle. The NAZIs in 1944 launched these revolutionary weapons in an old fashioned terror campain against Britain. The V stood for Vergeltungswaffe--vegence. The vegence was retaliation for the Aliied strategic bombing campaign. The Germans were the firt to build and deploy these weapons. These wee extremely innovative weapons system and are today key components of modern militaries. The V-1 or buzz-bomb was a realitively simple weapon, a flying bomb using a ram jet engine. The V-2 balistic missle was very different. It was a technological achievement of the first order. Intelligence played a key role in the Allied response to these weapons. [Keegan] Both weapons are generally dismissed as of little importance and introduced too late to have any real impact on the War. This is not entirely accurate. This was true of the V-2. It was so costly and time-consuming to build that it was not an effective weapon with rhe conventinal war heads the Germans used. The V-1 was, however, a different matter. It was a simple system that could be easily mass-produced in large numbers. Amassive attack on the English Channel ports could have delayed or seriously hampered the D-Day landings.

Vengence

The NAZIs launched World War II with devestating Luftwaffe attacks on Poland, including Polish cities (1939). Soon the same Luftwaffe bombers were atemptiung to pound London into submission (1940). Hitler and Göring authoirized these and other attacks with the naive belief that other countries wuld not be sanle to bomb Germany to any degree. Luftwaffe chief Göring pesonsally gusaranted it. The British steadily expnded their bomber force and after America entered the War (1941), the Allies began to build a vast air armada which by the beginning of 1944 had achieved air superority over Germany. One German city safter another was shatterd by Allied bombers. Hitler essentially disappeared from view, rarely even speaking by radio to the German people. Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels did continue to speak publically. And he threatened vengence, never quite explaining why the NAZIs should not expect other countries to strike back. He assured the German people that Germany had secret weapons that would destroy the Allies. He spoke in general terms, never detailing just what Germsany had. And after D-Day, the Germans launched two of these revolutionary weapons in an old fashioned terror campain, rimarily against Britain. The V stood for Vergeltungswaffe--vegence. The vegence was retaliation for the Aliied strategic bombing campaign. These were not military weapons, but rather terror weapons that could primarily threaten civiliams. The Luftwaffe was powerless to stop the waves of Allied bombers striking German cities or retaliate by bombing British cities.

Technology

The Germans were the firt to build and deploy these weapons. These wee extremely innovative weapons system and are today key components of modern militaries. The V-1 or buzz-bomb was a realitively simple weapon, a flying bomb using a ram jet engine. The V-2 balistic missle was very different. It was a technological achievement of the first order.

The Weapons

The NAZI V weapons are sometimes referred to as rockets. Rockets were effectively used in the World War II, but the German V-weapons were not rockets. The V-1 was a unmanned jet bomb or primitive cruise missle. The V-2 was a much more complex weapon system, a balistic missle.

V-1 - Buzz Bombs

The V-1 was essentially a primitive cruise missle, but without a sophisticated targetting mechanism. It could have, however, if given a greater priority have had a significant impact on the War. As it was, the V-1s did considerable damage, but almost entirely to civilians. The Germans begining June 13 used the V-1 to target London and other British cities after the D-Day landings. V stood foer "vengence", retribution for the Allied bombing of Germany. The Germans launched about 13,000 buzz bombs accross the Channel at England. Only about 2,500 of these hit the intended targets, primarily London. The V-1 could not be accurately targeted. They were lucky to hit a city, but even this was difficult because the Luftwaffe at this stage of the wae could not even manage air recognisance over Britain. The British were able to deal with the V-1 offensive in a number of ways. In accurate news reports mislead the Germans in how to target the weapns. Anti-aircraft guns were rushed to the Channel coast. The RAF intensified fighter patrols.

V-2 - Balistic Missles

The V1 could be shot down, but there was no defense against the V-2 balistic missiles which soon followed. The V-weapons had been supported by Hitler because of their potential as terror weapons which could strike at British cities. Because of their lack of accuracy, however, they had no real value as a military weapon. The German scientists had developed plans for larger missiles that could hit New York and other East Coast American cities. A Dutch reader tells us, "I have seen and heard the V-2 weapons in 1944/45 when I was a boy of 16 in the Netherlands. Many of them were launched from occupied Holland and Belgium to target England. They were extremely fast, sometimes like a lightning bolt and they made a loud, whistling sound. Quite a few did not function right and exploded in the air or came down in the fields or on houses and buildings often with disastrous results. We started seeing them at the end of 1944 and in the beginning of 1945. Several came down in our neighborhood. Most of them were launched near The Hague in the Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium." Werner von Braun and other German rocket scientists after the War were brought to the United States through Operation Paper Clip. Both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union scoured Germany after the War for German scientists. The rocket scientists were some of the most sought after. They played a promonent role in the American space program and the Cold War Space Race. The German scientists were put to work in Huntsville, Alabama and other places for the development of the national space program in order to beat the Soviets during the Cold War. Without them the United State missle program would have lagged behind the Soviet program with very serious potential reperussions in the Cold war. Also the United States would not have been able to have put a man on the moon as early as it did. The Russians tried to do that also, but did not succeed. It always has been an embarrassing subject to have used the knowledge and expertise of German sientists. The connection of these scientists with the NAZIs is a matter of conjecture among historians. Some charge that they were committed NAZIs. Others that they were primarily focused on rocketry and space and only the German military offered the funding needed to persue their work. The V-2s in particular were built by slave laborers working in horrific conditions in underground facilities. A reader writes, "I think it shameful that the inventors (rocket scientists von Braun and his team) immediately after the war in 1945 were brought to the United States to be enployed in further development and research of the American space program."

Intelligence

Intelligence played a key role in the Allied response to these weapons. [Keegan] The first report the British received was the Paul RosbaudOslo Report (Movember 1939). The Oslo Report information on what would be called the V-weapons was difficult to interpret and discounted by most of the British analysts.

The Griffin

The most fruitful British spy in NAZI Germany was Paul Rosbaud. He was throughout the War the best-placed British spy with access to both sciuentific and military information. Rosbaud, code name was “The Griffin”. His firstvreport was on the V-1 buzz bomb and V-2 rocket programs. He also provided early news of German consideration of an atomic weapon. And it was his reporting that evetually quited British fears of a NAZI atomic bomb. He reported that the German atomic program had made little real progress. [Kramish] Rosbaud is also notable for helping Jewish scientist Lise Mietner escape from the NAZIs when other colleagues had largely abandoned her. Rosbaud was considered so critical that the British did not share his reporting with the Americans until just before D-Day.

Assessment

Both weapons are generally dismissed as of little importance and introduced too late to have any real impact on the War. This is not entirely accurate. This was true of the V-2. It was so costly and time-consuming to build that it was not an effective weapon with rhe conventinal war heads the Germans used. The V-1 was, however, a different matter. It was a simple system that could be easily mass-produced in large numbers. Amassive attack on the English Channel ports could have delayed or seriously hampered the D-Day landings.

Sources

Keegan, John. Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to al-Qaeda (Knopf, 2004), 387p.

Kramish, Arnold. The Griffin: Paul Rosbaud and the Nazi Atomic Bomb That Never Was (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, Massachusettes, 1986).

Created: 10:20 PM 9/27/2008
Last updated: 5:26 AM 8/5/2009