“Londoners christened them ‘buzz bombs’ or ‘doodlebugs.’ But despite the charming nicknames, it was clear that these new inventions were deadly killers.”
ONEWEEK AFTER D-DAY,calm had finally returned to the streets of London.
In the hoursafterthe invasion of Normandy, Britonsexpected Hitler to lash out at the city in a fit of desperation. But seven dayshad passed since Operation Overlord and still noLuftwaffe squadrons had appeared over London’s rooftops.
On June 13, 1944, the quiet was shattered.
Just after 4 a.m., the skies to the south of the city exploded to the sound of ack-ack guns. As air raid sirens wailed, civil defence crews watched in disbelief as a lone aircraft streaked across the skyline at lighting-fast speed. Searchlight crews struggled to keep the small target illuminated as gunners poured flakinto the pre-dawn gloom.
Eyewitnesses reported thatthe strange plane’s sputtering engine suddenlycut out over northeast London, at which point the tiny dart-like craft fell from the sky and explodedin a fireball. It came down on the borough of Hackney. Six residents were killed in the blast. (Click here to seethe exact location of the explosion on Google Street View. Note the small blue plaque marking ground zero).Over the next three days, 72 more of these strange flying machineswould slam into the city, leaving hundreds dead or wounded. On June 18, one struckthe Guards Chapel near St. James Park (about 100 yards from Buckingham Palace) killing 141. In the wake of the tragedy,newspapers finally confirmed what many had already surmised: the British capitalwas under attack by guided rockets. Officially, the weaponswere known asFieseler Fi-103s orVergeltungswaffe1(“Retaliation Weapon 1”);Londonerschristened them“buzz bombs”or “doodlebugs”. Yetdespite the charming nicknames, it was clear that these new inventionsweredeadly killers.
Here are some amazing facts about the V-1 and its brief but brutal reign of terror.
The Original Cruise Missile
The V-1was history’s firstmass-produced cruise missile. Eachcould carry a 1-ton warhead nearly 250 km (160 miles) at a cruising speed of 650 km/h (400 mph).
Rain of Terror
Nearly 10,000 V-1s were launched from sites in Northern France over an 80-day period beginning in June 1944. Targets included London as well as other cities in southern England. At the peak of the campaign, more than 100 rockets were hitting Britain a day. Casualties climbed to 22,000, with more than 6,000 fatalities. [1]Hitler hoped that the new weapons would crush British morale. More would later be fired from inside Germany itself at Liege and the port of Antwerp.
Instant Gratification
It took a V-1 about 15 minutes to travel from its launch pad in Calais, France to the heart of London — a distance of nearly 95 miles (151 km).
Return on Investment
Each V-1 cost about 5,000 Reichsmarks or $2,000 in 1944 (that’s the equivalent of about $27,000 today).The 21-foot-long flying bombswere made mostly from sheet metal and plywood. Each took about 350 labour-hours to produce. Concentration camp inmates and slave labourers toiling at theGerhard Fieseler Werkeplantin Kasseldid most of the assembly work.
Pulsejet Powered
The buzz bomb’s revolutionaryengine, the Argus As 014 pulsejet, was designed in 1928 by inventorPaul Schmidt. The motor, which ran on ordinary gasoline,fired 50 times a second, giving the V-1 its unmistakable and terrifying sound(♬ listen here). As far back as 1934, the Munich-based rocket scientist envisioned his creation being used to propel high explosive warheadslong distances. The Nazi air ministry green-lighted the project in 1940. Years of testing would follow.Despite its power, the V-1’s enginewasn’t strong enough to get the 2-ton weapon into the air. Each had to be hurled skyward along a launch ramp using a special catapult. Later, the Nazis released them from bombers.
Point and Shoot
Each V-1 was guided by a rudimentary pendulum gyroscope that kept the machine flying straight and level at a cruising altitude of between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. To aim a V-1, operators simply needed to point the weapon in the approximate direction of the target and set the engine to cut out at the desired distance. Gravity would take care of the rest.
Countermeasures
Within days of the initial attack, British air defences were reorganized to meet the new threat. Anti-aircraft batteries were quickly re-positioned along the southern coast of England. Eventually 1,600 guns were trained on the skies over the channel. Although at first, crews had no chance of bringingtheir guns to bear on the fast-moving missiles, eventually radar-controlled batteries and proximity-fuse shells became available. By the end of the summer, three-quarters of V-1s launchedagainst Britain were being brought down by flak.
V-1 Interceptors
The first successful fighter intercept of a doodlebug occurred on the June 15, 1944 when a RAF Mosquitoshotone downin mid-air. Soon,Hawker Tempests, Spitfire XIVs, Mustangs and even newGloster Meteor jets were assigned to intercept the incoming missiles. About 1,000 Fi-103s were destroyed in flight by Allied aircraft. No piston engine plane had the speed to match a V-1 in level flight, but pilots could achieve the necessary velocity by diving on themfrom higher altitudes. And if guns didn’t do the trick, a flier could sometimes get in close enough tonudge thebuzz bomb off course using a wingtip.
Misinformation Campaign
Britain’s intelligence alsodid its part to reducethe effectiveness of the V-1. MI5 useddouble agents to feed Berlin misinformation about the location and severity of missile strikes. The bogus data was passed down toLuftwaffe crews who erroneously calibrated their weapons thereby making themfall far short of the city centre. It was a controversial decision; London suburbs, like Croydonfor example, were heavily damaged instead. Still, officials were confident that overall the casualties were minimized. [2]
Buzz Bomb Limitations
V-1s wereneither reliable nor accurate. Of the 10,000 fired at London, only about a fifth actuallyreached the city. In fact, as many as 2,000 V-1s malfunctioned and crashed shortly after takeoff. Yet despite the flaws, the missiles were still a viable alternative to conventional bombing. Doodlebugs consumed less fuel than warplanes, but causes as much damage to London asthe Blitz. Plus, the V-1 threatkept hundreds of Allied warplanes and anti-aircraft guns busyprotecting the British Isles, aircraft thatcould have been used to greater effect on the front lines.
The Terror Ends
The V-1 menace finally endedinOctoberwhen Allied troops captured the launch ramps in France. Sites within Germany continued to direct V-1s at Belgium however. And the horror still wasn’t over for London — Just as the buzz bomb campaigntapered off, more advanced and far deadlier V-2 ballistic missiles began raining down on the city. They would continue to pound England until March 1945.
Allied V-1s
V-1 technology began falling into Allied handsas early as 1944. Prototypes captured in Poland were soon copied and mass-produced by the Soviets. Moscow built morethan 300 V-1s under the designation 10Kh. France’smilitary acquired a number of the missiles too. It used them as target drones in the Post War period. By the autumn, American rocket scientists duplicated V-1s usingwreckage recovered in Great Britain. By VJ-Day, the Ford Motor Company and the aircraft manufacturer Republic had produced 1,300 buzz bomb knock offs known asJB-2s. They remained in the U.S. arsenal until 1950.
Where to See One
Surviving V-1s are sought-aftermuseum pieces to this day. Eight are on exhibit in Great Britain, three of which can be found in London at the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum and the RAF Museum in Hendon. A total of 17 are on display in North America. One is in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Another resides in the United States Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio. Aviation collections in Huntsville, Alabama; Portage, Michigan; Wasilla, Alaska; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, among others, all have V-1s as well. Onlyone is on display in Germany. It’s at the Munich Museum. Sites in France, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and even Australia and New Zealand all have V-1s on exhibit too.
SOURCES:
Ludeke, Alexander. Weapons of World War II. Parragon Publishing. London. 2007.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/v1.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/78/a1302878.shtml
http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/v1v2.htm
http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/Timeline.html
