V-1 and V-2 Intelligence
V-1 and V-2 Intelligence | |||||
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Part of World War II technology & warfare | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Strength | |||||
PR Squadrons (5 UK, 5 USA, & 4 CA)[2]:113 agents & informants | V-1: 16 batteries of 220 men[3] |
Military intelligence on the V-1 and V-2 weapons[1]:437 developed by the Germans for attacks on the United Kingdom during the Second World War was important to countering them.:437 Intelligence came from a number of sources and the Anglo-American intelligence agencies used it to assess the threat of the German V-weapons.
The activities included use of the Double Cross System for counter-intelligence and the British (code named) "Big Ben" project to reconstruct and evaluate German missile technology[4]:74 for which Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and the USSR provided assistance. German counter-intelligence ruses were used to mislead the Allies about V-1 launch sites and the Peenemünde Army Research Center which were targeted for attacks by the Allies.
Timeline
PR — aerial photographic reconnaissance
- exchange of early stray V2 rocket.
— events regarding Nazi Germany V-weapon planning
— locations in Occupied France (German: Nordfrankreich)
— Polish reports of the Armia Krajowa
,
— events regarding Anglo-American intelligence
,
,
— military operations (RAF, US, Luftwaffe)[5][6]
Date | Location/Topic | Event |
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1939-11-02 | Oslo Report | ![]() |
1942-05-15 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-01-19 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-03-22 | ![]() | |
1943-04-22 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-05 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-05-17 | ![]() |
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1943-05-14 | Peenemünde: P-7 | Two sorties photographed an "unusually high level of activity" at "the Ellipse" (the Reich Director of Manpower was visiting for a V-2 test launch).:58 |
1943-06-04 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-06-12 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-06-22 | ![]() |
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1943-06-23 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-06-29 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-07-26 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-08-16 | Peenemünde | Two days prior to the Operation Hydra attack on the scientists quarters, workshops, and experimental facilities, a Westland Lysander picked up French agent Lèon Faye who carried "a detailed report of the top secret V-weapon rocket development at Peenemünde" to England.[15] |
1943-08-22 | Denmark | An air-launched test of an overfuelled V-1 from the "G.A.F. Research Center, Karlshagen" (Peenemunde), crashed on Bornholm, and Hasager Christiansen obtained photos of the automatic pilot, compressed air cylinder, main fuselage and wings before the German recovery team arrived. |
1943-09 | Peenemünde: P-7 | PR showed P-7 bomb craters,[2]:174e but Peenemünde personnel had fabricated post-Hydra bomb damage by creating craters in the sand, by blowing-up lightly damaged and minor buildings, and by painting "black and white lines to simulate charred beams".[10]:198 Research and development on the V-2 continued promptly despite Operation Hydra, and the next V-2 test launch was 49 days later. |
1943-09-07 | ![]() |
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1943-09-19 | ![]() | |
1943-09-28 | ![]() |
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1943-09-30 | ![]() |
PRU[8] including V-1 flying bomb storage depots in Occupied France under construction since August.:194 (They were not used for the modified sites.) | 133 V-weapon facilities had been photographed by the
1943-09 | ![]() |
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1943-10 | ![]() |
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1943-10-03 | ![]() |
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1943 autumn | ![]() | |
1943-10-21 | ![]() |
Northern France.[9]:36 | PR was ordered for the whole of
1943-10-28 | ![]() |
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1943-11-03 | ![]() |
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1943-11-28 | Peenemünde-West | ![]() |
1943-11 | ![]() |
[21]:184 | 72 "ski sites" had been photographed.
1943-12-04 | ![]() |
Northern France[16]:3 just before the December 5 start of "Crossbow Operations Against Ski Sites", which the Combined Chiefs of Staff authorized on December 2.[5] ![]() | PR was again conducted across
1943-12-04 | ![]() |
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1944-01-04 | The Pentagon Eglin Field |
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1944-02 | Peenemunde: P-7 | Normandy Invasion at the Château de Molay V-2 site. | PR showed roads north of the ellipse that matched roadways later discovered after the
1944-02-25 | ![]() | |
1944-03 | ![]() |
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1944-03 | Poland | ![]() ![]() |
1944-04-22 | ![]() |
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1944-04-26 | ![]() |
[16]:8 and 12 more were identified within days.[26] The V-1 launch site design had been modified for simplicity and to use transportable catapult sections, making them "more difficult to discover and easy to replace", bombing more difficult, and completion time relatively short when V-1 supplies were sufficient. Crossbow continued bombing the obsolete and heavily damaged "ski sites" due to a German ruse to portray they were being repaired.[22]:3 Additionally, espionage became more difficult as only German & prisoner/forced labor was used for "modified" sites instead of the previously-used French construction firms.[22] | PR identified the 1st camouflaged "modified" site,
1944-04 | Mittelwerk | ![]() |
1944-05-05 | Poland | ![]() |
1944-06-06 | ![]() |
[22]:32,75 | 61 modified sites had been photographed, and 83 of 96 ski sites had been destroyed (only 2 of the ski sites launched V-1s).
1944-06-10 | Belgium | ![]() |
1944-06-11 | ![]() |
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1944-06-11 | ![]() |
Saleux site launched the first combat V-1 (Hans Kammler visited the Saleux V-1 site on August 10).[2]:258d | 66 modified sites had been photographed. On the 13th just after midnight, the
1944-06 | RAF Medmenham | ![]() |
1944-06-13 | ![]() |
Stray test V2 rocket explodes over Bäckebo Sweden, fired from Peenemünde and aimed at Baltic sea outside island of Bornholm, but overshoots the target area and lands in south Sweden. Remains are shipped to the UK . |
1944-06-17 | Poland | ![]() ![]() |
1944-06-30 | ![]() |
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1944-07-16 | ![]() ![]() | |
1944-07-18 | ![]() |
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1944-07 | Wright Field | ![]() |
1944-07-21 | ![]() | |
1944-07-22 | ![]() | |
1944-07-28 | Big Ben | ![]() |
1944-07-31 | Meillerwagen | ![]() |
1944-08-15 | Double Cross System | ![]() |
1944-08-25 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
1944-08-25 | Belgium | ![]() |
1944-09-08 | Sound ranging | ![]() |
1944-09-17 | Netherlands | ![]() ![]() |
1944-09-22 | Poland | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1944-10 | Mittelwerk | Niedersachswerfen showed shadows of railcars consistent with those loaded with V-2s. | PR of
1944-10-25 | Netherlands | ![]() |
1944-12 | Royal Artillery | ![]() |
1944-12-31 | Netherlands | ![]() |
1945-03-20 | Netherlands | ![]() |
1945-03 | Operation Paperclip | Osenberg List of German scientists in a toilet at Bonn University.[4]:104 The Ordnance Corps (United States Army) used the Osenberg List to compile the list of rocket scientists to be captured and interrogated (Wernher von Braun's name was at the top).[2]:314 | A Polish laboratory technician found pieces of the
1945-04-11 | Mittelwerk | ![]() |
The day after Strategic Bombing Directive No. 4 ended the strategic air war in Europe, the use of radar was discontinued in the London Civil Defence Region for detecting V-2 launches. The last launches had been on March 27 (V-2) and March 29 (V-1 flying bomb).
References
- Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Jones R. V. (1978)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ordway, Frederick I, III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team (index). Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 57,114,117,174b–e,251,258d. ISBN 1-894959-00-0.
- ↑ "Flak Regiment 155". Axis History Forum. August 12, 1943. Retrieved 2010-03-06. External link in
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(help) (the forum posting cites Jones) - 1 2 3 4 McGovern, James (1964). Crossbow and Overcast. New York: W. Morrow. p. 71,74.
- 1 2 3 "Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
1940: May-June (Battle of France), June-October (Battle of Britain) July-December,
1941: January-April May-August September- December
1942: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
1943: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
1944: January, February March, April, May, June (D-Day), July, August, September, October, November, December
1945 January, February, March, April - 1 2 3 4 McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the USAAF". Retrieved 2007-05-25.
1942: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
1943: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
1944: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
1945: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September - 1 2 Garliński, Józef (1978). Hitler's Last Weapons: The Underground War against the V1 and V2. New York: Times Books. pp. 52, 82.
- 1 2 3 4 Bowman, Martin W. Mosquito Photo-Reconnaissance Units of World War 2 (Google Books). p. 18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. pp. 68,82,84,103. ISBN 0-7057-0070-4.
- 1 2 Middlebrook, Martin (1982). The Peenemünde Raid: The Night of 17–18 August 1943. New York: Bobs-Merrill. pp. 39, 41, 198.
- ↑ Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 22.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Cooksley, Peter G (1979). Flying Bomb. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. pp. 44,53,56,81,157.
- ↑ "Constance Babington Smith". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2000-08-09.
- ↑ "The V2 rocket: A romance with the future". Science in war. The Science Museum. 2004. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ↑ Verity, Hugh. We Landed by Moonlight. p. 118. (cited by Middlebrook p. 39)
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The V-Weapons". After The Battle: 3, 14, 16. 1974.
- ↑ "V1, V2 & V3" (in German). christianCH.ch. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- ↑ "Eurostar remembers Michel Hollard". 26 April 2004. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ↑ Sharp, C. Martin; Bowyer, Michael J. F. (1971). Mosquito. London: Faber & Faber. p. 132. ISBN 0-85979-115-7.
- ↑ "Operation Crossbow - V1 Bois Carré Sites". The National Collection of Aerial Photography. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
- 1 2 Gurney, Gene (Major, USAF) (1962). The War in the Air: a pictorial history of World War II Air Forces in combat. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 184.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zaloga, Steven J. (2008) [2007]. German V-Weapon Sites 1943-45 (Google Books). Fortress Study Group (72). New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd. pp. 3, 25, 29, 31–2, 42, 46, 75. ISBN 978-1-84603-247-9.
- ↑ D'Olier, Franklin; Alexander, Ball, Bowman, Galbraith, Likert, McNamee, Nitze, Russell, Searls, Wright (September 30, 1945). "The Secondary Campaigns". United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Summary Report (European War). Retrieved 2008-09-22. Cite uses deprecated parameter
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(help); External link in|work=
(help) (cited by Mets p. 239, which has the "three or four" numbers) - 1 2 3 Henshall, Phillip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. 64,111.
- ↑ Dornberger, Walter (1954) [1952: V2--Der Schuss ins Weltall]. V-2. translated by James Cleugh and Geoffrey Halliday (1979 Bantam ed.). New York: Viking Press. p. 214. ISBN 0-553-12660-1.
- ↑ "V-Bomb Photo Search". Life magazine: 143. October 28, 1957. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- ↑ Mets, David R. (1997) [1988]. Master of Airpower: General Carl A. Spaatz (paperback ed.). p. 239.
- ↑ Clostermann, Pierre (2004). The Big Show. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84619-1. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- 1 2 3 4 Huzel, Dieter K (1960). Peenemünde to Canaveral. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 93.
- ↑ U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, (2009), George Mindling, Robert Bolton ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6
- ↑ von Braun, Wernher (Estate of); Ordway III, Frederick I, and Dooling, David Jr (1985) [1975]. Space Travel: A History (first ed.). New York: Harper & Row. p. 105. ISBN 0-06-181898-4. Cite uses deprecated parameter
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(help) - ↑ Collier, Basil (1995) [1957]. Butler, J. R. M., ed. The Defence of the United Kingdom. United Kingdom Military Series. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-870423-09-7. (cited as the "Official History" by Jones, p. 423)
- ↑ Eisenhower, David (1991) [1986]. Eisenhower: At War 1943-1945. New York: Wings Books. p. 349. ISBN 0-517-06501-0.
Of the 10,500 V-I's launched at England, an estimated 25 percent flew off course because of malfunction. Roughly 20 percent penetrated British defenses and hit targets, claiming 10,000 lives and 1.1 million homes
- 1 2 Gruen, Adam L. "Preemptive Defense, Allied Air Power Versus Hitler’s V-Weapons, 1943–1945". The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. pp. 4(Round 1),5(Round 2). Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ↑ Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (editors). (Volume 3) Europe: Argument to V-E Day (Google Books). The Army Air Forces in World War II. p. 535. Cite uses deprecated parameter
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(help) - 1 2 Johnson, David (1982). V-1, V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London. Stein and Day. pp. 117, 130.
- ↑ Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 104.
- ↑ Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1 (in French). Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- Bibliography
Jones, R. V. (1978). Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-89746-7.