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"HITLER'S TERROR WEAPON"
By 1942 the tide of war had finally started to swing in the favour of the Allied forces.
As the industrial might and great cities of Germany suffered as never before, Hitler promised revenge.
Soon vengeance weapons were developed and deployed, a turning point in the technological history of warfare.
The V1, otherwise known as the Doodle Bug would cause havoc in the streets of Britain's capital.
However, as the Allied forces closed in on the Third Reich, in a desperate attempt to stop the onslaught - the V2 was launched for the first time.
In the dying days of the Third Reich, who would have believed that such a weapon could have been produced.
A weapon, if given more time, that could have completely altered the outcome of the war.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving rockets, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of Hitler's arsenal.
"HITLER'S TERROR WEAPON"
By 1942 the tide of war had finally started to swing in the favour of the Allied forces.
As the industrial might and great cities of Germany suffered as never before, Hitler promised revenge.
Soon vengeance weapons were developed and deployed, a turning point in the technological history of warfare.
The V1, otherwise known as the Doodle Bug would cause havoc in the streets of Britain's capital.
However, as the Allied forces closed in on the Third Reich, in a desperate attempt to stop the onslaught - the V2 was launched for the first time.
In the dying days of the Third Reich, who would have believed that such a weapon could have been produced.
A weapon, if given more time, that could have completely altered the outcome of the war.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving rockets, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of Hitler's arsenal.
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LearningTranscript
00:24June 1944, 2,000 pounds of high explosive heads towards light.
00:30It will fall anywhere in the sprawling city or its residential suburbs.
00:38Purpose, to sap British morale and to allow and encircle Germany the chance of a negotiated peace.
00:45Purpose, to shore up crumbling German morale.
00:49Purpose, revenge for the destruction of Germany's cities.
00:54It was characteristic of Londoners, hardened by four years of aerial bombardment, that they should receive Hitler's new flying bomb
01:03with stoic resolve.
01:05Characteristic too, that such a weapon of indiscriminate destruction should be given the nicknames of Buzz Bomb and Doodlebug.
01:12The reception given a few months later to the sinister V2 rocket was altogether different.
01:21Germany's V1 and V2 weapons marked both the end and the beginning.
01:26They were one last desperate throw by Hitler's detested Third Reich to salvage something from the wreckage of his plans
01:34for world domination.
01:36They were the beginning of an era of advanced jet and rocket technology which would spawn weapons of mass destruction
01:42and take man to the moon.
02:12NASA Jet Props
02:28The tide of the war had turned.
02:31Throughout 1943, Germany had suffered reversals and defeats in every theatre of the war.
02:38In the east, the offensive against Russia had stumbled, and the Red Army was now poised to race across Europe.
02:46The mass offensives against the Russians at Stalingrad and Kursk had caused humiliating defeats and unsustainable losses.
02:55In the south, the British and Americans had landed in Italy and were advancing despite dogged German resistance.
03:03The Battle of the Atlantic was being lost with mounting U-boat losses.
03:08In the air, the Allies reigned supreme with day and night bombing of Germany's industrial heartland.
03:14The Western Allies were poised to invade Europe.
03:24If something was to be salvaged from the wreckage of the Third Reich's grand design,
03:29Hitler urgently needed new weapons that could strike back and punish the enemy.
03:35So confident had Hitler been of an early and complete victory, he had neglected the development of new generations of
03:42weapons.
03:46At sea, the Type 7 submarines were little different from the Type UB-3 of the First World War.
03:55In the air, the Stukas and Messerschmitt 109s struggled against new generations of Western fighters.
04:04In the field, the sheer number of Allied mass-produced tanks, the Sherman M3s and Russian T-34s,
04:12were overwhelming the German Panzer 3 and 4s and the Tigers.
04:23Hitler belatedly focused on the designs that might create a new arsenal.
04:28Without air superiority, he could not hope to mount effective bombing raids over England.
04:37And with the declining power of the U-boat fleet, the chances of starving Britain into submission had long gone.
04:45New weapons were needed that would fly faster than Allied aircraft that could penetrate the powerful screen of Allied fighters
04:53that protected England that required no trained pilots.
04:57New weapons that could rain high explosives upon London.
05:03Once again, Germany would be able to strike out and punish its enemy.
05:10Like a punch-drunk boxer putting all his efforts into one final angry swing,
05:16Hitler turned to the V-weapons.
05:18The V-1 and the V-2.
05:21V for Virgil Tungswaffe.
05:23Revenge weapons.
05:39The prestige of providing Hitler with the weapon he craved became a race between the Luftwaffe and the army.
05:49The menace of the Luftwaffe's 25-foot V-1 is still apparent from this example in the Imperial War Museum
05:57in London.
05:57It was a surprisingly simple device.
06:00It cost £125 to make, the price of a small car, but it could carry 200 pounds of high-explosive,
06:09150 miles, and deliver it with an accuracy of 3 miles.
06:21The V-1 was primarily a surface-to-surface weapon, although some were launched from aircraft.
06:27It was neither a rocket nor a missile.
06:30It was a pilotless aircraft, powered by a petrol-burning jet engine.
06:35It needed oxygen to be able to function, and cruised at a relatively low altitude.
06:46The V-1 carried a high-explosive charge at the front of its main fuselage.
06:51In the centre, with a fuel tank and two wire-bound spherical compressed air bottles,
06:56which forced the fuel through nine atomizer jets into the combustion chamber.
07:01The propulsion unit was a welded steel casing above the rear fuselage.
07:06The wings were made from pressed steel ribs with thin sheet steel covering.
07:11The main spar, supporting the wings, passed through the centre of the fuel tank.
07:17The automatic pilot consisted of a three-frame gyroscope for stability,
07:21a repeater compass, and a pre-set barometer to control height.
07:25An air propeller in the nose was used to calculate the number of miles covered,
07:30and when the right distance had been flown, the motor cut out,
07:34and a signal was sent to aerodynamic control surface actuators.
07:38This would send the V-1 into a steep dive towards the ground.
07:46The V-1 was brought from the assembly shed to the launching site on a trolley.
07:53They were lifted onto the inclined launching ramp by a crane.
07:57Launching was controlled from a blast-proof control house.
08:00The V-1 was attached to a compressed air piston that ran the length of the ramp.
08:06By the time that it had reached the end of the ramp,
08:08it was propelled into the air at about 185 miles per hour.
08:29In 1929, Dr. Paul Schmidt had invented the ducked pulsejet engine,
08:35and in 1935, he suggested to the air ministry that it could be used to develop a flying torpedo.
08:41Little interest was shown.
08:43In 1939, the Argus Motorrenwerk demonstrated the Argus ducted engine,
08:49which operated on the same principle,
08:51but it was not until 1942 that they received any encouragement.
08:56Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Goering's deputy,
08:59saw the potential for a weapon to bring about the destruction of Britain's cities.
09:09In May 1942, he recruited the talented aircraft designer Robert Luser,
09:14who confirmed that the Argus ducted engine could power a pilotless plane.
09:19Luser's concept had several advantages.
09:21It would be built of steel rather than scarce aluminium.
09:25It would burn low-grade petrol instead of precious high-octane aviation spirit.
09:30It would be cheap and easy to build.
09:33By early June, the plans for the flying bomb had crystallized.
09:37It was to have small wings so that it would be easy to handle,
09:41but this would mean that it would have a high stalling speed.
09:44A steam-powered catapult would be necessary to achieve a high enough take-off speed.
09:49It would be powered by the Argus pulse jet engine and would carry a 2,000-pound warhead.
09:55Project Kurskern, Cherrystone, was born.
10:02Milch planned to have the V-1 operational by March 1943.
10:07If 3,500 a month could be manufactured,
10:10this would mean that a bomb would fall on England
10:12at the rate of one every 12 minutes, day and night.
10:37The Faisler factory was given the responsibility
10:40for coordinating the manufacture of the V-1.
10:42The manufacture of many components
10:44and some assembly was passed to a number of other companies,
10:48including Volkswagen at Fallersleben.
10:51The development program was not without difficulties.
10:54The decision was taken to make changes to the design
10:57after the first 2,000 planes were assembled at the Volkswagen factory,
11:01and there was no alternative but to scrap them all.
11:05March 1944 was now the earliest operational date.
11:14Intelligence reports were reaching London, but they were confusing,
11:17as they spoke variously of the Luftwaffe's flying bomb
11:20and the rival weapon being developed by the army,
11:23the rocket-powered ballistic missile.
11:26It was some time before it was appreciated
11:28that there were two totally different weapons.
11:40The V-1 firing troops were trained,
11:42and the construction of numerous launching sites
11:45proceeded in France,
11:46but the bombing of production facilities
11:48and further development problems slowed progress.
11:52By the time that the Allies invaded Normandy,
11:54on the 6th of June 1944,
11:57the V-1 offensive had still not commenced.
12:00Hitler desperately needed to create a diversion
12:03to take pressure off his beleaguered forces.
12:06The Luftwaffe was ordered to launch an immediate raid on London,
12:09whether it was ready or not.
12:12Hastily prepared plans were made for a mass attack
12:14on the 14th of June.
12:16Hitler had long boasted of his terror weapons,
12:19and to create maximum effect,
12:21it was planned that the V-1s would be accompanied
12:23by Heinkel 111 conventional bombers.
12:26By chance, as the V-1 firing teams worked feverishly
12:30to take the V-1s to the launching sites
12:32and to prepare them for launching,
12:34the RAF mounted a heavy bombing raid.
12:38The launching sites were not attacked,
12:40but the Heinkels were all destroyed.
12:43The railways were severely damaged,
12:45which delayed the arrival of many V-1s.
12:47What had been planned as a terror raid on the 14th of June
12:51was for Hitler and Göring an embarrassing fiasco.
12:58The 64 V-1 sites managed between them to launch 10 planes.
13:03Five crashed immediately, and a sixth fell into the sea.
13:06Of the four which crossed to England,
13:09three fell in country areas causing little damage.
13:11One solitary V-1 reached the capital,
13:15but it gave Londoners a glimpse
13:16of the destruction that was to follow.
13:27In the succeeding days,
13:30the V-1 firing teams got rapidly into their stride,
13:33and an intensive campaign over seven long weeks,
13:35London was targeted with as many as 200 V-1s each day.
13:41The V-1 was initially very effective
13:43and proved to be a difficult target,
13:45particularly at night.
13:56They flew at a height of between 800 and 2,500 feet
14:00at a speed, depending on wind direction,
14:02of between 320 to 400 miles per hour.
14:06This was both higher and faster
14:09than the British had expected.
14:11They could be tracked by radar,
14:13and light and heavy artillery
14:14was hurriedly assembled around London.
14:18Attempts to shoot the V-1s down by the artillery
14:20and the fighter aircraft who gave chase
14:22resulted in total confusion.
14:25The fighter zone and the gun zone
14:27interfered with each other,
14:28and the fighters were in danger
14:30from the British guns.
14:31The defences were swiftly reorganised.
14:35The gun batteries were moved to the Kent coast.
14:371,500 AA guns,
14:39500 rocket batteries,
14:41and 800 searchlights were assembled.
14:43The heavy guns were by far the most successful.
14:47This contemporary footage
14:49shows the small black shape of a V-1
14:51flying through the black clouds
14:53of exploding heavy anti-aircraft shells.
15:00By August, the AA guns were shooting down
15:0370 to 80% of the V-1s
15:05that entered their zone.
15:12The fighters then had a clear run
15:15at the V-1s that escaped through the gun belt.
15:17Only the faster fighters
15:19had any chance of catching the V-1s.
15:22The Spitfire 14s,
15:24the Mustang 3s,
15:26and most successful of all,
15:27the Tempest 5s.
15:29The pilots rapidly developed new techniques.
15:32Diving at an acute angle from behind
15:34gave the fighters the speed
15:36to catch and fire at the V-1s,
15:38but they were still small targets to hit.
15:41To get near enough to be sure of a kill
15:43meant that the fighters had to fly
15:45through a 200-pound bomb explosion.
15:48They often received burns from flames
15:50entering the vents of their aircraft.
15:53Some pilots flew alongside
15:55and used the wings of their aircraft
15:57to lift the wing of the V-1
15:59and tip it over.
16:00Placing the fighter's wing
16:01over the V-1's wing
16:03to destroy the lift
16:04or flying in front to create turbulence
16:06were also found to be effective.
16:09A curtain of 2,000 barrage balloons
16:11were installed to the southeast of London.
16:14Nearly 300 V-1s
16:16were ensnared in their cables.
16:37Effective British intelligence work
16:39persuaded the Germans
16:40that the V-1s were persistently falling short
16:43and the time distance clocks were adjusted
16:45so that the V-1s in fact
16:47persistently overshot.
16:50Inevitably, a percentage fell in the target zone.
16:53The deep-throated, spluttering roar
16:55of the pulse jet engine
16:57was immediately recognized
16:58by the people of southern England.
17:00A glance into the sky
17:01was often enough to confirm
17:03that the V-1 was heading in another direction.
17:06It would be someone else's problem.
17:08Even if it was heading in your direction,
17:11provided the engine kept running,
17:12it would pass safely overhead.
17:15It was the ominous silence
17:16that followed the cutting out of the engine
17:18that signaled immediate danger.
17:21It was no more than 12 seconds
17:23before the V-1 impacted on the ground,
17:25but to those in the flight path,
17:27the 12 seconds took an age to pass.
17:33The V-1 had a sensitive impact fuse,
17:36but in case it glided to the ground,
17:38it had a universal mechanical fuse
17:41with one switch in the nose
17:42and another under the warhead.
17:44To make absolutely sure
17:46that the bomb exploded,
17:47there was a third clockwork fuse,
17:50timed to detonate the bomb
17:51after two hours.
17:54Of the 8,000 V-1s launched,
17:56over 6,000 are recorded
17:58as having crossed the channel.
18:00Over half were shot down,
18:02but the remainder caused immense damage.
18:05Over 2,000 fell on London,
18:0723,000 homes were destroyed in England
18:10and a million damaged,
18:126,000 civilians were killed
18:14and 17,000 seriously injured.
18:31By January 1945,
18:34Allied advances had captured
18:35all of the V-1 launch sites.
18:37The V-1 launching regiments
18:39were pulled back
18:40and London was, for a time,
18:42out of range.
18:44The new V-1 target
18:46was the Belgian port of Antwerp.
18:48After liberation by British troops,
18:51Antwerp soon became
18:52the principal port
18:53through which the liberating forces
18:55were supplied.
18:56If Germany was to halt
18:58the Allied advance,
18:59Antwerp must be put out of action.
19:04Antwerp had endured punishing bombing raids,
19:06but its 600-year-old cathedral
19:08still dominated the skyline.
19:10Since the Middle Ages,
19:12Antwerp had been a center of trade.
19:16Its ports were the largest in Europe
19:18and they had been captured intact.
19:21The Germans had placed explosives
19:23to destroy the harbor,
19:24but they delayed too long
19:26and the resistance seized the locks
19:28and over 600 cranes.
19:32The V-1 offensive
19:33did not come as a surprise to Antwerp.
19:36Counterpreparations known as Antwerp X
19:38had been made under General Armstrong,
19:40a combined force of British,
19:42American and Polish gunners
19:43assigned to the defense of the city.
19:46The strategy was one of shifting defenses.
19:49When the V-1s began to come over
19:51from one direction,
19:52batteries would be moved quickly
19:53so that many belts of anti-aircraft guns
19:56could be fired one behind the other
19:58to protect the city.
20:00To make this strategy a success,
20:02new lines of attack had to be expected
20:05and anti-aircraft units had to move
20:07with high speed
20:08from one position to another.
20:10The gunners learned speed in setting up,
20:13speed in getting the word through,
20:15speed in firing.
20:17They learned accuracy,
20:18which dramatically improved the rate of kills.
20:36Observers moved far forward
20:37into frontline positions
20:38to spot the V-1s
20:40soon after their takeoff from Germany.
20:42From these forward outposts,
20:44they flashed the earliest warning
20:46of an approaching bomb.
20:48Rapid estimation of the course of the bomb
20:50was plotted
20:50based on information from radar units.
21:00As the bomb came into range of the gun batteries,
21:03if one belt of guns failed to bring the bomb down,
21:06there was at least one more battery backing up the first.
21:22Sometimes four or five belts of guns
21:24guarded the bomb lanes to Antwerp.
21:29Sometimes the hit was freakish,
21:31damaging the flying mechanism
21:32so that the V-1s spiraled to the ground.
21:40In February of 1945,
21:42the V-1 attacks reached a peak of intensity.
21:45The bomb was coming in from a new direction,
21:48from the north,
21:49from much shorter range.
21:51But by continually shifting defenses
21:52and with a heavy defensive depth,
21:55the gunners achieved an even higher success rate.
21:57During one period of six days,
22:0089 out of 91 V-1s were shot from the skies.
22:04In March 1945,
22:06London came under attack again for a short time,
22:09from air-launched V-1s.
22:11As the Allies pressed closer,
22:14Germany's defensive strategies
22:15became ever more desperate.
22:19A plan evolved to adapt the V-1
22:22for manned suicide flights,
22:23and some test prototypes actually flew.
22:27A list of 15,000 volunteers was compiled
22:30who would take part in a wave of suicide attacks.
22:33But even Hitler found the idea objectionable.
22:42The Japanese had no such qualms
22:45and adapted a version of the V-1
22:47which was used against U.S. shipping.
23:17The U.S. troops who captured
23:19these aircraft had difficulty
23:21comprehending their real purpose.
23:32The V-1 program had given the Germans
23:34the ability to target London
23:36without air superiority.
23:39But America remained an elusive goal.
23:43In January 1944,
23:46the largest aircraft built by the Germans
23:48in World War II,
23:49a prototype of the Junkers' Ju-390,
23:53took off on a top-secret mission,
23:55carrying sufficient fuel
23:56for 32 hours in the air.
23:59It was flying to New York
24:01to test its ability to attack targets
24:04in the United States.
24:05It flew undetected
24:07to a point some 12 miles from the coast,
24:10north of New York City,
24:11then returned successfully to base,
24:14a round trip of 6,000 miles
24:16at a speed of 222 miles an hour.
24:19The Ju-390
24:21had been more than a day in the air.
24:26The V-1 could be launched
24:27from another aircraft,
24:28but the Luftwaffe
24:29was never to visit America again
24:31in World War II.
24:34The Allied bombing offensive
24:35made mass production
24:37of the Ju-390 impossible.
24:40The successful proving flight
24:41in January 1944
24:42showed that the Germans
24:44possessed the technical capability
24:46to strike at New York,
24:47Washington,
24:48and the eastern seaboard cities.
25:00On Friday, the 8th of September
25:02in 1944,
25:03in Stavely Road, Chiswick,
25:05several homes
25:06in this quiet London suburb
25:08were blown to pieces
25:09by a violent explosion.
25:14It left an enormous crater
25:16outside Number 5.
25:17There had been no air raid warning,
25:19no sound of enemy bombers,
25:21no anti-aircraft fire,
25:23no drone of the now-familiar Doodlebug.
25:26One moment there were houses,
25:28gardens, families,
25:29and the next,
25:30total devastation.
25:32It was one of two such incidents
25:34in London that day.
25:35For the people in London,
25:37it was little more
25:38than another sickening reminder
25:40of being in the front line
25:41of the war.
25:42For Britain's war cabinet,
25:44it was confirmation
25:45of what had been feared
25:46for some time.
25:48Germany's ballistic missile program
25:50was now operational.
25:55The Treaty of Versailles,
25:56which followed the First World War,
25:58prevented Germany
25:59from developing
26:00many conventional weapons.
26:02Unsurprisingly,
26:03Germany was attracted
26:04to rocket technology,
26:06which was not covered
26:07by the treaty.
26:08In 1930,
26:09Werner von Braun
26:11and a captain,
26:12Walter Doornberger,
26:13were assigned
26:14to the Army Weapons Office.
26:16In 1937,
26:17Doornberger's team,
26:19now 80 strong,
26:20moved to a new facility
26:21at Pienamunde.
26:26In 1939,
26:28Hitler visited Pienamunde
26:29and saw the test firing
26:31of the A-5 engine.
26:32He was silent
26:33and appeared unimpressed
26:35throughout.
26:35He had a fundamental distrust
26:37of advanced technology.
26:39His objectives,
26:40he believed,
26:41could be achieved
26:42with the tried
26:42and tested weapons
26:43and service.
26:44However,
26:45two days after
26:46Britain's declaration of war
26:47in September 1939,
26:49the A-4 project
26:50was granted
26:51high-priority status.
26:57The A-5
26:58was successfully launched
27:00and travelled 11 miles,
27:02reaching an altitude
27:03of 7 miles.
27:15The progress of the war
27:16was rapid.
27:17Hitler thought it might
27:18end in 1940
27:19and in the spring of 1940,
27:21Pienamunde
27:22found its rocket project
27:23removed from the priority list.
27:27Despite limited resources,
27:29on the 3rd of October 1942,
27:31the A-4 was ready
27:33for launching.
27:34Ignition
27:35and the gleaming
27:36aluminium rocket
27:37rose perfectly
27:39into the sky
27:39with a red tail flame
27:41as long as the rocket itself.
27:44Imperceptibly at first,
27:45it began its planned
27:46tilt eastward
27:47towards its destination.
27:49It passed without incident
27:51through the sound barrier,
27:52laying down
27:53a white vapour trail.
27:54Its speed soared
27:56to 3,000 miles per hour.
28:00They had demonstrated
28:02beyond doubt
28:03the enormous potential
28:04of the rocket
28:05and yet,
28:06still Hitler dithered.
28:08It was nearly four months
28:10before mass production
28:11was authorised
28:12and even then
28:13it was not granted
28:14special priority
28:15or support.
28:16Finally,
28:18in January 1943,
28:20the munitions minister,
28:21Albert Speer,
28:22put his personal authority
28:23behind the project.
28:24The race was now on
28:26to build and deploy
28:27the A-4
28:28before Germany's position
28:29had deteriorated
28:30beyond salvation.
28:33Pienamunde
28:33also received support
28:35from another
28:35and unwelcome quarter.
28:38Himmler visited
28:38in April 1944,
28:40offering the protection
28:41of the Gestapo
28:42against saboteurs.
28:45Allied intelligence reports
28:46received at the end
28:47of 1942
28:48and the beginning
28:49of 1943
28:50spoke of German rockets
28:52and the existence
28:53of the factory
28:54at Pienamunde
28:54was known.
28:56Photo reconnaissance
28:57in the summer of 1943
28:58revealed major
28:59construction works
29:00in France.
29:02Exactly what it was
29:03that the Germans
29:04were building in France
29:05was not clear,
29:06but some argued
29:07that if Germany
29:08was going to so much
29:09trouble to build them,
29:10it was probably
29:11worthwhile bombing them.
29:14None of the evidence
29:15was conclusive,
29:16but at a meeting
29:17held by Churchill
29:18on the 29th of June 1943,
29:20it was decided
29:21that Pienamunde
29:22should be destroyed.
29:24It was to be
29:25the heaviest
29:26possible night attack.
29:28Light damage
29:29from an attack
29:29by mosquitoes
29:30might give time
29:31for the production
29:32to be moved elsewhere
29:33and for the scientists
29:34to escape.
29:36On the 17th of August 1943,
29:39eight mosquitoes
29:40flew to Berlin
29:41and dropped radar
29:42jamming reflector strips.
29:44The Germans
29:45were induced to believe
29:46that Berlin
29:46was about to be attacked
29:48and fighters
29:49were sent to intercept them.
29:51Five hundred and ninety-seven
29:52RAF bombers
29:53in three waves
29:54were dispatched
29:55to Pienamunde.
29:56The first wave
29:58attacked the scientists'
29:59accommodation block,
30:00the second unit
30:01the main workshops
30:02and the third,
30:04the development works.
30:06Sixteen hundred tons
30:07of high explosive
30:08was dropped.
30:09There was massive destruction.
30:18But Dornberger
30:19and von Braun survived.
30:21So too did the wind tunnel
30:22in the vital measurement house.
30:24Production blueprints
30:25and essential tools
30:26had been stored elsewhere.
30:28In only a few weeks,
30:30the damage
30:30to the production
30:31had been repaired,
30:32although many
30:33of the damaged buildings
30:34and the craters
30:34and the roadways
30:35were left
30:36to give the appearance
30:37that the works
30:38had been abandoned.
30:54The decision was taken
30:56to move much
30:56of Pienamunde's activities
30:58to safer territory.
30:59Pre-production
31:00was taken
31:01to Transe
31:02in Austria
31:02and the testing facility
31:04was to move
31:05to Blizna
31:05in Poland.
31:11Blizna was already known
31:12to Allied intelligence.
31:14It was the home
31:15of the Heidelaga
31:16concentration camp.
31:18Speer now had
31:19the resources
31:20of the SS
31:20and unlimited
31:22forced labor
31:22at his disposal
31:23and the increasing
31:25control of the project
31:26passed to the Waffen SS.
31:28The finished rockets
31:30were to be constructed
31:31in central Germany
31:32at Nordhausen
31:33where forced labor
31:34under the control
31:35of the SS
31:36built huge tunnels
31:37into the Hartz Mountains.
31:39Prisoners with scientific skills
31:41were sent to Nordhausen.
31:43It was less than a year
31:45since Dornberger's team
31:46had celebrated
31:47the successful flight
31:48from Pienamunde.
31:49They had now descended
31:51into a nightmare world
31:52where all around
31:53was terror,
31:54beatings,
31:55sickness and starvation.
31:57Over 15,000 laborers
31:58slaved under brutal
31:59SS control
32:00to complete the A4
32:02production facility.
32:03One man now
32:05dominated the A4 program.
32:07SS Gruppenfuhrer
32:08Hans Kammler.
32:26A series of technical difficulties
32:28then beset the A4 program.
32:30Test firing after test firing
32:32ended in failure
32:33as here,
32:34with the rocket
32:35either crashing shortly
32:36after liftoff
32:37or breaking up
32:38on re-entry
32:39to the Earth's atmosphere.
32:40One by one
32:41the difficulties
32:42were resolved
32:43until the point
32:44was reached
32:44where the design
32:45could be signed off
32:46and manufacture
32:47could commence.
33:01This surviving example
33:03of the A4
33:04is at the Imperial War Museum
33:06in London
33:06It is 14 meters long
33:08and weighs 13 tons.
33:10The functional simplicity
33:12of its aerodynamic lines
33:13belies its immense complexity.
33:33The two main fuels
33:35which propelled the A4
33:36methyl alcohol
33:38and liquid oxygen
33:39were carried
33:40in the larger fuel tanks.
33:41The methyl alcohol delivery pipe
33:43passed through the center
33:45passed through the center
33:45of the liquid oxygen tank.
33:47Nitrogen, hydrogen peroxide,
33:49permanganate
33:50and compressed air
33:51were carried
33:51in smaller tanks.
33:53The turbine and pump assembly
33:54forced the liquids
33:55into the combustion chamber
33:57and the exploding gases
33:58created the motive power.
34:01Eight tons of fuel
34:02had to be pumped
34:03into the combustion chamber
34:04in the space
34:05of 60 seconds.
34:06The turbine developed
34:08and was driven by steam
34:11produced from the chemical reaction
34:13between hydrogen peroxide
34:14and sodium permanganate.
34:18The gyroscopes
34:20which controlled the navigation system
34:21were electrically connected
34:23to the steering system
34:24in the tail vents.
34:25slight movements
34:26in the gyroscopes
34:27were transmitted electrically
34:29to the steering system
34:30the vanes and trimmers
34:31which kept the rocket on course.
34:38Each vanes and trimmer
34:40was controlled
34:41by an electrically operated
34:42servo motor.
34:43In an age before computers
34:45this was a remarkably
34:47sophisticated arrangement.
34:50The vanes could control
34:52the rocket
34:52only during the short time
34:54that the rocket motor
34:55was burning
34:55a matter of 70 seconds.
34:57This was the first 20 miles
34:59of the rocket's trajectory.
35:01Thereafter
35:02the rocket ceased to fly
35:03and became a free projectile.
35:07The A4's range
35:08was 200 miles.
35:10When the rocket motor cut out
35:11the V2 was travelling
35:13at 4,400 miles per hour
35:14and would keep on climbing
35:16until it reached a height
35:18of 50 miles.
35:21On re-entry
35:22to the Earth's atmosphere
35:23the V2 slowed
35:24to 2,700 miles per hour
35:26and would strike its target
35:28at the same speed.
35:29The whole journey
35:30took five minutes.
35:32The explosive charge
35:34was activated
35:35by the impact bolt
35:36at the tip of the warhead.
35:43In January 1944
35:4550 rockets were delivered.
35:47In February
35:48only 86.
35:50In March
35:51253.
35:52It was far from
35:54the 1,800 per month
35:55that had been ordered
35:56in October.
35:58In March
35:59von Braun
36:00and two other engineers
36:01were arrested
36:02by the Gestapo
36:03and accused of
36:04holding pessimistic
36:06and defeatist views
36:07that were negatively
36:08influencing his staff.
36:11Dornberger had to plead
36:12for his release.
36:13In June 1944
36:15before any of the A4's
36:17could be deployed
36:18the Luftwaffe
36:19launched the first
36:20of the V1
36:20flying bombs
36:21against London.
36:23Hitler's immediate response
36:24was to order
36:25that the V1
36:26should receive priority
36:27over the A4.
36:30Despite all of these setbacks
36:32in September 1944
36:34the first A4's
36:35now called the V2's
36:37were ready for launching.
36:48To protect them
36:50against the attentions
36:51of prowling allied fighters
36:52the V2's were launched
36:54from the centre of The Hague
36:55from innocuous streets
36:56such as this.
37:03They could be assembled
37:05fuelled
37:05and fired
37:06in a fairly short time
37:07but it was always
37:08a stressful time
37:09for the crew.
37:10At any moment
37:11the V2
37:11and its large entourage
37:13of men and vehicles
37:14could be attacked
37:15by allied aircraft.
37:20The rockets
37:21had to be transported
37:22to the firing area
37:24by train.
37:25The technical troops
37:26prepared the rocket
37:27and the firing troop
37:28controlled the launch.
37:31to collect the rocket.
37:32Rail transport
37:32was always
37:33a dangerous operation
37:34in the face
37:35of total allied air supremacy.
37:42The technical troops
37:43fixed the warheads.
37:45The protective drum
37:46was removed
37:47revealing the menacing
37:49shape of the V2.
37:53The firing troop
37:55used a special vehicle
37:56the Miele trailer
37:57to collect the rocket.
37:59The locations used
38:01for the transfer
38:02of rockets
38:02from the technical troop
38:03to the firing troops
38:04were constantly changed.
38:07The Miele trailer
38:08supported the rocket
38:09in two places
38:10with a clamp
38:11between the tank section
38:12and the tail unit
38:13of the rocket
38:13and a clamp
38:14at the nose.
38:15The technical troop
38:16delicately lowered
38:17the rocket
38:18into the two clamps.
38:24The first step
38:25for the firing crew
38:26was to tow
38:27the launching table
38:28onto the launch site.
38:30The requirements
38:31of the launching site
38:32were extremely simple.
38:34Enough room
38:35was needed
38:35to maneuver
38:36the train
38:36of fueling
38:37and firing vehicles
38:38around the missile
38:39so the wide streets
38:40and squares
38:41of the Hague
38:41were ideal for launching.
38:51The light construction
38:53of the fuel tanks
38:53dictated that fueling
38:55could only be done
38:56with the rocket
38:56in the upright position.
38:58When the rocket
38:59was empty
39:00it weighed four tons
39:01including the warhead.
39:03When it was fueled
39:04it more than tripled
39:05in weight.
39:09The pipes
39:10connecting the pump
39:11to each of the oxygen tankers
39:13soon became covered
39:14in frost and snow
39:15because of the intense cold
39:17of the liquid oxygen.
39:18The white vapor
39:20is not oxygen vapor
39:21but water vapor
39:22condensed by the liquid oxygen.
39:26The cumbersome fuel train
39:27for each V2
39:28consisted of a towed
39:30alcohol bowser
39:31a self-propelled
39:32alcohol bowser
39:33towing a trailer pump
39:34and finally
39:35the towed
39:36liquid oxygen vehicle.
39:41The alcohol fueling
39:42then started.
39:43It took about 10 minutes
39:45to fill the alcohol tank
39:46in the rocket.
39:47The liquid oxygen trailer
39:48was the next fueling vehicle
39:50to arrive at the launching site.
39:52The liquid oxygen
39:53had to be loaded
39:54within an hour of the time
39:55of firing the rocket
39:56to prevent the valves freezing.
39:59This arrangement
40:00of fueling vehicles
40:01around the Miele trailer
40:02presented a tempting target
40:04for roving fighters
40:05and tensions were always high
40:07among the crews.
40:08At any minute
40:09they feared they would hear
40:10the drone of enemy aircraft unions.
40:14Sodium permanganate
40:15known as Z-stoff
40:16was the last fuel
40:18to go into the rocket.
40:19At this stage
40:20it was placed
40:21into an electric heater
40:22to heat it.
40:25As the fuel tanks
40:27were filled
40:27the weight of the rocket
40:29increased
40:29and the joints
40:30between the tank section
40:31and the tail unit
40:32needed re-tightening.
40:36There was a danger
40:37that the coldness
40:38of the liquid oxygen
40:39might freeze up
40:40the rest of the machinery
40:41so to make certain
40:42that didn't happen
40:43hot air had to be blown up
40:45through the rocket
40:46from an air blower.
40:47It was yet another step
40:49in a cumbersome procedure.
40:55When the liquid oxygen tank
40:56had been filled
40:57the connecting pipes
40:58were removed
40:59with the aid of a hammer.
41:08Finally
41:08the sodium permanganate
41:10was lifted up the side
41:11and tipped into the tank
41:13through an opening
41:14in the tail unit.
41:15The igniter
41:16was like a large
41:18catherine wheel
41:18and was started electrically.
41:23The arm
41:24of the Miele trailer
41:25was lowered
41:25and the rocket
41:26was finally levelled
41:27and oriented
41:28in the direction
41:29of the line of fire.
41:31The firing troop
41:32took cover
41:33in the trenches
41:34they had dug
41:34near the rocket.
41:35The troop commander
41:36went to the firing
41:37control vehicle.
41:42The final
41:43steering tests
41:43were made
41:44and then
41:45the firing troop commander
41:46at last
41:47gave his orders.
41:51The rocket
41:52was fired
41:53electrically
41:53from a control panel
41:54in a special vehicle.
41:56The electrical cables
41:57connecting the control panel
41:59to the rocket
41:59were supported
42:00on a long pole
42:01attached
42:02to the launching table.
42:18when the rocket
42:19had lifted off
42:19from the launching table
42:20the firing crew's
42:22job was done.
42:23The course
42:24and trajectory
42:24of the V2
42:25was predetermined.
42:37When the first
42:38operational
42:39A4 rocket
42:40now called
42:40the V2
42:41was launched
42:42from a street
42:42in the centre
42:43of the Hague
42:43it was nearly
42:44five years
42:45since the war
42:46had begun.
42:48There was no defence
42:49to the V2
42:50it could not be
42:51tracked by radar
42:52or intercepted.
42:53England must endure
42:55what Germany sent.
42:57Britain had prepared
42:59as best it could.
43:00London's hospitals
43:01were cleared of patients
43:02so that they could cope
43:04with the expected
43:05mass of new casualties.
43:07Post and telephone
43:08services
43:08were temporarily suspended
43:10so that the location
43:11of where the rockets
43:12had fallen
43:12would not be known
43:13to the Germans.
43:15Press censorship
43:16prevented any reporting
43:17of incidents
43:18involving mysterious explosions.
43:20Although the number
43:22of V2 rockets
43:23steadily increased
43:24it would not be
43:25until the 10th of November
43:26that Churchill
43:27made a statement
43:28to the House of Commons.
43:30London was not
43:31the only city
43:32to suffer the V2 onslaught.
43:34Antwerp, Lille,
43:35Mons, Maastricht
43:36were targeted.
43:37As the Allied advance
43:38in Europe
43:39threatened the launch sites
43:40in the Hague
43:41Kamala withdrew
43:42the V2s to Frisjland.
43:44This was good news
43:46for London
43:46but Norwich
43:47and Ipswich
43:48found themselves
43:49the only British cities
43:50within range.
43:53Kamala ordered
43:54three batteries
43:55to return to the Hague
43:56and in October 1944
43:57the attack on London
43:59resumed.
44:04At its peak
44:05the V2s rained on London
44:06at the rate
44:07of about 30 a day.
44:08The total
44:09which fell on England
44:10is a matter of conjecture
44:12perhaps greater
44:13than a thousand.
44:15They killed
44:162,750 people
44:18and injured
44:196,500.
44:21Dornberger's rockets
44:22had done its work.
44:26Hitler dreamed
44:27of being able
44:28to punish America
44:29for the systematic
44:30destruction
44:31of his own country.
44:32With a range
44:33of 200 miles
44:34the V2 could only
44:35be used within Europe.
44:37The feasibility
44:38of launching the V2
44:39from a submarine
44:40off the coast of America
44:41was considered
44:42but was ruled out
44:43as being impractical.
44:46The complex
44:46launching procedure
44:47was difficult enough
44:48on land
44:48without attempting it
44:50from the pitching deck
44:51of a submarine
44:52in the middle
44:52of an ocean.
44:53It would be two decades
44:55before the submarine
44:56launched Polaris missile
44:57would make this concept
44:59a reality.
45:05Lengthening the range
45:06of the A-4
45:06was a more realistic option.
45:09In January 1944
45:11the A-9
45:12was first launched.
45:14It was a winged
45:15development of the A-4
45:16and later became known
45:18as the A-4B.
45:20The wings were intended
45:21to reduce the speed
45:22and angle of descent
45:23so that the rocket
45:25would glide
45:25to a greater distance.
45:27The A-4B
45:28was calculated
45:29to have a range
45:30of 400 miles
45:31putting Birmingham,
45:33Manchester
45:33and even Glasgow
45:34within range.
45:35The A-4B
45:37did not reach
45:37beyond the stage
45:38of testing
45:39by which time
45:40the launch sites
45:41were overrun
45:42by the Allies.
45:43The most ambitious
45:45project
45:46was the A-910
45:47which had been conceived
45:49in 1940
45:49and given funds
45:51it might well
45:52have been developed.
45:53It was to be
45:54a two-stage rocket
45:55weighing 200 tons
45:56with a range
45:57of 3,000 miles.
45:59It would have been
46:00launched from Europe
46:01and reached New York.
46:03Happily for America
46:04the A-910
46:05never left
46:06the drawing boards.
46:09The development
46:10of the world's
46:11first atomic bomb
46:12had been a close race
46:13between the Germans
46:14and the Western Allies.
46:16Had Germany won
46:17that race
46:17it had
46:18with the V-2
46:19the means
46:20to destroy Britain.
46:22The combination
46:23of an atomic bomb
46:24and the A-910
46:26delivery system
46:27would have allowed
46:28Hitler
46:28to threaten
46:29the United States.
46:31Facing the annihilation
46:33of its principal cities
46:34the United States
46:36would have had
46:37no alternative
46:37but to capitulate.
46:41The Third Reich
46:42in all its evil
46:43might have dominated
46:45the world today.
46:55The Third Reich
46:56of the Third Reich
46:56and the Third Reich
46:57and the fourth
47:44Transcription by CastingWords
47:48CastingWords
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