Hitler's V-weapons and Their Launching Sites

V-weapons were highly advanced powerful flying bombs and rockets used by Germany against England during the Second World War, causing utter devastation wherever they hit. The V1 flying bomb could travel at speeds of up to 500mph, faster than any Allied fighter aircraft. But far more deadly was the V2, which used highly advanced technology to take off with a liquid-fuelled rocket motor, and flew at more than five times the speed of sound. Extraordinary feats of engineering were needed to store and launch the powerful missiles, and so a comprehensive network of sites was built in Europe, many of which still exist today. Had it not been for the extensive bombing of these sites, the plans to create nuclear V-weapons could have come to devastating fruition. This is the first comprehensive guide in English to the sites that lay behind this deadly operation. Many of these monolithic structures still exist today, despite suffering repeated attempts by Allied bombers to destroy them. This book provides a concise historical background to the development of the weapons technology of the V1 and V2 and the part they played in the Second World War. The author examines in detail how and why each of the storage and launch sites in France, Germany, Holland and Poland were designed and built, the air campaign that followed, and how they were defended against attack. A comprehensive gazetteer reveals what is left to see today of these massive structures at each of the sites.

Philip Henshall
Hardcover 224 pages 2002