From the outbreak of WW2 British intelligence
had been gathering information on developments of a new secret
range of weapons. In a speech by Hitler it was reported British
intelligence he claimed that Germany was developing a weapon which
would have no defence. British intelligence also received what
is now known as "The Oslo Report". A report was handed over covertly
to British diplomats in Oslo, Norway.
The report contain information on new research
regarding weapons. Also in the report were details of a secret
installation at Peenemünde, on the Baltic coast, that was
developing a long range rocket. Would this rocket carry deadly
gas? Or be adapted for germ warfare? It was from such avenues
of intelligence that the allies learned about German scientists
splitting the atom. Would the rocket they were developing carry
an atomic bomb?
In 1939 Hitler had promised the German people
that no bombs would fall on German cities. With increased bombing
of German cities by the allies during 1942, and the indiscriminate
bombings during 1943, enraged Hitler who wanted revenge. "Vengeance".
Terror weapon: Hitler boasted to Mussolini and party officials
that he would: "Turn London into a garden of ruins". Following
the information within the "Oslo Report", and evidence from aerial
photography the British authorities decided to act and destroy
the secret installation at Peenemünde.
On August 17th 1943, 600 British bombers attack
the secret German rocket research facility. Although the raid
didn't destroy the base it gave the Nazi's a serious problem,
the problem of carrying on with research, development and production
of the rocket programme. The problem was solved by moving the
rocket programme out of reach of the allied bombers. The Nazi's
decided on a underground facility deep in the Harz mountains.
By 1944 the whole rocket programme would fall under the control
of the brutal SS. From the network of concentration camps, slave
labour would be used in the production of the rockets. Many thousands
of human beings would suffer and die in the deplorable conditions
of the underground network of tunnels that served the SS as
slave camps.
The British might not have been successful in
destroying Peenemünde, and the Nazi rocket programme with
it, but it was successful in delaying mass production of the rocket.
In hindsight that delay was priceless, and by the time the Nazi's
relocated its operation and mounted mass production, the allies
had gained enough time to invade and create a second front on
mainland Europe, without a threat from the new weapons.
Hitler had hoped that the rocket would be operational
by early 1944, but with the testing moved to Poland and production
moved to Nordhausen, delays occurred. Both sides were in a race
against time. If the rockets had been ready in early 1944 the
build up of forces for Operation Overlord would have been targeted.
Overlord might not have been possible. In early 1944 the allies
bombed particular areas in Northern France. From intelligence
reports and aerial photography they discovered the Nazis preparing
special sites to launch their new weapons. The success of these
missions can only be gauged by the fact that not one rocket was
fired during Operation Overlord, and it was not until June 13th
that the first rocket were fired, 7 days after the D-day landings
of Operation Overlord.
This was the start of a 3 month offensive using
the terror weapon called the V1 (Vengeance 1). The Nazis launched
over 2500 flying bombs at London from newly constructed sites
at the Par-de-Calais. Although the V1 caused an estimated 6000
deaths, and much anxiety among the populace of London, it did
not change the outcome for the battle of France or the outcome
of the war, as it was hoped. British defences changed strategy,
moving AAA emplacements to the southern coast of England, and
redeploying fighter groups to shoot down incoming V1's. These
changes weakened the V1's impact on London. With the allies advancing
through Normandy the V1's threat was finally eliminated by early
September 1944.
Hitler's "Vengeance weapon 2", the V2 rocket,
was finally operational ready. On September 8th 1944, the first
V2 was fired at London and exploding in Chiswick, the
London borough of Hammersmith. Unlike the V1, the V2 gave people
no warning. When the V2 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere it would
be travelling about 3000mph, invisible and deadly silent. A new
reign of terror had begun. The knowledge of this new weapon was
suppressed by the British authorities to avoid causing a panic.
London endured this new reign of terror for seven months. The
British and American authorities were worried that the rocket's
payload would carry more than conventional explosives, maybe used
as a weapon of mass destruction, a last resort. Then the allies
might then have to negotiate peace with the Nazis. Thankfully
it never came. In that 7 month reign of terror the Nazis launched
over 500 V2 rockets at London. On March 27th 1945 the last V2
was fired at London.
