V-1 and V-2 intelligence
Military intelligence on the V-1 and V-2 weapons[3] 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.
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] agents & informants | V-1: 16 batteries of 220 men |
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] for which Denmark, Poland, Luxembourg, 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
- Key
- 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
— Reports gathered by the Luxembourg Resistance
,
— events regarding Anglo-American intelligence
,
,
— military operations (RAF, US, Luftwaffe)
- PR — aerial photographic reconnaissance
Date | Location/Topic | Event |
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2 November 1939 | Oslo Report | ![]() |
1941 | Peenemünde | German scientist Paul Rosbaud and Norwegian XU agent Sverre Bergh submitted the first detailed description of the Peenemünde facilities and size/shape of missiles to British intelligence. Their reports were largely ignored until corroborated in 1943.[5][6] |
15 May 1942 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
5 January 1943 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
19 January 1943 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
22 March 1943 | ![]() | |
22 April 1943 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-05 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
17 May 1943 | ![]() |
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14 May 1943 | 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 |
4 June 1943 | 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 bombing raid 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.[24] |
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.[25] |
September 1943 | Peenemünde: P-7 | PR showed P-7 bomb craters,[26] 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".[27] 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 | ![]() |
133 V-weapon facilities had been photographed by the PRU[29] including V-1 flying bomb storage depots in Occupied France under construction since August.: 194 (They were not used for the modified sites.)[1] |
September 1943 | ![]() |
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October 1943 | ![]() |
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3 October 1943 | ![]() |
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1943 autumn | ![]() | |
21 October 1943 | ![]() |
PR was ordered for the whole of Northern France.[35] |
28 October 1943 | ![]() |
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3 November 1943 | ![]() |
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28 November 1943 | Peenemünde-West | ![]() |
November 1943 | ![]() |
72 "ski sites" had been photographed.[41]: 184 |
4 December 1943 | ![]() |
PR was again conducted across Northern France[30]: 3 just before the December 5 start of "Crossbow Operations Against Ski Sites", which the Combined Chiefs of Staff authorized on December 2.[42] ![]() |
4 December 1943 | ![]() |
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4 January 1944 | The Pentagon Eglin Field |
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February 1944 | Peenemunde: P-7 | PR showed roads north of the ellipse that matched roadways later discovered after the Normandy Invasion at the Château de Molay V-2 site. |
25 February 1944 | ![]() | |
March 1944 | ![]() |
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March 1944 | occupied Poland | ![]() ![]() |
22 April 1944 | ![]() |
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26 April 1944 | ![]() |
PR identified the 1st camouflaged "modified" site,[30]: 8 and 12 more were identified within days.[51] 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 deception that portrayed them as being repaired.[52] Additionally, espionage became more difficult as only German & prisoner/forced labor was used for "modified" sites instead of the previously-used French construction firms.[53] |
April 1944 | Mittelwerk | ![]() |
5 May 1944 | Poland | ![]() |
6 June 1944 | ![]() |
61 modified sites had been photographed, and 83 of 96 ski sites had been destroyed (only 2 of the ski sites launched V-1s).[57] |
10 June 1944 | Belgium | ![]() |
11 June 1944 | ![]() |
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11 June 1944 | ![]() |
66 modified sites had been photographed. On the 13th just after midnight, the Saleux site launched the first combat V-1 (Hans Kammler visited the Saleux V-1 site on August 10).[60] |
1944-06 | RAF Medmenham | ![]() |
13 June 1944 | ![]() |
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 . |
17 June 1944 | Poland | ![]() ![]() |
30 June 1944 | ![]() |
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1944-07-16 | ![]() ![]() | |
1944-07-18 | ![]() |
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July 1944 | Wright Field | ![]() |
21 July 1944 | ![]() | |
22 July 1944 | ![]() | |
28 July 1944 | Big Ben | ![]() |
31 July 1944 | ![]() | |
15 August 1944 | Double Cross System | ![]() |
25 August 1944 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
25 August 1944 | Belgium | ![]() |
8 September 1944 | Sound ranging | ![]() |
17 September 1944 | Netherlands | ![]() ![]() |
22 September 1944 | Poland | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1944-10 | Mittelwerk | PR of Niedersachswerfen showed shadows of railcars consistent with those loaded with V-2s. |
25 October 1944 | Netherlands | ![]() |
December 1944 | Royal Artillery | ![]() |
31 December 1944 | Netherlands | ![]() |
8 February 1945 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
20 March 1945 | Netherlands | ![]() |
March 1945 | Operation Paperclip | A Polish laboratory technician found pieces of the Osenberg List of German scientists in a toilet at Bonn University.[91] 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).[92] |
11 April 1945 | 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
- Jones 1978, p. 423.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 113.
- Jones 1978, p. 437.
- McGovern 1964, p. 74.
- Kramish, Arnold (1987). Griffen - den største spionhistorien. Oslo: J. W. Cappelens Forlag. ISBN 978-82-02-10743-7.
- Bergh, Sverre (2006). Spion i Hitlers Rike. Oslo: Cappelen. ISBN 9788204123619.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 114.
- Aloyse Raths - Unheivolle Jahre für Luxemburg 1940-1945 p. 259-261
- Garliński 1978, p. 61.
- Jones 1978, p. 333.
- Bowman 1999, p. 16.
- Jones 1978, p. 339, 433.
- Collier 1976, p. 143.
- Jones 1978, p. 338.
- Jones 1978, p. 337.
- Middlebrook 1982, p. 41.
- Jones 1978, p. 300c,340.
- Collier 1976, p. 18.
- Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 22.
- Collier, 1976
- Cooksley 1979, p. 53.
- "Constance Babington Smith". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 August 2000. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011.
- "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)
- Jones 1978, p. 300d.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 174e.
- Middlebrook 1982, p. 198.
- Jones 1978, p. 353.
- Bowman 1999, p. 18.
- "The V-Weapons". After The Battle. No. 6. 1974. pp. 3, 14, 16. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- "Michel Hollard" (in German). christianCH.ch. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
- Jones 1978, p. 300e,360.
- "Eurostar remembers Michel Hollard". 26 April 2004. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- McKillop, January 1944
- Collier 1976, p. 36.
- Sharp, C. Martin; Bowyer, Michael J. F. (1971). Mosquito. London: Faber & Faber. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-85979-115-1.
- "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.
- Jones 1978, p. 300e.
- Jones 1978, p. 367.
- Cooksley 1979, p. 44.
- 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.
- Bomber Command Campaign Diary
- Jones 1978, p. 354,374.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 29.
- 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). Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-09-22. (Alternate version) (cited by Mets p. 239, which has the "three or four" numbers)
- Henshall, Phillip (1985). Hitler's Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. 64, 111. ISBN 9780312388225.
- Jones 1978, p. 426.
- McGovern 1964, p. 42.
- 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 978-0-553-12660-0.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 31.
- "V-Bomb Photo Search". Life Magazine: 143. October 28, 1957. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 3.
- Zaloga
- Jones 1978, p. 454.
- Garliński, Józef (1978). Hitler's Last Weapons: The Underground War against the V1 and V2. New York: Times Books. pp. 52, 82.
- Jones 1978, p. 436.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 32,75.
- Jones 1978, p. 417.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 174d.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 258d.
- Jones 1978, p. 339.
- Collier 1976, p. 68,82,84,103.
- Cooksley 1979, p. 81.
- 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 978-0-297-84619-2. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- Jones 1978, p. 434.
- Huzel, Dieter K (1960). Peenemünde to Canaveral. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 93.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 174b.
- U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, (2009), George Mindling, Robert Bolton ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6
- Collier 1976, p. 103.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 158,173.
- McGovern 1964, p. 71.
- Jones 1978, p. 444.
- Jones 1978, p. 446.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 42.
- von Braun, Wernher; Ordway III, Frederick I; Dooling, David Jr (1985) [1975]. Space Travel: A History (first ed.). New York: Harper & Row. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-06-181898-1.
- Cooksley 1979, p. 82.
- Collier, Basil (1995) [1957]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Defence of the United Kingdom. History of the Second World War. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 978-1-870423-09-0. (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 978-0-517-06501-3.
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
- Gruen 1998, p. 37.
- Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (eds.). Volume 3 Europe: Argument to V-E Day. The Army Air Forces in World War II. p. 535. ISBN 9781428915862 – via Hyperwar Foundation.
- McKillop, Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces August 1944
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 251.
- Johnson, David (1982). V-1, V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London. Stein and Day. pp. 117, 130.
- Campaign Diary September 1944
- Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 104.
- Zaloga 2008, p. 46.
- Cooksley 1979, p. 56, 157.
- Mikhail, Devi︠a︡taev (2015). Pobeg iz ada : Na samolete vraga iz nemet︠s︡ko-fashistskogo plena (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: Moskva : Obshchestvo sokhranenii︠a︡ literaturnogo nasledii︠a︡. ISBN 9785902484721. LCCN 2016454013.
- Collier 1976, p. 133–6.
- McGovern 1964, p. 104.
- Ordway & Sharpe 1979, p. 314.
- Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1 (in French). Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- Bibliography
- Bowman, Martin W (1999-07-15). Mosquito Photo-Reconnaissance Units of World War 2. ISBN 9781855328914 – via Google Books.
- Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. ISBN 978-0-7057-0070-2.
- Cooksley, Peter G (1979). Flying Bomb. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- Gruen, Adam L (1998). "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). Archived from the original on 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- McGovern, James (1964). Crossbow and Overcast. New York: W. Morrow – via archive.org.
- Middlebrook, Martin (1982). The Peenemünde Raid: The Night of 17–18 August 1943. New York: Bobs-Merrill.
- Ordway, Frederick I, III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team. Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 57, 114, 117, 174b–e, 251, 258d. ISBN 978-1-894959-00-1. Archived from the original (index) on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
- Jones, R. V. (1978). Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-89746-1.
- "Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the USAAF". Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- Zaloga, Steven J. (2008) [2007]. German V-Weapon Sites 1943-45. Fortress 72. New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84603-247-9.