"instead, they contained old rusty truck and tank parts, which had probably been substituted by Soviet agents. V-2 missile launch site, Blizna The V-2 missile launch site, Blizna was the site of a World War II German V-2 missile firing range. Today there is a small museum located in the ""Park Historyczny Blizna"" (Historical Park) in Blizna, Poland. After the RAF strategic bombing of the V-2 rocket launch site in Peenemünde, Germany, in August 1943, some of the test and launch facilities were relocated to Blizna in November 1943. The first of 139 V-2 launches was carried out from the"
"German strategic command decided to divide the work on the V-2 rocket among three independently operating centres. Assembly plants were transferred to underground factories that had been built in a massive hollow cave complex in the Harz mountains in Germany. The research, development, and design (codenamed ""Project Cement"") were handled by secret offices in Ebensee, near the banks of Lake Traunsee in Austria. The main rocket testing, training, and launch site was transferred to Blizna in southeast Poland, outside of the range of Allied bombers. An SS military base near Blizna was set up on 5 November 1943, from which"
"R-1 (missile) The R-1 rocket (NATO reporting name SS-1 Scunner, Soviet code name SA11, GRAU index 8A11) was a Tactical ballistic missile manufactured in the Soviet Union based on the German V-2 rocket. Even though it was a copy, it was manufactured using Soviet industrial plants and gave the Soviets valuable experience which later enabled the USSR to construct its own much more capable rockets. In 1945 the Soviets captured several key V-2 rocket production facilities, and also gained the services, at gun point, of some German scientists and engineers related to the project. In particular the Soviets gained control"
"V-1 flying bomb facilities In order to carry out the planned V-1 ""flying bomb"" attacks on the United Kingdom, Germany built a number of military installations including launching sites and depots. Some of the installations were huge concrete fortifications. The Allies became aware of the sites at an early stage and carried out numerous bombing raids to destroy them before they came into use. The unpiloted aircraft was assembled at the KdF-Stadt ""Volkswagenwerke"" (described as ""the largest pressed-steel works in Germany"") near Fallersleben, at Cham/Bruns Werke, and at the Mittelwerk. underground factory in central Germany. Production plants to modify several"
"bureau participated in the design of the R-14 and R-1 rocket, a version of the V-2 manufactured with Russian parts. Gorodomlya Island Gorodomlya Island () is located on Lake Seliger in Tver Oblast, Russia, northwest of Moscow. The closed urban-type settlement of Solnechny is located on the island. The Soviet government established a biological research center at Gorodomlya Island in 1928. During the 1930s the island was a test site for pathogens that cause foot-and-mouth disease. In 1946, more than 170 German rocket scientists and engineers, including Helmut Gröttrup and Fritz Karl Preikschat, were brought to the island to work"
"and R-1E. These carried dogs, and experiments to analyze the upper atmosphere, measure cosmic rays and take far-UV spectra of the Sun. The R-1's insulated electrical wiring attracted vermin. In one January 1953 incident, thousands of flood-displaced mice disabled many rockets by eating the insulation, requiring ""hundreds of cats and repairmen"". R-1 (missile) The R-1 rocket (NATO reporting name SS-1 Scunner, Soviet code name SA11, GRAU index 8A11) was a Tactical ballistic missile manufactured in the Soviet Union based on the German V-2 rocket. Even though it was a copy, it was manufactured using Soviet industrial plants and gave the"
"had known of the existence of a new German secret weapon since 22 August 1942 when a Danish naval officer discovered an early test version of the V-1 that had crashed on the island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea between Germany and Sweden, roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of the V-1 test launch ramp at the Peenemünde Army Research Center, on Germany's Usedom Island. A photograph and a detailed sketch of the V-1 test unit, the Fieseler Fi 103 V83 (""Versuchs""-83, the eighty-third prototype airframe) was sent to Britain. This led to months of intelligence-gathering and intelligence-sifting which"
"at Peenemünde Army Research Center by the Nazi German ""Luftwaffe"" during the Second World War. During initial development it was known by the codename ""Cherry Stone"". The first of the so-called ""Vergeltungswaffen"" series designed for terror bombing of London, the V-1 was fired from launch facilities along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts. The first V-1 was launched at London on 13 June 1944), one week after (and prompted by) the successful Allied landings in Europe. At its peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were"
"Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ""Amt"" (municipal confederation) of Usedom-Nord. The community is known for the Peenemünde Army Research Center, where the world's first functional large-scale liquid-propellant rocket, the V-2, was developed. The village with its seaport is located on the westernmost extremity of a long sand-spit, where the Peene empties into the Baltic Sea, in the northwestern part of Usedom Island. To the southeast it borders on the sea resort of Karlshagen. Peenemünde harbour can be reached by"
"later moved more than 170 of the top captured German rocket specialists to Gorodomlya Island on Lake Seliger, about northwest of Moscow. They were not allowed to participate in final Soviet missile design, but were used as problem-solving consultants to the Soviet engineers. They helped in the following areas: the creation of a Soviet version of the A-4; work on ""organizational schemes""; research in improving the A-4 main engine; development of a 100-ton engine; assistance in the ""layout"" of plant production rooms; and preparation of rocket assembly using German components. With their help, particularly Helmut Gröttrup's group, Korolev reverse-engineered the"
"rocket tests were forbidden by the new Nazi regime. Only military development was allowed, and to this end, a larger facility was erected at the village of Peenemünde in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea. Dornberger became the military commander at Peenemünde, with von Braun as technical director. In collaboration with the Luftwaffe, the Peenemünde group developed liquid-fuel rocket engines for aircraft and jet-assisted takeoffs. They also developed the long-range A-4 ballistic missile and the supersonic Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile. On December 22, 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the production of the A-4 as a ""vengeance weapon"", and the Peenemünde group developed"
"SS. On 11 April 1945, US troops freed the remaining prisoners. Around one in three of the roughly 60,000 prisoners who were sent to Mittelbau did not survive. Today, the site hosts a memorial and museum. In early summer 1943, mass production of the A4 (later better known as V-2, V standing for ""Vergeltung"" or retribution) ballistic rocket started at the ""Heeresanstalt Peenemunde"" on the Baltic island of Usedom as well as at the Raxwerke in Wiener Neustadt, Austria and at the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. On 18 August 1943, a bombing raid by the Royal Air"
"the V1 because it was constructed from a Ju 290 airframe (using the fuselage of Ju 290 A-1 Werknummer J900155). The maritime reconnaissance and long-range bomber versions were to be called the Ju 390 B and Ju 390 C, respectively. The V1 was constructed and largely assembled at Junkers' plant at Dessau in Germany and the first test flight took place on 20 October 1943. This was done by adding an additional wing section and powerplants and adding a fuselage section immediately aft of the wings to increase the length to 31 m (102 ft). Its performance was satisfactory enough"
"establishment was set up in April 1946 under the Ministry of Supply. In the initial years a team of German scientists worked at the site, and examples of German weapons were on-site for study. These included the V-1 flying bomb; V-2; Feuerlilie F-55 subsonic missile; Messerschmitt Me 163B rocket-propelled interceptor; Rheintochter-1 anti-aircraft missile; Ruhrstahl X-4 air-to-air wire-controlled missile; Enzian E-1 3,150-lb missile; Henschel Hs 298 anti-aircraft missile; Hs 293 anti-shipping weapon; and Schmetterling and Wasserfall anti-aircraft missiles. Until the mid 1990s, Westcott undertook the design and development of rocket motors, and was responsible for most of the rocket motors used"
"probably launched from a Heinkel He 111) crashed on Bornholm during a test – the warhead was a dummy made of concrete. This was photographed or sketched by the Danish Naval Officer-in-Charge on Bornholm, Lieutenant Commander Hasager Christiansen. This was the first sign British Intelligence saw of Germany's aspirations to develop flying bombs and rockets which were to become known as V-1 and V-2. Bornholm was heavily bombarded by the Soviet Air Force in May 1945 as it was a part of the Eastern Front. The German garrison commander, German Navy Captain Gerhard von Kamptz (1902–1998), refused to surrender to"
"Allrich in the Harz. In addition to the storage and launching sites listed below, operational facilities included the airfields for Heinkel He 111 H-22 bombers which air-launched the V-1 from low altitude over the North Sea. The ten-day-long aircrew training was at Peenemünde, and the bases were in Gilze Rijen, Holland for launches through 15 September 1944, and in Venlo for launches after the 1st week in December. Aircrews were billeted five miles away at Grossenkneten for secrecy. To supply the V-1 flying bomb launch sites in the Calais region, construction began on several storage depots in August 1943. Sites"
"The guns would not be movable and would be permanently aimed at London. A suitable site was selected at a limestone hill about north of the Hidrequent quarries, near Mimoyecques in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France behind Cap Gris Nez, very close to the French end of the present day Channel tunnel, where V-1 and V-2 launch sites were already under construction. The site was from the sea and from London. It was code-named ""Wiese"" (meadow) and ""Bauvorhaben 711"" (Construction Project 711), and Organisation Todt began construction in September 1943 with the building of railway lines to support the"
"resort for Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund tourism. Zinnowitz is one of a couple of possible sites for the mythological sunken medieval city of Vineta. The legend is played out during the summer on the resort's open-air stage. In the forest between Zinnowitz and Zempin, some remnants of the launching pads for testing V1 missiles can still be found. They were used between 1943 and 1945 as part of the nearby Peenemünde rocket testing facilities. Zinnowitz Zinnowitz is a spa town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the northern German island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. The town has rail connections to Wolgast and"
"V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( ""Vengeance Weapon 1"")—also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug, and in Germany as Kirschkern (cherrystone) or Maikäfer (maybug)—was an early cruise missile and the only production aircraft to use a pulsejet for power. The V-1 was the first of the so-called ""Vengeance weapons"" (V-weapons or ""Vergeltungswaffen"") series designed for terror bombing of London. It was developed at Peenemünde Army Research Center in 1939 by the Nazi German ""Luftwaffe"" during the Second World War. During initial development it was known by the codename ""Cherry Stone"". Because of its limited"
"Aggregat (rocket family) The Aggregat series (German for ""Aggregate') was a set of ballistic missile designs developed in 1933–45 by a research program of Nazi Germany's army (Wehrmacht). Its greatest success was the A4, more commonly known as the V-2. The A1 was the first rocket design in the Aggregat series. It was designed in 1933 by Wernher von Braun in a German armed forces research program at Kummersdorf headed by Walter Dornberger. The A1 was the grandfather of most modern rockets. The rocket was long, in diameter, and had a takeoff weight of . The engine, designed by Arthur"
"V-2 rocket facilities of World War II V-2 rocket facilities were military installations associated with Nazi Germany's V-2 SRBM ballistic missile, including bunkers and small launch pads which were never operationally used. V-2 research was conducted at the Peenemünde Army Research Center with most Peenemünde test launches conducted from Test Stand VII. After having moved the launch training facility named ""Heimat-Artillerie-Park 11 Karlshagen/Pomerania"" from Köslin near Peenemünde, the Training and Testing Battery 444 () conducted ""live warhead trials"" from the Heidelager military area near Blizna, Poland, into the target area at the Pripet Marshes to the northeast. With the advances"
"by liquid oxygen and alcohol. Aggregat (rocket family) The Aggregat series (German for ""Aggregate') was a set of ballistic missile designs developed in 1933–45 by a research program of Nazi Germany's army (Wehrmacht). Its greatest success was the A4, more commonly known as the V-2. The A1 was the first rocket design in the Aggregat series. It was designed in 1933 by Wernher von Braun in a German armed forces research program at Kummersdorf headed by Walter Dornberger. The A1 was the grandfather of most modern rockets. The rocket was long, in diameter, and had a takeoff weight of ."
"leader of Nazi Germany's V-2 rocket program. Wernher von Braun, creator of the V-2, the central figure in Germany's pre-war rocket development program, and post-war director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, worked at the Blizna test site and personally visited the test missile impact areas to troubleshoot any problems discovered during trials. British Intelligence were very keen to obtain information about the new V-2 missile site. The first reports came in October 1943 from the Polish underground Home Army () Intelligence HQ in Warsaw, stating that a number of villages around Dębica were being forcibly evacuated. This area was"
"for that purpose in the suburbs of Moscow. Korolev's team oversaw 170+ German specialists - including Helmut Gröttrup and Fritz Karl Preikschat - in Branch 1 of NII-88 on Gorodomlya Island in Lake Seliger some from Moscow. Their facility was surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards with watch-dogs, although Boris Chertok, chief designer of guidance and control systems, notes in his book ""Rockets and People"", All structures on Gorodomlya island were renovated and living conditions were quite decent for those times. At least married specialists received separate two- or three-room apartments. Visiting the island, I could only envy them,"
"that US MA (military attaché) in Moscow had been told by 'key Swedish Air Officer' that radar course-plotting had led to conclusion that Peenemünde was the launch site. CIG speculates that the missiles are extended-range developments of V-1 being aimed for the Gulf of Bothnia for test purposes and do not overfly Swedish territory specifically for intimidation; self-destruct by small demolition charge or burning"". Nevertheless, there are no reports of rocket launches at Peenemünde or the Greifswalder Oie after February 21, 1945 (See also: List of V-2 test launches). Although the official opinion of the Swedish and U.S. military remains"
"Tarnewitz test site The Tarnewitz test site () was a Luftwaffe weapons testing facility and airfield in Nazi Germany, built on an artificial peninsula at Boltenhagen on the coast of the Baltic Sea, as one of the four ""Erprobungsstellen"" stations of the system of Luftwaffe test establishments headquartered at Rechlin. Construction of the Tarnewitz site commenced in September 1935; on completion the whole peninsula, about 1 kilometre across, was surfaced with asphalt. It was used throughout the Second World War for testing armaments such as machine guns, autocannon and rockets, and their installation on aircraft. Firing was conducted over the"
"the location of the secret Nazi V-2 missile launch site, which was built and staffed by prisoners from the concentration camp at Pustków. The Nazis originally planned to erect a large SStraining camp near Pustków with barracks, warehouses, and buildings for the intelligence services. The facility was built by order of ""Reichsführer-SS"" Heinrich Himmler under provision OKW No. 3032 of 21 December 1939, which allowed for construction of an SS military training centre in the area eastward of Dębica in Generalgouvernement Polen. The training site was to be built as a barrack camp with four ring roads (called: ""Lager Flandern"")."
"under 250 engineers. The first Soviet missile was the R-1, a duplicate of the V-2. Most of the German team was sent home after that project but some remained to do research until as late as 1951. Unknown to the Germans, work immediately began on larger missiles, the R-2 and R-5, based on extension of the V-2 technology. In the autumn of 1945, the group led by M. Tikhonravov K. and N. G. Chernyshov at NII-4 rocket artillery institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences developed on their own initiative the first stratospheric rocket project. BP-190 called for vertical flight"
"Wrocław was known before 1945). Breslau was traditionally a centre for railway production and L-H-V was traditionally a manufacturer of railway locomotives and rolling stock, but during the war its sophisticated engineering capabilities were also being adapted to produce components and sub-assemblies for the rocket, which government propaganda was by now identifying as the ""Vergeltungswaffe 2"" (""""Retribution weapon 2"""" / V-2). As the continuing bombing raids at the Peenemünde Army Research Center had their effect through 1943 and 1944, the L-H-V plant became the assembly location for the V-2 rockets. In 1 April 1944, at the request of the L-H-V"
"Japanese merchant ship in the Russell Islands at the end of July followed by expenditure of 46 drones in the northern Solomon Islands. Two hits and two near-misses were scored on the stationary ship. Several of the later drones failed to reach their targets, but most were effective. The V-1 flying bomb was the first cruise missile ever built. It was built in the Peenemünde Army Research Center and first tested in 1942. The V-1 was intended to target London and was massively fired, achieving more than one hundred launches a day. The V-1 was launched from a rail system"
"and development of rockets in late 1945. Impressed by his work in Germany on the analysis of the V-2, Ustinov appointed Sergey Korolev chief designer of section 3 on long-range missiles, later called OKB-1. In 1956, OKB-1 was removed from NII-88 to become an independent bureau. Helmut Gröttrup headed a group of German scientists working for the Soviets at Branch 1 of NII-88 located on Gorodomlya Island. Their job was to help reconstruct a Russian Version of the V-2, called the R-1, after which they were returned to Germany. The facility was also spied on by American U-2 spy planes"
"vast majority aimed at London; 2,515 reached the city, killing 6,184 civilians and injuring 17,981. Croydon to the south, on the flight path of the V1s suffered severely taking 142 hits. V-2 rocket launching sites were set up by the Germans around The Hague in the Netherlands on 6 September 1944. The first was launched from here against London on 8 September 1944 and took an estimated 5 minutes to fly the 200 miles from the Hague to London where it struck at 6.43pm on 8 September on Chiswick causing thirteen casualties. As the V2 explosions came without warning, the"
"research test range near Blizna, in southeastern Poland. Carefully camouflaged, this secret facility was built by 2000 prisoners from the Pustkow concentration camp. The Polish resistance movement (""Armia Krajowa"") succeeded in capturing an intact V2 rocket here in 1943. It had been launched but didn't explode and was later retrieved intact from the Bug River and transferred secretly to London. The last V-2 launch at Peenemünde happened in February 1945, and on May 5, 1945, the soldiers of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front under General Konstantin Rokossovsky captured the seaport of Swinemünde and all of Usedom Island. Soviet infantrymen under"