Questions about V-1 flying bomb
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What was the V-1 flying bomb and how did it work?
The V-1 flying bomb, officially designated the Fieseler Fi 103, was an early cruise missile powered by an Argus pulse-jet engine that pulsed 50 times per second. A simple autopilot regulated altitude and airspeed using gyroscopes and a barometric device, while an odometer on the nose counted down the distance to the target; when it reached zero, the V-1 was tipped into a steep dive, cutting the engine and causing it to fall silently before impact.
When were V-1 flying bombs first used against London?
The first V-1s were launched against London on the 13th of June 1944, one week after the Allied landings in France on D-Day. None of the nine missiles launched on the 12th of June reached England; four did so on the 13th, and a larger attack on the night of the 15th and the 16th of June sent 144 missiles to England, of which 73 struck London.
How many V-1 flying bombs were fired at England during World War II?
A total of 10,492 V-1s were launched against Britain. Of these, 9,521 were fired from ground sites along the French and Dutch coasts, and approximately 1,176 were air-launched from modified Heinkel He 111 aircraft over the North Sea between July 1944 and January 1945. Some 2,419 V-1s reached the London civil defence region.
How did British defences defeat the V-1 flying bomb threat?
British defences combined fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and barrage balloons in a layered system called Operation Diver. The proximity fuse, together with centimetric gun-laying radar based on the cavity magnetron, was the decisive technological development: by late August 1944, anti-aircraft guns were destroying 74 per cent of V-1s entering the coastal gun belt, and on one day 82 per cent were shot down. General Frederick Pile credited the proximity fuse, supplied by American scientists, as the final answer to the flying bomb.
How did double agents deceive the Germans about V-1 accuracy?
All German agents in Britain had been turned and were operating under British control. Double agent Garbo, Juan Pujol, was directed to report V-1 impacts accurately in terms of damage but to skew reported strike locations toward north-west London, giving the impression the missiles were overshooting. Oberst Max Wachtel, comparing these reports with radio telemetry data that showed the V-1s were falling short, concluded the transmitters were faulty rather than the agents untrustworthy; it was later estimated that correct adjustments would have increased casualties by 50 per cent or more.
What was the piloted version of the V-1 flying bomb called?
The piloted variant was called the Reichenberg, built in three versions for training, powered flight practice, and operational use. Possibly 175 were converted at Darmesbury after initial development by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Segelflug at Ainring. Test pilot Hanna Reitsch flew the Reichenberg after earlier pilots died trying to land it, identified its extremely high stall speed as the cause, and received the Iron Cross First Class for her findings. Hitler subsequently banned combat use of the type, and most converted aircraft were scrapped.