The Underground War Against the V-1 and V-2s

Introduction:

The Nazi propaganda in the closing year of the Second World War, attempted to convince both German civilians and the High Command that the ‘wonder weapons’ (Wunderwaffen) would save the Reich. Research by the Nazi scientists into rockets and pilotless ‘flying bombs’ had been conducted in the 1930s. Rockets fell under the command of the German Army and the flying bomb under the Luftwaffe with both projects being funded by the German Weapons Office. Pilotless flying bombs had been experimental with the US air force in 1918, and research cancelled in 1925 due to the cost (Garlinski, 1978) and probably the engineering knowledge base. By 1942, Air Field-Marshall Erhard Milch was convinced the prototype built by the Gerhard Fiesler aircraft factory in Kassel was the future Luftwaffe weapon. Mounted on the fuselage of the flying bomb had a pulse-jet engine designed by Dr Paul Schmidt (Garlinski, 1978). Operational use was some time off since the experimental weapon was erratic in its directional and flying capability.

A mysterious letter was delivered to the British naval attaché in Oslo in November 1939 and passed onto Dr Reginald Jones, a physicist who specialised in ballistics and interested in astronomy. While the warning gave some excitement in the intelligence services and scientists, the likelihood of such weapons was disbelieved and the letter regarded as fake. The Oslo Report as it became known was filed away. The experiments at Peenemünde were thought to be based on early radar being developed by the Germans (Arct, 1972; Garlinski, 1978).

In the spring of 1942, the British started heavy air-raids on German cities like Lübeck in response to the bombing of Britain. Hitler had declared war on the USA on 11th December 1941, and the war was now taking a different direction. Hitler wanted revenge on the air-raids and ordered the increase in production of rockets which were still very much in the experimental stages. Hitler signed the order for mass production of rockets on 22nd December 1942. Antoni Kocjan had been released from Auschwitz for reasons unknown (Garlinski, 1978). He returned to Warsaw and immersed himself in clandestine work for the AK specialising in German air production. Pre-war he had been a champion glider pilot and designer whose analysis of V weapon plans was crucial in defeating the Nazis.

Volunteers were branded as traitors, however the recruitment for labourers in Germany was a convenient method of infiltrating the Nazi war apparatus (Kochanski, 2012). The AK had an extensive network of agents and operations across the World, particularly the occupied countries by the Germans (see https://polandinexile.com/article/continental-action/). Through this network Kocjan was later able to identify Peenemünde as a testing site and the workings of the V-1 and 2 rockets.

A breakthrough came on 13th June 1940 when a Wasserfall rocket (Ferngelenkte Flakrakete) misfired and crashed into Sweden near Malmö. This rocket was the first surface to air missile (SAM) and whose development was never completed. The Swedes contacted Britain’s MI6 who negotiated a retrieval of parts in exchange for two squadrons of tanks.

Polish Operations against the V Weapons:

Historically in books and films published before the 1970s, the discovery of German rockets was accredited to Constance Babington-Smith, in the RAF’s Photographic Analysis Section, based at Danesfield House in Medmenham, Buckinghamshire (Ciechanowski, 2005). It was the publication of Garlinski’s book in 1979 that the truth emerged that it was Polish undercover agents working in Peenemünde who the real instigators. As Ciechanowski points out, few Polish intelligence officers wrote their memoirs, and it was only when Mieczysław Słowikowski (Rygor) published his contribution to the war effort that changes in English military history should have taken place. His role and contribution were outstanding in operations in Portugal, Spain and North Africa where his network spread into eastern and central Europe (See https://polandinexile.com/article/polish-intelligence-operations-in-portugal-spain/ ; https://polandinexile.com/article/poles-feluccas-gibralter-soe/and https://polandinexile.com/article/continental-action/)

The information on Peenemünde was collected by an engineer Jan Szreder (Furman) and an NCO in the Wehrmacht, Roman Träger (T-2). Szreder had volunteered through the Todt organisation as a labourer who acted as a porter transporting food to the area and was based in Swinoujście just down the coast (Garlinski, 1978; Ciechanowski, 2005; Wnuk, 2005). Despite tight security, he could only reach the village of Zinnowitz and noted the deliveries of equipment and eavesdropped on conversations about flying bombs. Träger was of Austrian descent who lived in Bydgoszcz and trained with the Wehrmacht as a signaller. He was sent to Peenemünde to install communications equipment and had access to Usedom and Karlshagen. He observed the launch pads and flights of the prototypes and informed his father of his observations. His father, Augustyn Träger (Tragarz, Sęc, T-1) revealed he worked for the AK intelligence, and both decided to share their information. Although the information was communicated to Warsaw and London, it was the courier Władysława Macieszyna (Sława) who carried the Kocjan’s full report with sketch maps from Warsaw to Vienna and managed to deliver them in early April 1943. She was arrested the following day by the Gestapo and severely tortured. The report was hidden in the handle of a briefcase which travelled to Switzerland where diplomates of the Allies and security services analysed and cross referenced the details with other sources, namely from French and Belgians labourers with reports from Luxembourgoise working in Peenemünde (Garlinski, 1978).

V-1 (Flying Bomb/ Doodlebug/ Buzz Bomb)

Source: Bałuk (1995)

V-2 (Intercontinental Rocket)

Source: Bałuk (1995)

The Bałtyk cell of the Lombard Offensive Intelligence Network of the AK continued to collate information on Peenemünde, the Island of Uznam and the various camps housing labourers, concentration camp inmates and the movement of river barges (Wnuk, 2005). Some 8,000 people were employed on the site which included an experimental airfield and a construction site with research facilities for the flying bomb which could fly at 800km/h in seconds.

Reconnaissance flights were ordered for the 22nd of April 1943 and again on the 14th of May; 21st and 23rd June 1943 which confirmed the existence of the V-1 and V-2 weapons with a detailed report by Col. Sandys sent to Churchill on 27th June 1943 (Wnuk, 2005). The threat to Britain’s security was enormous. On the night of the 17/18th August 1943, 597 RAF bombers (Wnuk, 2005) in Operation HYDRA (part of Operation CROSSBOW) attempted to destroy the facilities and personnel at Peenemünde. A diversionary bombing of Berlin occupied the Luftwaffe night fighters that enabled the fleet to a lower-level attack (7-9,000. Ft) for accuracy. Pathfinders marked the targets and German sentries looked up at hundreds of red lights floating towards the ground (Garlinski, 1978). There was substantial damage, but some remained intact due to the pathfinder’s lights had drifted south leaving the western area hosting the V-1 site untouched (Garlinski, 1978). Several bombs fell on the foreign workers camp and the German Women’s Auxiliary Service manning the AA defence was in error and destroyed the facilities. Stray bombs had also hit the concentration camp.

Mission 481 of the USAAF took place on 18th July 1944 with 377 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by 297 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs again bombed Peenemünde and the scientific centre at Zinnowitz including the destruction of marshalling yards at Stralsund. The experimental Test Stand VII was damaged halting further launches for six weeks. The calibration works at Werke Süd was also obliterated.

On 4th August 1944, Mission 512 by the USAAF 398th Bomb Group targeted Peenemünde, Anklam airfield and aircraft works. The fleet consisted of 221 B-17s with an escort of 223 P-51 Mustangs. Buildings and hangers were destroyed with possibly over 400 aircraft destroyed on the ground and the hydrogen peroxide propellent plant destroyed.

On 25th August 1944 USAAF Eighth Air Force Mission 570 set off and returned to Peenemünde. Their target was the Anklam, Parow and Neubrandenburg Airfields. 376 B-17s escorted by 171 P-47’s and P-51s causing extensive damage to buildings and loss of aircraft on the ground. The description of the raids in Garlinski’s book is graphic and worth reading up. Anklam airfield and works assembled components for the Blohm & Voss Bv 141 by Arado Flugzeugwerke. The plane was an unusual tactical reconnaissance plane. Neubrandenburg Airfield and works focussed on the maintenance and repair of damaged Luftwaffe planes whereas Parow was a training and operational base for Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe’s (Harrier), a twin engined multi-role aircraft.

The production of V-2 rockets moved to Dora Mittelbau in the Harz Mountains near Nordhausen (Wnuk, 2005). It was an underground facility at the centre of several concentration and forced labour camps housing 60,000 people where over 20,000 perished by the end of the war. In September 1943 a group of Peenemünde scientists had been moved to a wooded area of Blizna, S.E of Mielec in the district of Gmina Ostrów, Poland and out of the reach of the Allied bombers. The base was called Heidelager Blizna (Frieda) and came to the attention of the local AK H.Q when local foresters reported a large camp being constructed there (Arct, 1972; Wnuk, 2005). On 5th November 1943 test firings took place. An AK officer ‘Jur’ based in Rzeszów reported on 11th December 1943 that liquid oxygen was being used in the propulsion system (Wnuk, 2005). Reports of explosions and mis-firings occurred with the AK recording each testing from November 1943 that included timing, distances and direction. Reports also came from agent ‘Dora’ from inside the works. A gyrocompass from a V-2 rocket crash landed in the village of Klimczyce N.W of Sarnaki in the Łosice County of eastern Poland. Some liquid was also collected from the wreckage which was inspected by Professor Marceli Struszuński of the Warsaw Polytechnic. It turned out to be 80% hydrogen peroxide which was a surprise for the Allied scientists (Bałuk, 1995; Wnuk, 2005). Scientists in the AK and the Allies were interested in not just parts, but the complete rocket. On 20th May 1944 a complete rocket fell into the marsh adjacent to the river Bug at Mężenin near Klimczyce (Davies, 2003). A platoon of the 8th Company of the AK’s 22nd Regiment led by Tadeusz Jakubski (Czarny) retrieved vital parts of the projectile over several days and hid them in a barn 8km away in Hołowczyce ‘under the nose’ of the Germans who were still searching for it.

V-2 Test Flight Paths

Source: Bałuk (1995)

A few days later, experts from Warsaw arrived which included Antoni Kocjan and Stefa Waciórski. Their analysis of the parts concluded the engine was propelled by a liquid fuel with an oxidizer and the steering was through a servomechanism guided by a gyrocompass or radio (Wnuk, 2005). Graphite steering surfaces were placed within the exhaust gases to alter flight characteristics. The British were keen to know of the radio set inside the rocket were directed to its target and could be altered (Wnuk, 2005). Professor Janusz Groszkowski’s analysis of the rocket indicated the radio send data on the flightpath and adjusted steering only in the first few kilometres. The analysis was reported to London on 12th June 1944 with descriptions of individual parts on 3rd July 1944 (Arct, 1972; Wnuk, 2005). On 8th July 1944 it was decided to run a pickup operation to southern Poland and retrieve key parts. Operation WILDHORN III (MOSTY or Bridges) took place on 25th-26th July 1944 (See https://polandinexile.com/article/operation-wildhorn-mosty-or-bridges/) with the passengers and contents arriving in Bari, Italy on 26th July 1944. The V-2 parts arrived in London on 28th July 1944, and these were added to when a rocket landed in Sweden. The first V-2 attack on London was on 8th September 1944 (Wnuk, 2005).

Continental Action – Akcja Kontynentalna

Operations in France by Polish Special Forces (Cichociemni) were extensive in the run-up to D-Day on 6th June 1944. Their role is often overlooked in contemporary history that often focusses on the role of the French Resistance and support from SOE, the use of Jedburghs and the units of the SAS. (The full extent of this operation can be found at https://polandinexile.com/article/continental-action/)

Intelligence gathering for the imminent invasion of France was led by Capt. Tadeusz Władysław Ważny (Tygrys, Władysław Rozmus) who was parachuted into France on 5th March 1944 by 161 Squadron (Operation DARENTH) and trained as a Cichociemni (Lorys, 1993). His operational area was Armentières-Bruay-Arras-Cambrai area (Pepłoński, 2005; Rowiński, 2016) particularly searching for V-1 and V-2 sites as part of ‘Monika W’ cell (Pepłoński, 2005). This group were later accredited with destroying two launch ramps for V-1’s in the Douai area. Altogether, his team which included Capt. Mieczsław Golon (Michel) identified 59 launch sites and the construction site for a V-3 artillery cannon in the Mimoyecques area in northern France. They also reported on troop distribution and movements, coastal defences, and location of unit HQs with sketches and diagrams to assist intelligence analysis and bombing missions (Pepłoński, 2005). Capt. Golon was later killed while resisting arrest by the Gestapo. Arrested at the same time was Stanisław Łukowiak who liaised with the French Resistance and was a local tailor who was deported to Sandbostel and died there. He was the father-in-law of Mieczsław Golon. Their bravery and actions saved thousands of lives in southern Britain.

303 Squadron’s Role:

The Polish Squadron 303 is renowned for its role in the Battle of Britain. After D-Day they were flying RAMROD missions over France from RAF Manston before their transfer to RAF Coltishall in mid-September 1944. They had provided fighter cover during the ill-fated Operation MARKET GARDEN and followed up by RAMROD, BIG BEN and RANGER Operations (see – https://polandinexile.com/article/zenon-krzeptowski/).

On 5th October 1944 (D + 121) The Operations Log Book showed P.O Zenon Krzeptowski led the first (Yellow) Section off on a Big Ben patrol on the Dutch Coast. Flying in MA844 with Sgt. J. Knicik accompanying him, they left RAF Coltishall in Norfolk at 07.40. While over Rotterdam he reported a white cone shape in the sky at 40,000ft S.E to the city. The logbook shows Yellow Section Leader, Z. Krzeptowski reporting the incident at 11.33 while flying at 23,000ft N.W of The Hague then the V-2 disappeared after 20 seconds. An unidentified aircraft was seen circulating over the Walcheren Islands at 30,000ft. The Yellow Section landed safely without further incident and was back at base by 09.45. Yellow section made another ‘sortie’ at 10.50, this time Zenon was accompanied by Sgt. L. Bisanz (in BS463) and returned without incident at 12.45. Weather had been 2/10 cumulus base 3,000ft with top at 10,000ft with good visibility. He was the first person to see a V-2 in flight.

The BIG BEN patrols by 303 Squadron were one of suppression of V-2 launches. Other RAF squadrons (602, 603, 124 and 224) were tasked with destruction of launch sites and aerial launches of the V-1. The V-2 launch sites were often located to high-risk civilian centres such as schools and hospitals leaving the squadrons to look helplessly on. The switch to night launches meant only 36% of launches were during the day (Cabell and Thomas, 2004). 1,115 rockets hit Britain with 2,511 killed and 5,869 wounded with much destruction of property (Cabell and Thomas, 2004). Bradley’s armies had pushed further south into the designated Soviet Occupation Zone agreed at Yalta to ‘retrieve’ or plunder the abandoned equipment and missiles in Nordhausen, leaving some parts for the Soviets. The US army were pressured to leave the Harz mountains and hand over what remained to the Soviets (Garlinski, 1978). In late June 1945, 1,000 people boarded the last train out of Nordhausen for Witzenhausen in the US Zone that included 500 scientists accompanied by Von Braun at their head (Garlinski, 1978).

Postscript:

The legacy of the V weapons programme was one of wasted resources and money. The sheer human misery and death toll amongst the slave labourers cannot be overlooked or forgotten (IWM, ND). More people were killed in the production of the V weapons than their intended targets and had design and operational flaws despite the V-2 being a technological breakthrough (Stanley II, 2010).

Wnuk (2005) reiterated the role of the AK in the war against V-1 and V-2s. Not only had they provided detailed analysis on Peenemünde, Dora Mittelbau and Heidelager Blizna, but also parts and technical analysis of the rockets. The daring Operations WILDHORN III enabled the Allies to assemble and re-engineer the V-2 to seek out its weaknesses. Operations on the ground, like DARENTH were able to pin-point locations and direct the bombing of the sites that saved countless lives in southern Britain. AK intelligence highlighted the vast underground factory at Dora Mittelbau as a potential threat to the Allies and Great Britain since the site was on a massive scale (Wnuk, 2005).

When we look up to the night sky or observe the details of the current space programmes, a thought and reflection on those killed by the Nazis and what lives they could have had, should never be forgotten.

Selected References:

Arct, B. (1972) “Poles Against the V Weapons“, Interpress Publishers, Poland.

Bałuk, S. (1995) “Poles on the Fronts of World War II”, ARS Print Production, Poland.

Ciechanowski, J.S (2005) “Literature on the Activities of the Polish Intelligence in World War II”, in Sterling, T; Nałecz, D and Dubicki, T (Eds) “The Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee Vol.1”, Valentine Mitchel, UK, Ch 5.

Davies, N. (2003) “Rising ’44:  The Battle for Warsaw”, Macmillan, UK.

Garlinski, J. (1978) “Hitler’s Last Weapons:  The Underground War Against the V1 and V2”, Julian Friedman Publishers, UK.

Kochanski, H. (2012) “The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War”, Allan Lane, UK.

Pepłoński, A. (2005) “The Operation of the Intelligence Services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MSW) and of the Ministry of national Defence (MON), in Sterling, T; Nałecz, D and Dubicki, T (Eds) “The Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee Vol.1”, Valentine Mitchel, UK, Ch11.

Stanley II, R.M. (2010) “V Weapons Hunt: Defeating German Secret Weapons”, Pen & Sword Books, UK.

Wnuk, R. (2005) “Polish Intelligence and the German ‘Secret Weapons’: V1 and V2”, in Sterling, T; Nałecz, D and Dubicki, T (Eds) “The Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee Vol.1”, Valentine Mitchel, UK, Ch 48.

Additional References:

Cabell, C. and Thomas, G.A (2004) Operation BIG BEN: The Anti-V2 Spitfire Missions 1944-45”, Spellmount Ltd, UK.

Selected Websites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73-48ZrHls -Wasserfall SAM

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-the-v2-rocket-was-a-big-mistake

Selected Films:

“Operation Crossbow” (1965) Directed by Michael Anderson with Sophia Loren,George Peppard, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Richard Johnson and Tom Courtney.

“Mosquito Squadron” (1969) Directed by Boris Sagal with David McCallum, Suzanne Neve and Charles Grey.

Selected YouTube Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yTWD8TzjXqM – The human tragedy behind the V-2 rocket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au7yzMAgXks – V-2 rocket launch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ej1PKdt2C4 – Bemannte V1, Filmausschnitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lpt5II6WxY – V2 Rocket: Nazi Germany’s Deadliest Secret Weapon

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0DvBB-D9zj8 – V-2 launch fail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YFU4KaJSSc – original footage of V-2 development tests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEa_0cEXQow – British Pathé

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWrI6UInFsI – V-1 ‘Buzz Bomb’