V-1 and V-2 Intelligence
Military intelligence on the V-1 and V-2 weapons[1]:437 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]:113 agents & informants | V-1: 16 batteries of 220 men[3] |
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]:74 for which Denmark, Poland, 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
PR — aerial photographic reconnaissance
Date | Location/Topic | Event |
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1939-11-02 | Oslo Report | ![]() |
1941 | Peenemünde | German scientist/editor Paul Rosbaud and Norwegian engineering student/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.[7][8] |
1942-05-15 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-01-19 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-03-22 | ![]() | |
1943-04-22 | Peenemünde: P-7 | ![]() |
1943-05 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1943-05-17 | ![]() |
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1943-05-14 | 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 |
1943-06-04 | 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 attack 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.[17] |
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. |
1943-09 | Peenemünde: P-7 | PR showed P-7 bomb craters,[2]:174e 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".[12]:198 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[10] including V-1 flying bomb storage depots in Occupied France under construction since August.:194 (They were not used for the modified sites.) |
1943-09 | ![]() |
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1943-10 | ![]() |
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1943-10-03 | ![]() |
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1943 autumn | ![]() | |
1943-10-21 | ![]() |
PR was ordered for the whole of Northern France.[11]:36 |
1943-10-28 | ![]() |
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1943-11-03 | ![]() |
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1943-11-28 | Peenemünde-West | ![]() |
1943-11 | ![]() |
72 "ski sites" had been photographed.[23]:184 |
1943-12-04 | ![]() |
PR was again conducted across Northern France[18]:3 just before the December 5 start of "Crossbow Operations Against Ski Sites", which the Combined Chiefs of Staff authorized on December 2.[5] ![]() |
1943-12-04 | ![]() |
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1944-01-04 | The Pentagon Eglin Field |
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1944-02 | 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. |
1944-02-25 | ![]() | |
1944-03 | ![]() |
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1944-03 | Poland | ![]() ![]() |
1944-04-22 | ![]() |
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1944-04-26 | ![]() |
PR identified the 1st camouflaged "modified" site,[18]:8 and 12 more were identified within days.[28] 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 ruse to portray they were being repaired.[24]:3 Additionally, espionage became more difficult as only German & prisoner/forced labor was used for "modified" sites instead of the previously-used French construction firms.[24] |
1944-04 | Mittelwerk | ![]() |
1944-05-05 | Poland | ![]() |
1944-06-06 | ![]() |
61 modified sites had been photographed, and 83 of 96 ski sites had been destroyed (only 2 of the ski sites launched V-1s).[24]:32,75 |
1944-06-10 | Belgium | ![]() |
1944-06-11 | ![]() |
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1944-06-11 | ![]() |
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).[2]:258d |
1944-06 | RAF Medmenham | ![]() |
1944-06-13 | ![]() |
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 . |
1944-06-17 | Poland | ![]() ![]() |
1944-06-30 | ![]() |
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1944-07-16 | ![]() ![]() | |
1944-07-18 | ![]() |
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1944-07 | Wright Field | ![]() |
1944-07-21 | ![]() | |
1944-07-22 |
Big Ben |
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1944-07-28 | Big Ben | ![]() |
1944-07-31 | Meillerwagen | ![]() |
1944-08-15 | Double Cross System | ![]() |
1944-08-25 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
1944-08-25 | Belgium | ![]() |
1944-09-08 | Sound ranging | ![]() |
1944-09-17 | Netherlands | ![]() ![]() |
1944-09-22 | Poland | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1944-10 | Mittelwerk | PR of Niedersachswerfen showed shadows of railcars consistent with those loaded with V-2s. |
1944-10-25 | Netherlands | ![]() |
1944-12 | Royal Artillery | ![]() |
1944-12-31
1945 |
Netherlands | ![]() |
1945-02-08 | Peenemünde | ![]() |
1945-03-20 | Netherlands | ![]() |
1945-03 | Operation Paperclip | A Polish laboratory technician found pieces of the Osenberg List of German scientists in a toilet at Bonn University.[4]:104 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).[2]:314 |
1945-04-11 | 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 R. V. (1978)
- 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.
- "Flak Regiment 155". Axis History Forum. August 12, 1943. Retrieved 2010-03-06. (the forum posting cites Jones)
- McGovern, James (1964). Crossbow and Overcast. New York: W. Morrow. p. 71, 74.
- "Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
1940: May-June (Battle of France) Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, June-October (Battle of Britain) Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive July-December ,
1941: January-April Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine May-August Archived 2009-03-03 at the Wayback Machine September- December
1942: January Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, March, April Archived 2012-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, July Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, November Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, December Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive
1943: January Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2004-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2009-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, December Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
1944: January Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2007-11-12 at the Wayback Machine March Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2013-04-09 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine (D-Day Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine), July Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, August Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, September, October, November, December Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive
1945 January Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive, February Archived 2013-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, March, April Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine - McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the USAAF". Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
1942: January Archived 2009-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
1943: January Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2006-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
1944: January Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, March Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2013-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, October Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, November Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, December Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
1945: January Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, February Archived 2013-02-11 at WebCite, March Archived 2013-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, April Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, May Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, June Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, July Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, August Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, September Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine - 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.
- Garliński, Józef (1978). Hitler's Last Weapons: The Underground War against the V1 and V2. New York: Times Books. pp. 52, 82.
- Bowman, Martin W (1999-07-15). Mosquito Photo-Reconnaissance Units of World War 2 (Google Books). p. 18. ISBN 9781855328914.
- Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. pp. 68, 82, 84, 103. ISBN 978-0-7057-0070-2.
- Middlebrook, Martin (1982). The Peenemünde Raid: The Night of 17–18 August 1943. New York: Bobs-Merrill. pp. 39, 41, 198.
- Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 22.
- Cooksley, Peter G (1979). Flying Bomb. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. pp. 44, 53, 56, 81, 157.
- "Constance Babington Smith". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2000-08-09.
- "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)
- "The V-Weapons". After The Battle. 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.
- "Eurostar remembers Michel Hollard". 26 April 2004. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- 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.
- 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.
- Zaloga, Steven J. (2008) [2007]. German V-Weapon Sites 1943-45 (Google Books). Fortress Study Group (72). New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd. pp. 3, 25, 29, 31–2, 42, 46, 75. ISBN 978-1-84603-247-9.
- 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.
- 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.
- "V-Bomb Photo Search". Life Magazine: 143. October 28, 1957. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- 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.
- Huzel, Dieter K (1960). Peenemünde to Canaveral. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 93.
- U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, (2009), George Mindling, Robert Bolton ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6
- 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.
- Collier, Basil (1995) [1957]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Defence of the United Kingdom. United Kingdom Military Series. 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, Adam L. "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.
- Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (eds.). (Volume 3) Europe: Argument to V-E Day (Google Books). The Army Air Forces in World War II. p. 535. ISBN 9781428915862.
- Johnson, David (1982). V-1, V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London. Stein and Day. pp. 117, 130.
- Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. p. 104.
- 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.
- Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1 (in French). Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- Bibliography
Jones, R. V. (1978). Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-89746-1.