The main target for this pilotless weapon was to be London, in revenge for relentless bombing of Germany by the R.A.F. And the U.S. Air force, the Nazis described it as their wonder weapon which would turn the tide of war in their favour.
In the early hours of June 13 1944, the Royal Observer Corps in Kent sighted a number of small aircraft, they had loud engines and a bright exhaust trail. Soon after, one of the craft crashed to the ground in the East End of London, resulting in a large explosion in the Bethnal Green area. Six people were killed and 266 left homeless.
The Home Secretary soon announced that parts of Britain were being bombarded by “pilotless aircraft” thereafter often called the “Doodlebug”or “Buzz Bomb” The V1 was far from a technological marvel, it was constructed mainly of sheet metal, cheaply produced [£500 approx], and it could be assembled quickly, it was propelled by a simple jet engine, it had a maximum speed of around 400 mph, with a limited range of about 148 miles, the launching sites therefore had to be on the French side of the English channel.
Around 30,000 V1's were manufactured, but a much smaller proportion reached Britain. Between the 13 June 1944 and the 27 March 1945 10,492 V1's were launched against Britain, 2,340 hit London, 5,475 people were killed and 16,000 injured. Britain was very successful in its battle against the V1's, using anti-aircraft guns, fighter planes, and barrage balloons. The first phase of the V1 offensive ended in September 1944, when the Allied armies overran the launching sites. The attack on Britain however continued, with an air-launched version of the V1 carried and released by He-111 bombers, in addition many were targeted at the Belgium port of Antwerp.
The V1 was placed on an inclined ramp, the take-off was assisted by a piston catapult, once in the air a pulse-jet engine took over, at a cruising speed of 400 mph the missile crossed the channel in around five minutes, it sounded rather like a motorbike, and could be heard at a distance of 10 miles. Distance was measured by revolutions of the propeller in the nose of the bomb, when it had spun a predetermined number of times, power was cut, and the V1 dived to ground. The population of London soon realised that when the bomb's engine cut-out they had about 12 seconds to take cover. Its explosive power was rather limited, being the equivalent of around two average medium capacity HE bombs, but the random nature of the attacks, created fear and uncertainty, nobody knowing when or where.
One of the worst incidents of the V1 onslaught, was on the 18June 1944 at 11.20 am when a V1 hit the Guards Chapel Wellington Barracks [near Buckingham palace], a service was in progress 121 soldiers and civilians were killed and 141 seriously injured. The peak of the V1 attacks was on the 3 August 1944, when 316 of these missiles were launched, about 220 reached London, from about the middle of August 1944 as the Germans retreated from the launch sites in Northern France, the V1 campaign slowed down considerably, with the last bomb fired from France on September 7 1944.
Some detail on how Britain defended itself against the V1, there were four layers defensive response, a fighter belt at sea, a coastal belt of anti-aircraft guns, an inland fighter belt, and closest to London barrage balloons. The most effective interceptor was the new Hawker Tempest V fighter which was slightly faster than the V1, they shot down 638 missiles, other fighters such as the Mosquito, Spitfire X1V, and the Mustang were also effective. Pilots had to approach the V1's with caution, since a hit would result in an explosion with metal fragments being thrown in all directions, some pilots found another way of downing the V1, they discovered they could slide their wing under the missile's wing and tip it over, and out of control. By the end of August 1944, only about one in seven entered the London area.
On July 9 1944, the first air-launched V1 was fired from a Heinkel He-111 bomber within 60 miles of England, it had been carried under the port wing, inboard of the engine. Between July 1944 and January 1945, around 1,600 air-launched V1's were fired at Britain, most were aimed at London, their accuracy however was not very reliable, in September 1944 for instance half of them missed London by 24 miles, it is worth noting that nearly 12,000 V1's were fired at Belgium, the main target being the port of Antwerp, accuracy continued to be poor and only 211 actually fell on Antwerp. The last V1 to hit England was at Orpington in Kent on the 27 March 1945.
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