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Vergeltungswaffen (English: retaliatory weapons, reprisal weapons, vengeance weapons) was a particular set of Wunderwaffen (English: superweapons) of Nazi Germany designed for long-range[1] strategic bombing during World War II, particularly terror bombing and/or aerial bombing of cities.
As early as a 28 June 1940 meeting of Army Ordnance chief Leebe and Walther von Brauchitsch, a terror bombing rationale had been advanced for the A4 (V-2 rocket) being developed.[2] On September 29, 1943, Albert Speer publicly promised retribution against the mass bombing of German cities by a 'secret weapon.'[3] Then the official 24 June 1944 Propagandaministerium announcement on 24 June 1944 of the "Vergeltungswaffe 1" guided missile implied there would be another such weapon.[4] Then after the first operational V-2 rocket launch in September 1944, the A-4 was named the Vergeltungswaffe 2,[5] although no one knows exactly who gave the rocket the Vergeltungswaffe name.[6] However, the V-2 rocket operations manual distributed to firing batteries continued to use the A-4 name for the rocket.[7]:80
Psychological effect on the target population
The buzzing sound of the V-1 flying bomb's pulse jet engine indicated the overflight path, which reduced the terror bombing effect to the general target population. Additionally, although the engine's cutoff prior to the final dive to the target (of early V-1s) could be disconcerting because of the imminent local danger, the silence was also a warning to seek shelter (later V-1s were corrected to have the originally-intended power dive.) At least one business in London even advertised how quickly a patron could access a nearby shelter. Moreover, the public could perceive the increasing effectiveness of countermeasures against the V-1 throughout the Blitz, particularly since the defeats of the low-flying buzz-bombs (e.g., explosions) were visible from the ground.
Since the V-2 rocket could not be heard (and was rarely seen) as it approached the target, its psychological effect "suffered in comparison to the V-1."[8]
The use of the V-3 cannon was against combat troops and had similar psychological effect as conventional artillery.
References
- ^ "V-WEAPONS (CROSSBOW) CAMPAIGN" (html). All World Wars. http://www.allworldwars.com/V-Weapons%20Crossbow%20Campaign.html. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
- ^ Neufeld, Michael J (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press. pp. 137,237. ISBN 0-02-922895-6.
- ^ Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. p. 128.
- ^ Johnson, David (1981/1982). V-1, V-2: Hitler’s Vengeance on London. Stein and Day. p. 80. ISBN 0-8128-2858-5.
- ^ Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co. p. 288.
- ^ Klee, Ernst; Merk, Otto (English translation: 1965) [1963]. The Birth of the Missile:The Secrets of Peenemünde. Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling Verlag. p. 47.
- ^ McGovern, J (1964). Crossbow and Overcast. New York: W. Morrow. p. 80.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "V-2" (html). Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/v2.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ Hinsley, FH (1993). British Intelligence in the Second World War. London: HMSO. ISBN 011 6309 563.
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