The V-1 and V-2

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WWII, one of the bloodiest wars in history. The Germans and the Axis Powers were combating the English and US with the other Allied Powers. From 1939-1945 war raged on in Europe and in the Pacific. In 1939 proposals were made (not approved until later) by the Nazi’s to create two of the most destructive and advanced weapons of the time (Gatland). Thus, the V-1 and V-2 rockets were put into production. The V-1 and V-2 rockets were important to the German’s because they believed that these weapons would give them an extreme advantage in the war, and eventually help them win the war. The development of these rockets were very important to the Nazi’s. These rockets were different and more advanced than any other bomb made before. Also, the developments of these rockets have had long term effects after the war. The V-1 and V-2 were intricate and powerful, making a recipe for destruction.
The development of the V weapons were extremely important to the Nazi regime. In 1941 the United States entered the war; the Germans felt right away that they were outmatched in the weapons category. The Nazi’s could not produce enough weapons, and the weapons they did produce were not extremely powerful. This is when the Nazi leader and Germany’s chancellor Adolph Hitler decided that the only way to compete and beat the Allies was to make new and innovative weapons. Now the “Vergeltungswaffen” or “weapons of revenge” were now made a priority by the Nazi’s. The weapons of revenge were named the V-1 and V-2. Germany’s Air Force started to develop the V-1 “flying bomb”, while the Army took to the V-2 rocket bomb (Sheehan). To make these advanced weapons work a lot of testing would be needed. The earltesting took place at Kummersdorf, which is about 27...

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...h deployed an air attack on the development site. Production needed to be moved, so it was. A new site was developed underground. The workers were slave laborers from Nazi concentration camps. Conditions were inhumane, causing 10% of the workers to die every month. With workers coming from concentration camps, production was ramped up, but it was rushed. So, just over 4,000 V-2’s were produced in 1944 (Sheehan). Now it was time to launch the bombs. The allies quickly realized that they had nothing in their arsenal to defend against the V-2’s (Klam). About 1,000 V-2’s were launced at England, about half landed in London, killing 9,000 Londoners (Sheehan). In all over 4,300 V-2’s were deployed between September 6, 1944 and March 27,1945. Their targets included London, Southeast England, Antwerp and other. Many hit targets while others exploded prematurely (Gatland).

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