C HAPTER 3
NAZI WONDER WEAPONS
JUST SI X DAYS A F T ER T H E D -DAY I N VA SION OF E UROPE, ON JUNE 12, 1944, the residents of London were startled to hear a droning buzz in the skies over their city. They were more startled when the sound suddenly stopped and moments later a huge explosion rocked the East London neighborhood of Mile End, killing eight civilians. It was the first of the V-1 Buzz bombs—a forerunner of today’s cruise missiles. The V-1 and the later V-2 rockets that terrorized London are two of the more famous examples of German war technology. These Vergeltungswaffe, or retaliation weapons, were developed at the secret German rocket facility Peenemunde and put into operation just after the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. From June 12, 1944, until August 20, more than eight thousand of the V-1 rockets (each carrying a ton of explosives) rained down on London, inflicting 45,479 casualties and destroying 75,000 buildings. The less numerous V-2 rockets—which, unlike the V-1, could not be seen, heard, or intercepted in flight—nevertheless produced more than 10,000 casualties in the British capital. In addition to the vengeance weapons, the Germans produced a number of scientific breakthroughs in their quest for weapons technology during World War II. German ingenuity and efficiency appeared capable of over
