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Rockets and Flying Bombs
This area of WWII
aviation collecting is about as rare as it gets.
Their are very few survivors of the V1
and V2
This page will include a selection of
models, and replicas as well as I hope some artefacts from the real weapons.
Vergeltungswaffen-1 (Vengeance Weapon 1),
also popularly called Flying Bomb, Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug,
was a German jet-propelled missile of World
War II, the forerunner of modern cruise missiles. More than
8,000 V-1s were launched against London from June 13, 1944, to
March 29, 1945, with about 2,400 hitting the target area. A
smaller number were fired against Belgium. The rockets were
launched from the Pas-de-Calais area on the northern coast of
France and subsequently from other sites in German-occupied
western Europe. The V-1 was about 8 metres (25 feet) long,
exclusive of the long tailpipe of its jet engine and had a
wingspan of about 5.5 metres (20 feet). It was launched from
catapult ramps or sometimes from aircraft. It carried an
850-kilogram (1,870-pound) explosive warhead at about 580 km
(360 miles) per hour and had an average range of 240 km (150
miles).
A V1 Flying Bomb
The response was to extend the
attacks on the launching sites, whilst fighters formed the first defence over
the Channel and the South Coast. 192 heavy AA guns and equal number of light
weapons provided the next line of defence. On the eastern outskirts of London
480 balloons provided the final element. Initial patrols were made by 11
squadrons, two Mosquito-equipped for night operations.
These arrangements were
inadequate and the guns were increased to 376 heavy and 540 light weapons and
the balloons were strengthened to around 1000. Fighter units included the new
150 Wing at Newchurch with three squadrons of Tempests, Spitfires of 41, 91 and
322 Squadrons and Mustangs of 129, 306 and 315 Squadrons. A special flight of
Tempest was formed at Wittering with pilots of the Fighter Interception Unit.
This moved to Newchurch to join the other Tempest squadrons. Over the weeks
which followed further units became involved including Polish Mustang,
radar-equipped Mosquito and Typhoon squadrons
By 15 July 2578 V1s had reached
England. 1241 were destroyed by the defences, 1280 falling in the London area.
Between 9-15 July the percentage destroyed reached 50%, mainly by the fighters.
The damage caused were still to high so the guns were moved to the coastal area.
On 19 July 412 heavy and 600 light weapons were in place together with 168
Bofors and some rocket batteries. Now the fighters patrolled over the Channel
and over central Kent, between the guns and the balloons. The guns were now
receiving stocks of proximity-fused shells, which increased their results.
Between 16 August and 5 September only 17% of the 1124 launched V1s reached
their target area. An estimated 6,184 people were killed by these flying bombs.
The V2 Rocket
The V-2 Rocket, was
developed by Werner von Braun, Walter Dornberger and Hermann Oberth
at the rocket research station at Peenemunde.
The V-2 was first used in
September, 1944. Like the V1 it carried a one ton warhead. However, this 14
metres (47 feet) long, liquid-fuelled rocket was capable of supersonic speed and
could fly at an altitude of over 50 miles. As a result it could not be
effectively stopped once launched.
Over 5,000 V-2s were
fired on Britain. However, only 1,100 reached Britain. These rockets killed
2,724 people and badly injured 6,000. After the D Day landings, Allied troops
were on mainland Europe and they were able to capture the launch sites and by
March, 1945, the attacks came to an end.
All the
following remains of V1 and V2 rockets are original and by their nature as
flying bombs are extremely rare. Every piece of remaining rockets and flying
bombs were pounced on by the Allies and shipped back to their respective
countries along with the scientists who designed and built them many of whose
war crimes were ignored . The only pieces now in the public domain are fragments
from the bombs that crashed and exploded, most pieces were vaporised on impact
and surviving parts are very unusual.
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V2 Oxygen Alcohol burner cap (pg1 Rocket)
This is an extremely rare and
substantial original piece from a V2 Rocket. Its a burner
where the fuel was mixed and ignited to create the thrust.
It still, has a number of injectors which have individual
value in their own right.
£299
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V1 Engine
part 1 (pg1 Rocket)
£125
V1 Engine
part 2 (pg1 Rocket)
This is another piece of the
side of the engine and is 280mm long |
V1 Engine part 1 (pg1 Rocket)
Here is a large, (230mm ) piece of a V1 rocket motor, this
piece forms the side of the motor as seen in the diagram
left.
Front view of
the V1 rocket motor
V1 Engine
part 2 (pg1 Rocket)
£125
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Click on the
picture to enlarge it
Here is a V1 rocket tail in
an alloy display case with pictures and a wartime booklet.
£699
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V1 Flying Bomb tail (pg1 Rock)
This is an extremely rare and possibly unique item. It is an
original tail from a V1 flying bomb. By
their nature very little wreckage survived from the V1s this
substantial complete tail unit came for a V1 that either
failed to explode properly or was blown clear.
It has its original finish
and makes a great display in a very solid case.
The Vergeltungswaffe 1
FZG-76 (V1), known as the Flying Bomb, Buzz Bomb or
Doodlebug, was the first modern guided missile used in
wartime and the first cruise missile. Vergeltungswaffe means
"reprisal weapon", and FZG is an abbreviation of Flak Ziel
Gerät ("anti-aircraft aiming device"), a misleading name.
Called the Buzz Bomb because of the of the engine it caused
considerable fear in the population of London. People would
listen for the sound approaching, but then be relieved when
it sounded overhead as that meant the bomb had actually
passed them.
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 Click
on the pictures to enlarge them
This a big piece its part of the
lower structure of the V2 a ring which forms the shell and
framework of the V2 its very heavy and is 850mm long.
£275
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V2 ring structure (pg 1Rockets)
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This is a sender unit from the
fuel system of a V2 rocket.
V2 sender
unit 2 (pg1 Rocket)
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V2 sender unit 1 (pg1 Rocket)
V2 sender
unit 1 (pg1 Rocket)
£125
V2 sender
unit 2 (pg1 Rocket)
This is a sender unit from the
fuel system of a V2 rocket.
£125
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N/A
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V1 Fuel pressure pick up point (pg1 Rocket)
This piece sits in the front of
the V1 motor and acts as a starter in the fuel system. Seen
in situ under.
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Fritz flying bomb elevator (pg1 Rocket)
This is an elevator from the
German Fritz flying bomb, its a big heavy piece made from
solid alloy. This is s seriously rare item less of these
weapons were produced than the V1 and there aero only a very
few surviving examples.
As early as 1940,
the German Luftwaffe began serious development of un powered
anti-ship missiles dropped by bombers. The missile would
glide to its target, remotely guided by a controller within
the aircraft. Testing in Germany proved difficult as
atmospheric conditions interfered with the signals sent to
the bomb, and by early 1943 the experiments had been moved
to northern Italy. When Italy defected to the Allied side in
September 1943, the test squadron (III/KG100) was in place
to use its Fritz-X glider bombs attack the Italian fleet as
it fled to Malta.
On the afternoon of 9 September,
eleven Do.217 glider-bomb carriers of III/KG100 took off
from an airfield near Marseilles and located the Italian
fleet west of Corsica. The new battleship Roma sank
after a single hit, while Italia suffered damage.
Two days later, the squadron and its sister unit II/KG100
began attacks against the Allied fleet conducting amphibious
landings in the Bay of Salerno.
A Fritz X badly damaged the American
cruiser Savannah and slightly damaged her sister
Philadelphia. On the 13th, a Fritz X seriously
damaged the British cruiser Uganda and others
damaged Philadelphia and two British destroyers
while a Hs.293 glider bomb sank the hospital ship
Newfoundland. A transport sank after a hit from an
Hs.293 bomb on the 14th, and on 16 September the Battleship
Warspite suffered two serious hits from Fritz X
bombs and had to be towed to Malta.
Once Allied fighters arrived on the
scene, the glider bombs no longer proved effective. The
carrier aircraft had to fly a long, straight path to launch
them, and this made them easy prey for fighters. The Fritz
X, designed to penetrate warship armour, could only be used
during daylight; the smaller Hs.293 had some effectiveness
at night and was used in that role after the Fritz X
carriers were withdrawn.
£499
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V2 Fuel line (pg1 Rocket)
This is a piece of pipe
that supplies fuel to the V2 rocket motor.
150mm long approximately 30mm
diameter
£55
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V2 Various components (pg1 Rocket)
Assorted V2 rocket parts
£95
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V2 wiring loom (pg1 Rocket)
V2 wiring loom attached to
plate.
£25
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Shell case
fragments from VI strike at Wickford Essex 2 (pg1 Rocket)
310mm across
N/A
Shell case
fragments from VI strike at Wickford Essex 4 (pg1 Rocket)
This is solid steel and heavy
£35
Shell case
fragments from VI strike at Wickford Essex 5 (pg1 Rocket)
£25
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Shell case fragments from VI strike at Wickford Essex (pg1 Rocket)
These are fragments of a V1 that
came down in Wickford in Essex, on this
link ,
link 2 is a childhood memory of the VI hitting the
Town.
Shell case
fragments from VI strike at Wickford Essex 1 (pg1 Rocket)
160mm across
£25
To swat a Bug A Hawker
Tempest
A rare site an unexploded doodle bug VI flying bomb
300mm across
£25
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V2 part (pg1 Rocket)
So far I have been unable to
identify how this piece fits to the V2 please
email me if you ID the part. It came with some other
identifiable parts from a reliable source.
Not for sale until ID
is obtained.
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V2 part motor casing (pg1 Rocket)
This is part of a V2 rocket
casing came in a collection with the other V2 parts shown
above.
100mm across
£25
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Click on the
pictures to enlarge
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V2 Fuel injection mixing unit with history (pg1 Rocket)
A superb rare piece of a V2 rocket in
excellent condition. This part was picked up by the
suppliers Father when a boy, the V2 fell in the area around
cuckoo school, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell London. The V2
exploded and took out four houses and was buried in clay the
father picked up several pieces of V2 including this part.
It has been in his family ever since , being used as a door
stop. he took it to the Imperial war museum where it was
recognised as part of the fuel injection mixing unit
supplying fuel to the boosters. It comes from inside the
turbo pump assembly which goes down to the combustion
camber. Apparently when found this part was encased inside a
metal tube which was quite battered and was lost over the
years. It comes with a collection of paperwork showing the
bomb damage and memories of people living in the area when
the V2 hit.
£399
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