Sometime ago I wrote a piece on the V2 rocket and the kits then and now available. Here is some additional material that may inspire....
A British Operation named ‘Backfire’ was designed to evaluate the entire V2 system, its design, flight capability and interrogate German personnel specialized in all aspects od design and operation. The Backfire programme actually involved the launch of several missiles across the North Sea from Cuxhaven in the British controlled sector. One or more possible launches were also made from a then, secret launch site near what would become RAF Spadeadam in the UK. Later, the War Office in London issued a five volume report detailing these operations. Remaining vehicles ended up as museum exhibits at IWM and RAF Cosford.
At the close of WWII in Europe, the British attachment of the Allied Air Defence Division became the Special Projectile Operations Group (SPOG). The Air Defence Division had been charged with the task of collecting information about the secret German rockets to formulate effective counter-measures before the close of the war. By March of 1945, the German rocket troops were not in operation because of the rapidly advancing Allied forces. Although much was known about the V2, most of this information had been gathered by intelligence. Late in 1944, a German test V2 crashed in Sweden and the British government arranged for an exchange of parts. From this mangled mass of metal British intelligence was able to attain only a small amount of information and at best, could only speculate how the missile was transported, fuelled, targeted and fired.
At the end of WWII, more than 8000 German rocket personnel had been captured, along with hundreds of Peenemünde scientists. A proposal was put forward by J. C. C. Bernard, A.T.S., Personal Assistant to Major-General Cameron (Cameron headed the Air Defence Division) that the German rocket troops be forced to demonstrate the V2 handling and firing procedures and launching some of the remaining V2 rockets. The Air Defence Division was given the go-ahead with the procedure under a new organization called The Special Projectile Operations Group. This program was under the command of Cameron along with General Staff Colonel W. S. J. Carter, who was put in charge of operations and documentation.
The gun testing range at Altenwalde near Cuxhaven, Germany, which was in the post-war British zone of occupation, was chosen as the testing site. The British utilized the hangars and other facilities of the former German Navy Artillery Range for handling, logistics and preparation of the missiles. This location was found suitable because of the sea to the north and good radar tracking points downrange. A large concrete firing point was created at the site so that there was ample room for the operations, which were to be photographed at filmed extensively. Vast amounts of this footage is still seen today in almost every V2 documentary aired.
The captured German troops and scientists were fairly willing to demonstrate their V2 and soon 200 Peenemünde scientists, 200 V2 firing troops and 600 ordinary POWs were transported to Cuxhaven where they were split into two groups and interrogated. The information given by each group was then compared.
Wernher von Braun and Gerneral Walter Dornberger were also brought to Cuxhaven for a short period but they were not taken to the actual firing site. Curiously, a comprehensive evaluation of the A4/V2 had never been undertaken, not even by the Germans as SS security would not allow such broad coverage believing no one should know any more about the entire system than the absolute minimum required for one's own duties.
Allied aircraft, and their constant attacks on German ground-targets had destroyed virtually every completed V2 in Europe. Therefore, finding intact V2s was a great problem. The Americans had removed enough parts from the underground Mittelwerk facility at Nordhausen to assemble 200 rockets in the United States. After the Americans were finished, the British were given their opportunity to salvage what was left before the Russians took over the Mittelwerk. British officials found enough parts to assemble about a dozen rockets for their testing but were missing several ‘key’ components as well as support vehicles needed to fuel and fire the rockets.
What followed was an amazing search of Europe for these missing items. Search parties were sent out everywhere with soldiers who were fluent in German, each with a convoy of trucks, to hunt the required parts. When the search was finished, 400 railway cars and 70 Lancaster flights were used to bring the quarter-of-a-million parts and 60 specialized vehicles to Cuxhaven, the most elusive part being the batteries that operated the guidance gyros. Tail units were also hard to find intact so some of these were called back from the United States. The explosive material in the warheads of the missiles was steamed out and replaced with sand. At Altenwalde, a giant testing tower was constructed out of Bailey Bridge panels for testing of the rockets in the vertical position. More than 2,500 additional Bristish troops were finally brought in to complete the various construction projects. One off-shoot of the search by British troops for parts was the discovery on many artworks confiscated by the Nazis during the war.
By the beginning of October, 1945, the British were ready to begin testing their V2 systems. The rockets that were to be fired were painted in a black & white checkered pattern, similar to the early Peenemünde rocket schemes but with less divisions. Two rockets which finally returned to the UK were left in their military green scheme On October 1, the first V2 launch attempt failed due to faulty ignition. Another V2 was readied and the first successful British firing of the V2 across the Baltic occurred on October 2, 1945, almost three years to the day from the first successful German test. The third and possibly (?) last British V2 launch in Germany took place on October 15, 1945, with British, American, and Russian officials present. The V2 performed flawlessly and landed near it's target point in the North Sea. The entire German-based operation was concluded by mid-October.
Date Time : Height: Length of flight:
2 October 1945 14:41 69.4 kilometres (43.1 mi) 249.4 kilometres (155.0 mi)
4 October 1945 14:16 17.4 kilometres (10.8 mi) 24 kilometres (15 mi)
Engine failure shortly after launch.
15 October 1945 15:06 64 kilometres (40 mi) 233 kilometres (145 mi) [/left]
Some sources indicate the launch took place on 14 October.
No flight information is available for suspected launches in UK.
Many concluded this whole operation was as much about convincing the German rocket scientists to come to Great Britain and work for the the British in the development of a new rocket programme as it was about testing the V2 systems. The British and the Americans began fighting over the German scientists even before the wars end. The Americans had agreed to ‘lending’ many of the top German rocket personnel for the Backfire tests. The Americans found that the British were trying to convince the Germans to stay after the tests and it took a considerable amount of work by the U.S. War Department to see the return of many Germans to American custody.
Eventually, the British agreed to return the Germans on the condition that a few of the top scientists would be fully interrogated in London about ‘technical information’. As it turned out, there was never a technical discussion with the Germans in London. Von Braun, Dornberger and several other Peenemünde department chiefs were driven through the streets of London to show them the destruction the missile had wrought. Von Braun and the other chiefs were then returned to American custody in Germany soon after but General Dornberger decided to remain with the British. Dornberger probably knew more about the V2 systems than anyone else, but the British public didn't want his technical knowledge, they just wanted to hang him. It was not until 1947 that Dornberger was finally released.
The many photos and films of Operation Backfire are frequently mistaken as German in origin, since the British used the German rocket troops exclusively during the testing, even wearing their wartime uniforms. This archive has proved very useful historically in understanding how the rocket was handled. The V2 was so secret during the war that very few actual operational photos were even allowed by the Germans.
I have covered the available kits of the V2 and support vehicles elsewhere on this site but with two new 1/72 versions promised (See photo) and a re-released Revell 1/64th scale with launch tower and detailed engine expected before Christmas, things are looking up! Meantime, some photos of interest!
