Hitler's Rockets: The Story of the V-2s (46 page)

On the early history of the rocket, see Jones, ‘Future’, p. 11, and von Braun, pp. 24—37. The ‘red glare’ verse is from Francis Scott Key,
The Bombardment of Fort McHenry
(1814). On the Paris Gun, see Cruttwell, p. 531, and Dornberger, p. 55. On early German researchers, see Dornberger, p. 32; on his own early life, see Irving, p. 16; on von Braun’s, Dornberger, p. 39. On Dornberger’s plans for the rocket motor, see p. 32; on Reidel, pp. 37—9; on Kummersdorf, p. 33; on the 1932 test, p. 35 and pp. 37—8. On German politics at this time, see Cross, pp. 208—209, and Bullock, pp. 322—4. Dornberger, p. 42, describes the 1934 test and ‘early years of our activity’, pp. 47—8 the ‘secret experiments’ correspondence, pp. 43—4 the dimensions of the A-1, pp. 44—5 the gyroscope problems and p. 46 contains the ‘beginning’ quotation. See also Smith and Kay, p. 646, on the research in general.

On German foreign policy, see Bullock, p. 333; on the search for a new research site, Dornberger, pp. 48—50; on the prevailing exchange rate,
Whitaker’
s, p. 202; on the Paris Gun and the ‘military requirements’ for the rocket, Dornberger, p. 56, on Thiel, p. 60, on the ‘young man’ at Peenemünde (in fact Dr Steinhoff), p. 28, on the Greifswalder Oie test, pp. 51—63, on the A-5, p. 75, on Hitler, pp. 71—3, on the first Peenemünde test of the A-5, pp. 66-9; on Peenemünde in general, Smith and Kay, pp. 646-50; on von Brauchitsch’s help, Dornberger, p. 74; on the A-4 test and the ’perfection’ quotation, Dornberger, pp. 17—28.

‘The Hitler Waffe’ report was supplied to me privately but is quoted by Jones, pp. 65—6, who describes his own career on p. 10 and p. 28 and refers to ‘analphabet’ agents on p. 21. On Oberth, see Irving, p. 33; on Lindemann’s family feud and ‘authentic passions’, see Birkenhead, pp. 335—6; on his ‘erroneous assumptions’, Jones, p. 10; on his refusal to make peace with Tizard, Jones, p. 83; on his ‘gleeful sneer’, Snow, p. 13. Lord Boothby is the former minister quoted. On his own work for SIS see Jones, p. 167, on his memo to his superior and the resulting recruits, pp. 322—6, on his own assistant, pp. 37—8, 51 and 144. Irving, pp. 33—4, and Jones, p. 322, give slightly different accounts of the reports from Stockholm. I have followed the latter. On von Thoma, Irving, p. 35, and Jones, pp. 332—3, are agreed. The ‘agents could be briefed’ quotation is on p. 336. On War Office reaction and the two memoes quoted, see Irving, pp. 36-8.

Dornberger, pp. 75—6, describes his ‘begging expeditions’, and pp. 79—82 his reaction to Degenkolb and Saur, on whom see also Irving, p. 136. On the production programme, see Irving, p. 26, and Dornberger, pp. 83, 90—91, 98—9. The valuation of Peenemünde is on p. 85, Degenkolb’s ‘plot’ on p. 100, Hitler’s dream on pp. 93 and 196 and in Irving, pp. 26-7. On VIP visits and the soap in the washroom, see Irving, pp. 56—8; on rivalry with the V-1 my book
The Doodlebugs
, pp. 26—8 and 41, and Dornberger, pp. 95—9. The Zoo conference is described by Dornberger, pp. 111—13, and its results by Irving, p. 29. On Himmler and the Gestapo, see Dornberger, pp. 172—9, 185—6 and 197, on the visit to Hitler, pp. 101—107 and Speer, pp. 496—7. On the interference with flying-bomb manufacture, see Irving, pp. 87—8 and 93—4, and Smith and Kay, p. 751. Dornberger, p. 110, describes Peenemünde from the air, p. 143 the heroic cameraman, p. 145 his office.

On the War Office paper and Duncan Sandys’s appointment, see Irving, pp. 37-44, and Jones, p. 335. Cherwell’s memo of 20 April 1943 is in PREM 3/110, Brookes, pp. 193—4, mentions the ‘outsize firework’; Constance Babington Smith, p. 203, the study of the resulting photographs; Jones, p. 328, his meeting with the PRU pilots; PERM 3/110 contains Sandys’s first report, reference COS (43) 259 (0). On ‘Captain C.’, see Irving, pp. 46, 53 and 61, on the neglected British experts, pp. 55—6; on Cherwell’s note of 11 June 1943 and Cripps’s of 16 June, PREM 3/110. Jones, pp. 340—3, and the caption to Plate 19b in his book, Constance Babington Smith, p. 205, Brookes, p. 194, and Irving, p. 67, describe the discovery of the rocket. The paper of 27 June is COS (43) 342 (0) and Sandys’s report of 28 June COS (43) 349 (0), both in PREM 3/110. On Findlater Stewart I consulted
Who’s Who.
Jones, pp. 343—6, describes the meeting of 29 June 1943, and private information from him supplemented the official minutes which are in CAB 69/5 Defence Committee (Operations). Irving, pp. 79—82, quotes the reports from agents and Cherwell’s memo of 29 July. Morrison’s memos are folios 396 and 374 in PREM 3/110 and Sandys’s fourth report is COS (43) 369 (0).

The ‘rocket meeting’ conclusion is on p. 41 (f) of CAB 69/5; on plans for Operation Hydra (as defined by
Chambers’ Dictionary,
1973 edition), see Irving, p. 80; on the petrol allocation clue, Jones, p. 348; on the raid itself, including the air-gunner’s comment, my book
The Bombers
, pp. 276—7, Irving, pp. 99—119, Dornberger, pp. 151—64 (including ‘Poor Peenemünde’ on p. 163), Webster, vol. II, p. 159, PREM 3/110, folio 331 – the Air Ministry telegram – folio 346, COS (43) 481 (0), Sandys’s tenth report, and Churchill, vol. V, p. 208. On Friedrichshafen, see Webster, vol. II, p. 188 and p. 293 (footnote), and Jones, pp. 230 and 304. His ‘two months’ estimate is on p. 346. Irving, pp. 28—9 reports the saving of the blueprints, and p. 309 the raid on Wiener Neustadt.

On Speer’s report, see Irving, pp. 122 and 124—3. On Blizna, see Jones, p. 430, Irving, p. 141, Garlinski, p. 114, and Dornberger, pp. 203—204. Irving, p. 122, describes Himmler’s involvement and pp. 135—6 the Bombardment Commission; Speer, p. 314, and Dornberger, pp. 199—200, the latter’s appointment. On Nordhausen, see Irving, pp. 123, 143—5 and 166—7 and the caption to the picture facing p. 160; Garlinski, pp. 107—10, on the prisoners’ initial conditions and duties; Speer, pp. 498—500, and Garlinski, pp. 111—12, on subsequent improvements. Speer, pp. 503—5, and Dornberger, pp. 187 and 199—200, describe Kammler, and Irving, pp. 122—3, his involvement in the A-4 programme. Dornberger’s ‘sheer momentum’ quote is on p. 211, his ‘troubles’, including the disastrous test of 5 November, on pp. 203—205, his hopes for rockets ‘that disintegrated’ on p. 212. Irving, p. 204, sets out the transport arrangements and firing plans and p. 28 describes the Watten site, on which see also Collier,
Battle
, p. 20. On Medmenham’s report, see Irving, p. 53; on MacAlpine’s advice, pp. 123—4; on Cherwell’s note, PREM 3/110; on the US raid, Roger Freeman, p. 72, and Dornberger, p. 169. On Dorsch’s plans for Wizernes, see Irving, p. 137, and Dornberger, pp. 169—70, which also testifies to Hitler’s ‘ghastly pallor’. The Führer’s private doubts are mentioned by Irving, p. 237. On Sottevast and Equeurdreville, see
After the Battle,
p. 28, Collier,
Battle
, p. 20, and Jones, p. 462. On the small sites, see Jones, pp. 432—3. The ‘hour of revenge’ quote is from Irving, p. 177; Collier,
Battle
, pp. 64—5, mentions HARKO; Dornberger, pp. 195—6, recalls his nightmare trip of March 1944 and p. 191 his later travels. Irving, pp. 146, 204 and 221, refers to ‘major difficulties’ and the first output from Nordhausen, pp. 237—8 to Cement and pp. 258—9 to Goebbels’s enthusiasm. Dornberger describes his feud with Kammler on pp. 200-201, and Irving, p. 259, mention’s Fromm’s arrest.

Sandys’s report of 27 August is in PREM 3/110, reference COS(43) 493 (0). The meeting of 31 August is minuted in COS (43) 202 (0), and Brookes, p. 195, quotes MacAlpine’s comment. The meeting of 14 September is in PREM 3/110, under reference DO (43), eighth meeting. Cherwell’s ‘loaded’ questions are described by Irving, pp. 130-32, and Sandys’s response is on pp. 152—3, while ‘C’s’ report is in PREM 3/110 as COS (43) 592 (0). Irving, pp. 131, 149—155 and 163, describes the work and membership of the Scientific Committee and the Fuel Panel and p. 159 carries the famous ‘mare’s nest’ remark. On the meeting as a whole, see CAB 69/5, DO (43), tenth meeting, and for Smuts’s remark, PREM 3/110, folio 257. The German airmen’s reports are mentioned by Irving, p. 162. Cherwell’s ‘proof that the rocket was impossible is in PREM 3/110, DO (43), eleventh meeting; Cripps’s findings in the same file, DO (43) 27; Cherwell’s memo of 2 November is folio 196 of PREM 3/110 and of 4 November folio 184. The Cripps inquiry is described by Irving, pp. 172—3; the Peenemünde pictures by Constance Babington Smith, p. 214; the Lord Mayor’s austerity lunch by Weymouth, vol. II, p. 359. The second Cripps report is COS (0) 715 (0) in PREM 3/110. On Cherwell’s opinion of Cripps’s diet, see Irving, p. 169, and on his own, Harrod, p. 33. The minutes of the Defence Committee of 18 November are DO (43), thirteenth meeting. The change of codenames is in paras 2, 14, and 21 of the
History of the PIU.
Dr Jones’s memo is quoted by Irving, pp. 174—5. The minutes of the Civil Defence Committee are in CAB 73/7, reference CDC (43) 35, for 28 December 1943, and in CAB 73/8 (CDC (44) 1), for 18 January 1944. The Chiefs of Staffs discussion is recorded in CAB 79 (COS (44), 23rd meeting). On Crossbow bombing, see Collier,
Defence
, p. 522. The ‘Big Ben’ letter is in HO 186/2271, the meeting of 27 April 1944 in CDC (44) 5.

On the threat to the underground, see folio 624 in PREM 3/111; on the post-V-1 evacuation,
The Doodlebugs
, pp. 211—13; on Morrison’s apprehensions, WP (44) 348 in CAB 66/51; on the Cabinet’s reaction, WM (44) 82 in CAB 65/46; on Ian Jacob’s note, folio 835 in PREM 3/111; on the lack of rocket tracks, Jones, pp. 430-31; on Ultra evidence, pp. 430 and 435; on the Poles’ exploits, Garlinski,
Weapons,
pp. 115—16 and 154. The Kalmar rocket is described by Irving, pp. 263—7, by Macmillan, vol. IV, p. 195, by Jones, pp. 431—4, by Dornberger, p. 246, and in the contemporary News Digest (a summary of foreign press reports circulated to British government departments), nos 1476 and 1477, references D43, D78, D81 and D82. Jones, pp. 433—4, describes his concern for Cherwell and pp. 437—8 the ‘caught napping’ meeting, of which the (less illuminating) official minutes are CRC (44), seventh meeting, in PREM 3/ 111.