V-2
 

In 1936 the team Walter Dornberger- Werner von Braun had moved on from the A2 and started work on both the A3 and A4. The later was a full-sized design with a range of about 175 km (109 miles), a top altitude of 80 km and a payload of about a tonne. This increase in capability had come through a complete redesign of the engine by Walter Thiel. It was clear that Von Braun's designs were turning into real weapons, and Dornberger moved the team from Kummersdorf (near Berlin to Peenemunde on Germany's Baltic coast, in order to provide more room for testing and greater secrecy.
The A3 proved to be problematic, and a redesign was started as the A5. This version was completely reliable, and by 1941 the team had fired about 70 A5 rockets. The first A4 flew in March 1942 and whas a complete mistake! The second launch reached an altitude of 11 km before he exploded in the air. The third rocket, launched on 3 October 1942 changed things by following its trajectory perfectly. It landed 193 km away, and became the first man-made object to enter space as well as the first man-made machine to exceed the speed of sound.
The production started in 1942 on the Vergeltungswaffe 2, or the V-2 as it became better known, at the insistence of Goebbels' propaganda ministry. The Allies were already aware of the weapon. At a test site at Bliza in Poland a fired missile had been recovered from the banks of the bug rivers, and vital technical details had been given to British intelligence. They launched a massive bombing campaign against Peenemunde which slowed testing and production considerably.

The idea from Dornberger and von Braun, whas that they had always wanted a mobile launch platform for the missiles, but Hitler want a construction of massive underground blockhaus structures from which to launch them. V-2s arrived from a number of factories in a continuous stream on several redundant rail lines, and launching was almost continual.
The first blockhaus whas in the Pas de Calais area in 1943, but the British spotted it almost immediately and started a massive bombing campaign that eventually forced the Germans to abandon it. Another blockhaus was then started nearby in a huge quarry, but it wasn't long before that too was bombed into submission. Eventually they gave up on the area and moved to the south near Cherbourg, but once again the blockhaus was discovered and bombed.

The plan was finally changed and they made large truck-towed trailers for the missiles. The entire convoy for the missile, men, equipment and fuel required about thirty trucks. The missile was delivered to a staging area on a Vidalwagen and the local crews would fit the warhead. Launch teams would then transfer their missile to their own Meillerwagen and tow it to the launch site. There it was erected onto the launch table, fueled, and launched.
The missile could be launched practically anywhere, roads running though forests being a particular favourite. The system was so mobile and small that not one Meillerwagen was ever caught in action.

The mass production of the V2 was conducted at a underground slave camp named Dora, near Nordhausen in Germany.
About 10 000 slaves died in that camp, by overwork or at the hands of their SS guards.
There where mostly prisoners of War, but many where French or Soviets!

The first attacks where against Paris on 2 September 1944 and the next attacks where against London!
This whas only the beginning, because the coming months attacks where launched against Antwerpen.
The totally hits on Belgium whas 1664 times, while England whas hit 1402 times and France 76 times.
The V2 whas also launched against Remagen, Germany 11 times.

On the 19the of March 1945, the allies attempted to destroy V2's and launching equipment in the Netherlands not so far from The Hague, by a large bombardment, but they make navigational errors and destroyed the Bezuidenhout quarter, killing 500 civilians.