The V1 was one of Hitlerâs secret weapons that he had told his generals that Nazi Germany possessed which would turn the way World War Two was going in 1944. The V1 was first launched against Britain starting on 13 June 1944, just one week after D-Day. The V1 is difficult to classify as a weapon as it was not a true rocket in that it did not leave the atmosphere, but it was also clearly not a plane. Perhaps it could best be described as a winged but pilot-less fuel propelled flying bomb.
Because of its limited range, the thousands of V-1 missiles launched into England were fired from launch facilities along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts. Approximately 10,000 were fired at England; 2,419 reached London, killing about 6,184 people and injuring 17,981.
MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
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