Project Backfire, 1945

Project Backfire was conducted by the British military in the months following the end of World War II as a demonstration of the tactical capabilities of the V-2 missile. This footage is taken from the rocket.aero DVD "The V-2 in America."

[@renetr6771]

What an amazing contemporary document. As a german, i learned a lot from this. The Brits did a great job making this precise dokumentation. Thx for uploading. Hope there is more like this.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

most of the scientists who developed the v2 went to the usa & were not sharing. The brits realised that people with experience of using the system were still valuable. these are the people who helped in project backfire.

[@stylianoskampouris6608]

They stole everything from germans

[@charleshultquist9233]

Fascinating! This long procedure took place while roving ground attack aircraft were strafing railroads and any other installations they could find.

[@MattesSPunkt]

Thank you for uploading this magnificent documentation.

[@Daniel-S1]

Thanks, I hadn't realised the launch sequence was so lengthy.

[@rosesprog1722]

Absolutely fascinating, I had no idea a film like this existed, thanks.

[@ahvram]

Amazingly condensed detail-- Thank you for posting this.

[@steveskouson9620]

The shape of that igniter, is quite telling! steve

[@utubedaveg]

It was no joke to the people of England but Hitler wasted a lot of resources that would have helped more in other places. With more time though this technology would have paid off. Its a good thing he ran out of time. Thankyou for this interesting documentary.

[@rydplrs71]

Germany was defeated with conventional weapons. If they focused on them they would have lasted longer, we were able to out produce them with conventional weapons and also built super weapons that saved many allied lives in the pacific. If all of the German super weapon efforts went into nuclear technology the world might be a very different place. If the resources that went into the v2, the me262, the v3, the super tiger, and the gustov gun went into nukes and conventional weapons it would have been a whole different result.

[@jaymastrude7074]

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[@free-birdrocker8809]

The gyros being explained really cleared up some questions, it makes complete sense. Turbo pumps made it possable for that puppy to really get some thrust. Von Braun really had the right stuff back then. His technology is still being used.

[@minirock000]

He is another sin in America's past. Thousands more people died at the factory the rockets were manufactured than were killed by the payload. He sure had the murderous stuff alright.

[@free-birdrocker8809]

@@minirock000 I don't need to hear that negative race hustling crap man! Merica is Numero uno. All other countries are crap. Get over it. Stallin and mao say toungue murdered 20+ million folks and You never hear a peep about them, hell you jackasses worship commies. Now look at russia, they are commie dictators threatining global nuke war if we help out. Now the whole plannet is being bio-weaponed-the choice of commie rats, slaughtered and race baited and hustled, Don't bug me again with race hustling man!

[@renetr6771]

But he wasn't that one that invented that turbo pump, and he also did not solve the mathematics for liquid fueled rockets. Ofc, he was a brilliant mind, his work based on other brilliant minds. Moore, Ziolkovski and the german manufacture who invented a turbo pump (not for rockets).

[@mikehiggins946]

​@@minirock000you're right! The U.S. should have paid Von Braun's moving expenses to Moscow where this terrible ex-Nazi could've used his unique talent and vision to help another evil regime take the lead in the space race and the development of ICBM's. By the way, what do you think you would have done if you had been a talented young scientist who happened to have been born in Germany and grown up under Nazi rule? You would have worked for the Nazis, that's what you would've done because as you well know if you didn't the prospects of your life continuing would have been seriously hampered.

[@datadavis]

@@minirock000 All would have been better if germany won the war.

[@anisocoro]

behind this complicate, but effective, procedure there were nearly ten years of intensive research at Peeneemunde and previously a large theoretical work by Von Braun himself- his Doktorarbeit thesis in 1934 was about the mathematical Physics of combustion chambers-. It would have been impossible for British or USA scientists to replicate such a work in only one year

[@Oldsteamer2]

Those men were extremely well-fed and cared for in the last stage of the war.

[@conveyor2]

And for years thereafter.

[@westlock]

This launch was performed six months after the war. No doubt, the German technicians were offered British Army rations for several weeks in return for their cooperation.

[@ypaulbrown]

what a wonderful video.....thank you so much, Paul in Central Florida, USA about 30 miles due west of Cape Canaveral

[@jonathanfrank4473]

The rocket that could have reached the USA was reported in an article in Popular Science around 1950. For the pilot, it was a one way trip to a point where he could parachute into the USA and function as an espionage agent.

[@nickmues437]

I'd like to know how he would safely eject while moving 4000 miles an hour!

[@OldMtnGeezer]

All that incredible (for its time) technology, material, manufacturing, & manpower - all that for the sole purpose of self-destruction in an explosion designed specifically to violently end the lives of as many fellow human beings as possible. War is indeed hell.

[@UNKN0WN_1]

I wonder how many people have died to get to that stage of research and development of the process.

[@a1nelson]

@@UNKN0WN_1 I heard from a fairly credible source that more were killed in manufacturing (by slave labor) than were killed in England. Regardless of the exact numbers, conditions during manufacturing were horrendous, and represent a crime unto themselves. What a waste.

[@Oliplaysdota]

@@UNKN0WN_1 Only now found this video. Actually, the A4 is afaik the only weapon ever developed, which cost more lives (~20k) in its development than in its usage.

[@UNKN0WN_1]

@@Oliplaysdota crazy...

[@jwenting]

@@Oliplaysdota there were many such, but only if you count such weapons systems that were developed but never deployed operationally because of the high rate of accidents during testing.

[@kevinoverbeck4250]

To think, this material was extremely top secret at the highest levels at the time.

[@lucasrem1870]

They use open market parts, i remember someone found the sodium pump, and knew what it was. Enigma the same, my family's company owned one too, not the army version! everyone found them, many failed, some landed complete without any damage.

[@sierramike5259]

Yeah...my neighbors hate it every time I launch one of these things.....so now I only do New Years and 4h of July...

[@lucasrem1870]

@@sierramike5259 The London people are the next neighbors, that's why they did that here...

[@MM22966]

I giggle every time I use my smartphone camera. Spies & weapon researchers in the Cold War would have delivered their first born for the kind of miniaturized tech we routinely take for granted.

[@kevinoverbeck4250]

@@MM22966 for real!

[@daffidavit]

It's amazing how much similarity there was from this to the space shuttle. For example the paper cups put over the oxygen vains that fell off from the blast. Also, the Germans used a similar, but smaller VAB to build the rockets.

[@rfarevalo]

No it is not amazing. Paper cups are used in all kinds of industrial processes for a century to protect nozzles, pipes, parts, and fittings. There is no similarity to the space shuttle. That is why only by reaching were you able to find two so called "similarity". You are wrong.

[@daffidavit]

OK, professor you win. @@rfarevalo

[@sixstringedthing]

You're not entirely wrong, in that the V2/A4 was the first liquid-fueled bipropellant rocket able to actually lift a useful payload to very high altitudes, so there's a direct lineage from STS all the way back to the development work that was done by the Nazis at Peenemunde. However, that lineage really only applies in terms of "basic" stuff like injector/combustion chamber/nozzle design, turbopump development, propellant chemistry, mechanical engineering and construction techniques. Advances in fields like engine design and manufacturing, materials science, digital flight control/guidance systems, life support systems, and ground handling operations which were necessary to enable Shuttle to do what it did would have absolutely blown the minds of Von Braun and his team!

[@Axgoodofdunemaul]

Fascinating details about the rocket. Leave it to the Brits to give us a matter-of-fact explanation with no nonsense. All those rounded-up German crewmen sucking away on their American cigarettes. They were probably starved for smokes by the final surrender. If only some of them were still alive today to comment on this film.

[@oleriis-vestergaard6844]

Better sucking on american cigarettes than slave out in sibyria in minus 20 degrees with nearly no food i would think

[@tommyjonq]

BTW, the real KEY technology to rocket flight was that pump he baaaaarrreeely mentioned.

[@slehar]

Absolutely incredible! Thanks!

[@PacoOtis]

Excellent video! Had no idea there so very many steps.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Did you know that Germany (in early 1945) even had a very rare Skoda Version of the A4 with so called "Feststoffantrieb" (solid fuel propellant) that eleminated the tanking procedure, those rare rockets could be stored and transported ready for fire...

[@psycronizer]

seriously ? that is news to me ! like another comment here I know about the A4/V2 but this film really helps to put into perspective the amount of effort that they put into killing people...all this..just to sow chaos fear and death. Absolutely ingenious people I dread to think what else the NAZI's would have cooked up if the war went on for 5 more years...

[@Schlipperschlopper]

@@psycronizer Yes the man behind that was Dr. Bödewadt and Dr. Teichmann of Skoda Waffenunion located in Pribram (German occupied Czechia) and Dr. Rolf Engel.

[@lucasrem1870]

There are more vergeldungs waffens, many did design, V2 was the original orbital only!

[@peppertrout]

Were they @ solid propellant V2 or are you thinking of some of the other rockets like Wasserfall or Schmeterlinge?

[@Schlipperschlopper]

No a small series of V2 solid fuel rockets with Dr. Teichmanns/ Dr. Bödewadts system@@peppertrout

[@daveruff47]

As a former Pershing 1a crew member, this video is fascinating.

[@robertmatch6550]

Back in the day my family visited the Smithsonian Museum in Washington where they had a V-2 exhibit and my father and I went over its detailed display of some of the plumbing downstream of the turbine pumps.

[@philiphorner31]

What was crazy was that the effort put in these rockets did nothing to defeat the allies.

[@howardsimpson489]

But kept Hitler from more effective weapon manufacture.

[@jessepollard7132]

@@howardsimpson489 well he did want the A-10. an intercontinental version.

[@DavidMcMillan888]

I usually keep my meillerwagon near my garden shed unless we have an outdoor party for the large gazebo. It’s ideal- don’t know how we got on without it. The alcohol tank is usually drained on the day, and even the oxygen comes in useful by sunset.

[@skelejp9982]

The amount of men used, to fire just 1 rocket, is amazing. Combined with multiple hazardous situations, every time. Like transporting fuel, and warheads. An interesting fact is that the Germans fired more V2s at Antwerp, than any other place.

[@Sgt_Bill_T_Co]

I own one of those gyro motors, they are surprisingly small for their time.

[@FroggyFrog9000]

Such a labour intensive process!!

[@gekolizzard]

They had a lot of free labour

[@geneticdisorder1900]

You should see how much labor goes into fixing/ repairing a tuna tube can “ us submarine “ Fhak the nazi navy !!!

[@Johnketes54]

Having TWO trucks when ONE was adequate

[@donovandelaney3171]

I love the look of the V-2 Rocket.

[@martinnermut2582]

Its cartoon shape :-)

[@iworkout6912]

Many Hollywood Sci fi movies made in the 50's and 60's used some of these films made of the V2 in their story line. You will see a V2's taking off or landing, pretending they are man carrying rockets.

[@kimmoj2570]

When you look carefully, the firing troops have their rank insignia and medals removed. This British operaration/demonstration was made with German prisoners of war, who could operate A4. Brits themselves could had only gawk the missile.

[@boblordylordyhowie]

You can see from the accuracy of the information how it has changed very little since those days, the fuels are virtually the same except for the Tischtof, which was highly volatile. It is said that German pilots flying the first rocket planes did not want to land before running out of fuel, as landing, could be the death of you, when the fuel exploded. Seeing the construction of the vehicle and transportation is almost the same, except on a larger scale. It shows one classic thing the British excel in, failure to produce. With all this technology and information the British do not have a space agency or rocket sites. There are many other examples of British ingenuity being squandered by the government.

[@jessepollard7132]

Yup -ignoring the Whittle jet plane was a big failure. The RAF could have had the first jet plane had they followed up as they were supposed to do.

[@romanroad483]

Britain did have have a space program, we developed a rocket that put a satellite into orbit on its second attempt, and then the government cancelled the whole program. It's what we do, spend lots of money on projects and cancel them just as they come to fruition.

[@JRCinKY]

Amazing and so complicated. The Germans sure had their "Shit Togsther"

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

I thought is was cool that the initial ignition only yielded 8 tons of thrust on the 12 ton rocket, until they spooled up the turbines (pumps) to 25 tons and off it went.

[@iggy9955]

Fantastic video

[@WildBillCox13]

Gotta have that cigarette . . . even when cranking the turntable around. Crank, crank, crank . . . ah, that sweet smoke . . . crank crank crank . . .

[@wbeaty]

While the above was happening, over in the USA, ridicule of rockets was so bad that Von Karman, Malina, Parsons etc. had to call them "Jets." They'd see Goddard's career destroyed by loud disbelief (championed by the New York Times, who famously insisted that rocket engines have nothing to push against.) If they hadn't called them "jets," any of their proposals would have been met with sneering an laughter. (What, give money to build Buck-Rogers fantasy space ships?! Are you going to use them to fly to the moon? ) So, the strap-on rockets invented for launching military aircraft were called JATO, for "Jet" -Assisted Take Off. They next founded a new company, JPL, "Jet" propulsion labs, which only worked on rocket engines. No jets. In 1945, German use of V-2 rockets would have been surprising as if, say, Iraq had invaded neighboring countries using antigravity flying-saucers equipped with death-rays (plus an infantry composed of trained Bigfoots.) The universal target of sneering, those ridiculous fantasy Buck Rogers space ships, were raining down on London. Even today it hasn't changed, and the only one who could privately build a private rocket company, has to be a visionary billionaire spending their own money. This could have happened in 1970. It was forty years before any little kid believing in private space flight could grow up and make enough money to break the logjam of disbelief. (So today we have the Billionaire Race To The Moon. Or is it Mars?) - "The whole procedure [of shooting rockets into space]...presents difficulties of so fundamental a nature, that we are forced to dismiss the notion as essentially impracticable, in spite of the author's insistent appeal to put aside prejudice and to recollect the supposed impossibility of heavier-than-air flight before it was actually accomplished." -Sir R. Wooley, British astronomer, reviewing P.E. Cleator's "Rockets in Space", Nature, March 14, 1936 - "Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." - New York Times 1921

[@jo2lovid]

Almost surprised they didn't think the earth was flat!

[@howardsimpson489]

We have a similar mind set re vaccines.

[@oldguy7402]

The first "fly by wire" was the A4! It wasn't used in airplanes for many decades.

[@jessepollard7132]

There was no pilot for fly by wire in the A4.

[@zillsburyy1]

most of them were launched from the Netherlands

[@oleriis-vestergaard6844]

By a huge mistake a V2 rocket accidental chrased on a coast of sweden early in the war but it seems that the Allies did not get any information about it - but a V1 rocket landing on danish island Bornholm in early 1940-1941 , the local resistance movement managed to get lots of pictures before the germans sale the area off , these pictures was sent over to the british army and was used a lot in the growing flow of information originating from the Pennemunde test center which ended up with the bomber command sending the Lancasters to thrown bombs and destroying the plant and sending the rocket factory underground at Nordhausen and other places.

[@peekaboo4390]

2.45 the municipal museum on the Stadhouderslaan in the Hague.

[@mughug9616]

I use to pilot some of these. I tell you the launch did my back in every time. :)

[@Oldsteamer2]

It took me some time to understand the word "Meillerwagen". It refers to the name of the maker of trailers, tippers plus equipment like hydraulics and couplings "Meiller" in Munich and other cities.

[@daveruff47]

How did they program the guidance system for the proper trajectory?

[@jessepollard7132]

analog computer. basically a clock as a sequencer with preprogrammed contacts.

[@535phobos]

The gyros hold the rocket in the proper attitude. You then got a electro-mechanical sequenzer to pitch it over to around 43 degrees. The direction is determined on the firing platform by turning it the way you want the rocket to go. The distance is determined by the speed at Brennschluss (when the engine cuts out), either by radio signal or by the rockets simple computer. From them on it follows a ballistic trajectory like any artillery shell.

[@Cashpots]

Does this film actually come from The V2 in America? I ask as it is not shown in the list of contents on your web site. If it is included I will order immediately. Rob

[@rolandrodriguez3854]

Thanks!

[@fliegeroh]

Great video

[@liamsvensson1985]

great thank u for the upload

[@henerygreen578]

that was excellent... surprised they didn't bleed off some of the thrust for the fuel pump... when they figured out how to do it, it worked well on Saturn V......

[@daveruff47]

Obviously the advent of solid propellant was important to this venture.

[@MM22966]

I wonder how many of the that launch crew were Germans in British uniforms, hired as "subject matter experts".

[@claudiohess7692]

The way they move, all germans!!

[@ultrasoundguy1]

Very interesting. But as usual the subtitles add considerable humor; e.g. Meillerwagen became "my love organ" at 35:26!

[@rockyBalboa6699]

Now you have convinced me to buy a V2 German rocket!!

[@lucasrem1870]

all you need is updated guidance systems, steering engine, and your good! This design is good!

[@patrichausammann]

@@lucasrem1870 A cheap MCU, IMU with 6DoF and some matching MOSFETs should be good enough if you write a "small" software script to compensate for the drift factors.😉

[@cme98]

I’m sorry. The V2 is only available in propaganda. We only have the A4 but hurry, quantities are limited & flying out fast. You must provide your own war head, but the compartment comes fully assembled. Will you be paying in pounds sterling? American dollars? Oil or Gold?

[@voornaam3191]

It's Italy today. Ducati and Moto Guzzi (and more) are famous for their V2 engines.

[@voornaam3191]

When you own a good museum, you can buy one. Better do the paperwork first, countries do not like your V2 coming at 3000 mph.

[@garryclelland4481]

Oh dear did you notice the ignitor @ 35.15

[@jimirving3235]

The Russians have still been using a similar igniter recently on one of their older boosters.

[@jaywu9033]

Could also mention about accidents during fueling and launching. However I didn't know that whole launch process shouldn't last longer than about 1 hour.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Gloves in use when fuelling, but no eye protection, same situation for lathe operators and others in machine shops back then.

[@charlesachurch7265]

Thanks xxx

[@littleones-yeahh]

35:16 the igniter is an actual swastika

[@str8up598]

Good thing it took a long time.

[@bearlemley]

2:41 “A rocket can be launched from almost anywhere” FAA “Not if we can hold it up!”

[@lucasrem1870]

FAA are our friends, friends help friends!

[@minirock000]

As long as stages don't drop on the populace or an accident doesn't cause toxic propellants to come in contact with sensitive areas or people.

[@PBeringer]

@@minirock000 Damned sensitive people ...

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Are we at war?

[@jasonbirch1182]

Does anyone know what the tow vehicle is? Super cool.

[@MrOlgrumpy]

Faun,not sure what model 🙃

[@robertbolding4182]

the number of failures increased with time, that's called corrosion within the guidance system

[@jwooten1951]

Slave labor resistance pissed on the gyros

[@jessepollard7132]

not the guidance system - that was surprisingly reliable. corrosion and contamination of the fuel/oxidizer tanks.

[@DaysOfFunder]

This was great, but the best bit was at 37:00 "let's dunk our pendant car wash" - agreed commander, agreed 👍

[@DaysOfFunder]

With CC on obviously...

[@garysheppard4028]

Pfft. Rockets. They'll never amount to anything...

[@frankmeyer9984]

Wie ein Pfeil steigt sie empor; Der Sonne entgegen... ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@frankmeyer9984]

You did not "conquer", you and the USA *stole* our superior Technology

[@napraznicul]

That mean ENGINEERING at the top level.

[@DaveSCameron]

So it literally needed to be physically pointed and the futuristic gyroscopes followed that? Seems too simplistic to me?

[@jessepollard7132]

was - they left out the analog computer that was critical for proper guidance.

[@535phobos]

​@jessepollard7132 The computer still "only" kept the heading. You had to exactly point it at the target.

[@mrtomdorn]

Drop the warhead on the floor. TD Atlanta

[@talltanbarbie5136]

The A-4 (propaganda name "V-2") is the great-granddaddy of today's rockets. All of these steps are still done when launching modern rockets today.

[@gregoryretzlaff7884]

No. There is virtyally NO overlap in procedures with modern rockets. About the only commonality is the propellents flow in tubes, and the whole thing is lit by fire. EVERYTHING else is different. Think before you display your ignorance.

[@drstevenrey]

T-Stoff was short for Treibstoff, hence: fuel. Again, no idea what is what.

[@535phobos]

T-Stoff was the cover name for Hydrogen peroxide. It doesn't mean" Treibstoff". The rockets fuel was B-Stoff, a Ethanol-Water mixture

[@nigel900]

And the rest is History…

[@RhodeIslandWildlife]

It's a miracle they got as many of these birds airbourn.as they did. I wonder how many blew up on the pad.

[@mavjimbo]

By that time they all launched without much problems

[@salbers]

But, how did they target the gyros?

[@boptah7489]

They didn't , they used a clock to enable the gyros to tilt and make the rocket cant to 43 degrees. . Very primitive.

[@mwewering]

@@boptah7489 Also war die Himmelsrichtung egal, die Flugdauer und Antriebsphase waren unwichtig. Einfach eine Uhr - fertig. Wird schon ihr Ziel finden. "Very primitive", ein bemerkenswerter Kommentar.

[@ervie60]

@@boptah7489 Your are confusing the Vi with this; the VII or A4

[@boptah7489]

@@ervie60 No. The V2 The whole thing was very primitive. Pathetic really kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJDJgZeOgd1nbsU

[@ervie60]

@@boptah7489 Wrong Bo, the V2 used an accelerometer to shut off the rocket engine That clock you mentioned is used in the V1 to make a directional change after it was fired. Watch this to the end, the clock is mentioned: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3aoi6iOht50Y6c The V1 also had a counter that among other things extimated the distance and made the V1 dive. Compared to the V2 guidance system yes a lot simpler. Btw, the same German V2 engineers improved on the basic V2 guidance system. Instead of MIT Draper's ideas these "primitive" V2 guidance principles were later used for any US missiles up to Minuteman. The same goes for early Soviet guidance systems. A couple of top guidance boffins from Peenemuende showed Korelev and his comrades how to. In conclusion your remark misses the mark. It was also a non engineering decision to leave out many electronics that improves accuracy. The real breakthrough of the Germans was to use electronics instead of mechanical computing to guide a missile. But I guess you didn't know that form looking at that one video now did you?

[@Andreas-t2l]

The way to space.

[@andrewallen9993]

And a mosquito aircraft could carry twice the explosives far further and with more accuracy.

[@Jakob_DK]

And less dead on their side

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

And could be shot down at any stage of the flight. The A4 could not be defended against.

[@andrewallen9993]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 As bombers they were unarmed. This was because arms were not needed as they couldn't be caught.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@andrewallen9993 and yet several are known to have fallen victim to fighters and many more to flak. No A4s were lost in flight to fighters or flak.

[@andrewallen9993]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 You are 100% correct in that yet mosquitos were known to be able to hit a particular brick wall or building whilst the A4 had difficulty hitting London with half the payload.

[@hakansundstrombmwsweden7645]

Wunderwaffen , a lot of trouble for a bomb.

[@heho3568]

The Rocket was useless for the Germans whithout the atomik bomb, The german atomik bomb came to late to win the war for Germany.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

"The german atomik bomb" never arrived, never would have done so.

[@blxtothis]

And there is the birthplace of NASA!

[@romanregman1469]

It would have made a great way for executing a fast getaway for anyone who wanted to be in London in less than 30 minutes. It's a wonder none of the techs ditched the warhead to crawl into the now empty warhead space. In the US, a vip with lots of connections got permission to dispose of old ICBMs (without the warheads, of course). The way he disposed of them, was to sell rides on those. It was a fast and short ride, so no spacesuits, no oxygen beyond what was already in the compartment (there better be no farting), and the view from the portholes plus the 0G maybe offset the dangerous aspect of sudden disintegration due to the age of the equipment.

[@kiwitrainguy]

The landing would've been challenging though.

[@ericyell898]

good one😆

[@gregoryretzlaff7884]

Quit trolling, you asshole.

[@gregoryretzlaff7884]

No, a lousy troll from a troll.@@ericyell898

[@guyvessieres8902]

Very interesting documentary on W2 german advanced technic. Pity technicity of german ingeneers was used for a Bad cause. Respect for this technicity.

[@wetcanoedogs]

i see it took guys pulling on ropes to get it ready like Space X does.

[@drstevenrey]

He loves the term Meillerwagen. But clearly has no concept of what he is talking about. Meiller was the producer of the trailer. The trailer itself is called a 'transport launch vehicle' by normal monolinguists.

[@gordonstevens6050]

All that technology and effort and cost - only to destroy a house or two and kill a few civilians. No wonder it wasn't cost effective.

[@jessepollard7132]

hard to get a bomb to perform an air burst when falling at 3,000 mph.

[@markrowland1366]

To deny the allies the great port of Antwerp, so sent the majority of these there, not London.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

By which time London was out of range.

[@thomasfx3190]

The A4 only had 1700lb warhead. Frightening but not strategically important to the outcome of the war. If Hitler had bothered to support Heisenberg’s research he might have had small atomic weapons and only then would the A4 have possibly been a war winner.

[@davec3717]

Manganese I a lot of people don't even know what that is.

[@kurtwollermann2210]

very industrious chaps those germans

[@claudedarmstadter7774]

Deutsche Ingenieurkunst : weltweit begehrt.

[@abdirizakmuseibrahim513]

how did Germany lost the war when they are 100 years ahead of its opponents like us and British

[@stonewalljackson7590]

In 1940, Germany had 86 million people, while the rest of the world had a population of 2 billion and most were allied against Germany. While Germany had some advanced technologies, they had a problem of lack of natural resources like oil. The Allies just overwhelmed Germany with population, resources and industrial production. Germany was lucky to fall in May of 1945 or they most certainly would have been hit with nuclear bombs like Japan.

[@jessepollard7132]

stupid Hitler wouldn't listen to experts. Like trump, he assumed he was smarter than everyone else.

[@mikeray3453]

Very dangerous job

[@artatme]

Our people were not afraid and there were never deaths.

[@johndonaldson3619]

@@artatme except when it landed!

[@Matt2chee]

That was so cool!

[@Alarix246]

I am sure Elon Musk had seen this.

[@oleriis-vestergaard6844]

Yeah and said out loud - I WANT THIS SYSTEM , NOW

[@Alarix246]

@@oleriis-vestergaard6844 I think that if he admires Tesla's work to the degree we know he does, he should be on the ball. Your statement comes partly from the way you wouldd do it and partly from negative experiences of your unhappy life, which is understandable, we all lived through bad times more or less.

[@stevelong5999]

Wonderful The Germans are so smart

[@sapphiresomeday]

Not smart enough to build a heavy bomber which would have been much cheaper, reusable, a longer range and a bigger payload. How many say Liberators or Lancasters or B26's could have been built for the cost of producing a viable V2?

[@mtsenskmtsensk5113]

Steve Long, Well thats because their uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss, but seriously, their technology was planned to fight a war 10 years before anyone else knew there was going to be a war. The British and Americans made penicillin and superior radar, while the Germans made killing machines. Any country can appear superior if they are given such advanced notice.

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Killed more slaves in its making than in its use.

[@johnnoble01]

Interesting to see the ignition device was shaped like a swastika.

[@belushipumpkin]

So much work to hate on London.

[@KingPin-Tv]

This was in Peenemünde in Germany!!!

[@westlock]

No. By this time, Peenemünde was occupied by the Russians. This was filmed in the British-occupied zone.

[@jamesbugbee9026]

Hey Looey, put yer tongue on that white pipe...

[@samiam5557]

Take that Winston! 🤪

[@somebody6271]

35:12

[@brucephillip6456]

ooooh, ahhhhh, ooooo...