V-1 Flying Bomb
How the ski base was supposed to work
As I mentioned on the previous page, the launch sites such as Ligescourt were never actually put to use but the basic system of launch was the same for the light launch sites.
Some of the photos above were taken in the Bois Carré (Square Wood) at Yvrench on the far side of Crécy. This was the very first ski site observed by the RAF in 1943. It is located in a small wood very similar to that at Ligescourt. It was more badly damaged however and the wood appears to be uncultivated. There are at least another two launch sites in small woods within a radius of three kilometres.
The missiles would be delivered to the site and pass through the preliminary construction building. This contained offices along one side of its length and a long workshop along the other. In this workshop the nose cone was fitted and the engine tested. The wings would not be fitted until later in order to conserve space in the Ski bunkers which were used to stock the missiles prior to launch.
Each base had three of these 80 metre bunkers which were destined to hold the compliment of 27 missiles (A day's launching). It was these oddly shaped buildings at Yvrench that gave the sites their nickname.
In order to prepare each V-1 for launch it was brought down to a second workshop which contained compressors for filling the air spheres that powered the guidance system. It was in this workshop that the launch trolley and its steam catapult were thoroughly rinsed off after every launch, to eliminate any trace of the chemicals that powered the catapult.
Immediately next door to this building was a soft water pumping station. Washing the equipment down was such an essential part of the launch process that it was all important to use distilled water - the natural water in the north tends to be extremely hard due to the chalk.
Underground bunkers stocked the two chemicals used to power the catapult. One (Z-Stoff) contained the potassium permanganate and the other (T-Stoff) the hydrogen peroxide. It was realised that under no circumstances should the two chemicals come into contact with each other prior to the launch.
In the antimagnetic building or Richthaus the V-1 had its wings and detonators fitted and the guidance system calibrated. It was essential for the calibration that there was no ferrous metal nearby (the door hinges were sometimes made of wood) and that the building was exactly aligned with the launch ramp situated about 50 metres away.
This is a very large building and ours at Ligescourt is used by the locals as a shelter whilst cutting the trees in the wood.
The launch pads were extremely well anchored to ensure that the ramp didn't move on launching the missile. I have read that the vibration at launch was so violent that the firing party in their bunker had to wear protective equipment to stop them being shaken to death.
One of the big differences between the Ligescourt site and a modified light base was the fact that at the original sites the launch ramp was protected by two huge walls almost a metre thick. These walls mimicked the angle of the ramp and opened out at the base into a funnel shape.
A small bunker was placed in the left-hand sector of this funnel and it was from here that the launch would be effected. In the original bases there is only the one observation porthole, but later versions used on the lighter sites were given better observation and were thus the only part of the set up that was ameliorated.
In general the angle of launch was about six degrees and it would be true to say, in the vast majority of cases, that if you follow the walls' direction you are looking towards London, about 200 kilometres away !
The V-1 was placed on a launch trolley which connected to a piston inside a tube running the length of the 48 metre ramp. The steam catapult was then fitted to the base of this tube. The firing sequence combined the two reactive chemicals within the catapult which instantly produced great quantities of steam at about 600 Celsius. The piston was retained by a simple pin and as soon as the pressure was great enough it broke the pin and the trolley was propelled up the ramp at 400 kph catapulting the V-1 into the air. From there on the on-board motor would keep the missile in flight all the way to its destination.
The firing crew would collect the trolley and clean up the launch ramp. As potassium permanganate is exceedingly corrosive everybody had to wear protective clothing.
At the receiving end
Both my parents were in London during the Blitz.
Our main recollections of this dreaded weapon was the fact that they bombed us in a totally indiscriminate way. The target was chosen simply by how much fuel was left in the tank.
We were alerted by the roaring sound their jet propulsion engine made as they passed overhead. Flying blowlamps we called them because of the flames belching from the cigar shaped pipe. Stubby little wings unlike any aircraft we had ever seen. The word rocket was now on everyone's lips.
We were soon to realise that whilst their sound was still going we were safe, but then as the fuel was finally used up the flames would cease and a deathly silence would warn us that only seconds remained before they would fall to earth and deliver their load of destruction. And just as the bombs landed in a random way, so the buildings would be destroyed in various ways.
A direct hit on a block of offices in Borough High Street, killed everyone, yet in Putney, a house lost only one complete wall, leaving it looking like an open doll's house with the kitchen table laid up for breakfast, eggs still in the eggcups and the teapot ready for pouring, amazing!
On reflection these weapons were a constant source of fear. One just didn't know when they would appear overhead, and although many were destroyed, before they could enter our city by the anti-aircraft batteries dotted around the coast, some did make it through to add to the misery of so many years of the Blitz.
Little did we know that in the wings there waited an even worse weapon. One that didn't give any warning of its approach. Ten times the size of the Buzz bomb. High trajectory with a deep angle of silent descent.
Scientists are wonderful people, but appear to be misguided so easily by evil men.
See also
Hilary spins and knits a Tommy