V-1 flying bomb facilities
To carry out the planned V-1 "flying bomb" attacks on the United Kingdom, Germany built a number of military installations including launching sites and depots. Some of the installations were huge concrete fortifications.
The Allies became aware of the sites at an early stage and carried out multiple bombing raids to destroy them before they came into use.
Production
The robot was sub-contracted by centers like Bruns Werke and Neidersachswerfen's Mittelwerk. The unpiloted aircraft was assembled at the KdF-Stadt Volkswagenwerke at Fallersleben, and at the Mittelwerk, underground factory in central Germany. Production plants to modify several hundred standard V-1s to Reichenberg R-IV manned aircraft were in the woods of Dannenberg and at Pulverhof, with air-launch trials at Lärz and Rechlin. Flight testing was performed by the Luftwaffe at Peenemünde West and, after the August 1943 Operation Hydra bombing, at Brüsterort. Launch crew training was at Zempin, and the headquarters for the operational unit, Flak-Regiment 155, was originally based at Saleux, near Amiens, but was subsequently moved to a chateau near Creil, with the unit's telephone relay station at Doullens.Other V-1 production-related sites included a Barth plant which used forced labor, Buchenwald, and Allrich in the Harz.
In addition to the storage and launching sites listed below, operational facilities included the airfields for Heinkel He 111 H-22 bombers which air-launched the V-1 from low altitude over the North Sea. The ten-day-long aircrew training was at Peenemünde, and the bases were at Gilze-Rijen airfield, Netherlands, for launches through 15 September 1944, and in Venlo for launches after the first week in December. Aircrews were billeted five miles away at Grossenkneten for secrecy.
Storage depots
To supply the V-1 flying bomb launch sites in the Calais region, construction began on several storage depots in August 1943. Sites at Biennais, Brécourt, Oisemont Neuville-au-Bois, and Saint-Martin-l'Hortier were not completed. An RCAF Halifax pilot's logbook describes the target of his raids on "flying-bomb sites" on July 1, 4, and 5, 1944, as "Biennais #1", "Biennais #2," and "Biennais #3". This suggests that these storage sites were perhaps not completed because they were destroyed prior to completion.The completed sites were:
- Domléger near Abbeville – bombed on June 14 and 16, and on July 4, 1944.
- Renescure near Saint-Omer – finished in November 1943, it was bombed by the USAAF on June 16, 1944, by 48 Consolidated B-24 Liberators and on July 2 by 21.
- Sautricourt near Saint-Pol.
A depot to serve Cherbourg launches was built near Valognes. By February/March 1944, a plan for three new underground V-1 storage sites was put into effect. The Nucourt limestone cave complex between Pontoise and Gisors was bombed on June 22, 1944 with 298 V-1s buried or severely damaged.One in the Rilly-la-Montagne railway tunnel was attacked by the British with Tallboy "earthquake bombs" on July 31, collapsing both ends of the tunnel. The Saint-Leu-d'Esserent mushroom caves was the largest of the underground V-1 sites. It was attacked by No. 617 Squadron RAF with Tallboys on July 4.
A larger "Heavy Crossbow" bunker was built at Siracourt, between Calais and the river Somme, as a V-1 storage depot.
RAF Bomber Command attacked "Bois de Cassan", "Forêt de Nieppe"
V-1 launch sequence
- Final Assembly: After moving the V-1 from the storage area, the wings were slid/bolted over/to the tubular spar.
- Final Checkout: In the non-magnetic building, "compass swinging" was completed by hanging the V-1 and pointing it toward the target. The missile's external casing of 16-gauge sheet steel was beaten with a mallet until its magnetic field was suitably aligned. The automatic pilot was set with the flight altitude input to the barometric height control and with the range set within the air log.
- Hoisting: The V-1 was delivered to the launching ramp via a wooden handling trolley on rails. A wooden lifting gantry on rails was connected to the V-1 lifting lug to hoist and move it onto the launching spot at the lower end of the launching ramp.
- Fueling and Charging: Via the tank filler cap, of petrol were added. The twin spherical iron air bottles were charged with air to power the automatic pilot. Air at powered the pneumatic servo-motors for the elevators and rudder.
- Catapult setup: The starter trolley with the hydrogen peroxide and catalyst was connected to provide steam to the ramp's firing tube, and the steam piston was placed into the firing tube with the piston's launching lug connected to the V-1.
- V-1 startup: While the steam-generating trolley was being connected, the Argus As 109-014 Ofenrohr pulsejet engine was started.
- Launch
- Post-launch: The steam piston, having separated from the V-1 at the end of the ramp during launch, was collected for re-use. Personnel in rubber boots and protective clothing used a catwalk along the ramp and washed the launching rail with brooms.
V-1 launching sites
V-1 launching sites in France were located in nine general areas – four of which had the ramps aligned toward London, and the remainder toward Brighton, Dover, Newhaven, Hastings, Southampton, Manchester, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Plymouth. The sites on the Cherbourg peninsula targeting Bristol and Plymouth were captured before being used, and eventually launching ramps were moved to Holland to target Antwerp.Initially the V-1 launching sites had storage buildings that were curved at the end to protect the contents against damage from air attacks. On aerial reconnaissance pictures these storage from above looked like snow skis. An October 28, 1943 intelligence report regarding construction at Bois Carré near Yvrench prompted No. 170 Squadron RAF reconnaissance sortie E/463 on November 3 which detected "ski-shaped buildings 240-270 feet long." By November 1943, 72 of the ski sites had been located by Allied reconnaissance, and Operation Crossbow began bombing the original ski sites on December 5, 1943. Nazi Germany subsequently began constructing modified V-1 launch sites with limited structures that could be completed quickly, as necessary. This also allowed the modified sites to be quickly repaired after bombing. The limited work necessary to complete a modified site before launching allowed the Allied photographic interpreters to predict on June 11, 1944, that the V-1 attacks would begin within 48 hours, and the first attacks began on June 13.
Allied attacks
| Site | "Noball" number | Bombing date | Notes |
| Abbeville/Amiens | 51 aircraft attacked 2 flying-bomb sites between Abbeville and Amiens. One was destroyed, but the other was not located. | ||
| Abbeville/Amiens | The Amiens site was attacked. | ||
| Abbeville | December 16/17, 1943 | 9 Avro Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked the "Abbeville site in a wood at Flixecourt" and dropped their 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs accurately on the markers placed by a Oboe-equipped Mosquito. The markers were 350 yards from the target and none of the bombs were within 100 yards of the markers. No aircraft lost. | |
| Abbeville | December 16/17, 1943 | 26 Short Stirlings attacked the "Tilley-le-Haut site near Abbeville" but failed because the Pathfinder markers of the Oboe-equipped de Havilland Mosquito were no closer than 450 yards from the small target. No aircraft lost. | |
| Abbeville | Near Abbeville, the 401 BG bombed the Gorenflos Noball target. | ||
| Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher | 27 | December 22/23, 1943 | The flying bomb site at Ailly was attacked without loss. |
| Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher | 27 | ||
| Abbeville | |||
| Abbeville | |||
| Abbeville | April 10, 1944 | The 457 BG bombed the Gorenflos Noball site. | |
| Abbeville | June 9, 1944 | ||
| Acquet | July 19, 1944 | 6 RAF Mosquitos on a diversionary raid bombed the Scholven/Buer and Wessling synthetic oil plants, railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny and "a flying-bomb launching site at Acquet". | |
| Beauvais | April 24 & 25, 1944 | The 397 BG bombed the Beauvoir V-1 site. | |
| Beauvais | May 16, 1944 | The Normandy V-1 storage site at Beauvais was bombed. | |
| Beauvais | June 11, 1944 | The 466 BS bombed the Beauvais V-1 storage depot. | |
| Beauvais | June 14, 15, & 16, 1944 | The Beauvais V-1 storage depot was bombed. | |
| Belloy-Sur-Somme | July 6, 1944 | The 487 BG bombed the V-weapon site. | |
| Bois Carré near Yvrench | February 10, 1944 | The 387 BG bombed the " V-1 site" | |
| Bonneton le Faubourg ski site | December 22/23, 1943 | 82 aircraft attacked flying bomb sites at Ailly, Bonneton and Bristillerie without loss. | |
| Bonneton le Faubourg ski site | January 14/15, 1944 | ||
| Bristillerie | December 22/23, 1943 | 82 aircraft attacked flying bomb sites at Ailly, Bonneton and Bristillerie without loss. | |
| Bristillerie | January 4/5, 1944 | ||
| Bristillerie | January 14/15, 1944 | ||
| Bouillancourt | April 13, 1944 | "Bouillancourt, near le Tréport", was attacked by No. 602 Squadron RAF and No. 132 Squadron RAF. | |
| Brécourt | November 11, 1943 | The 387th Bombardment Group records indicate Operation Crossbow bombing in Manche of a "Martinvast V-1 site" on 11 November 1943, which may have been Brécourt. | |
| Creil | July 2, 1944 | The Creil storage depot was bombed. | |
| Bois de la Justice | 74 | February 28, 1944 | 447 BG |
| Bois de la Justice | 74 | March 13, 1944 | 447 BG |
| Drionville | 50 | December 24, 1943 | 447 BG |
| Grand Parc | 107 | January 14, 1944 | 447 BG |
| Grand Parc | 107 | January 21, 1944 | 447 BG |
| Herbouville | January 27/28, 1944 | ||
| Herbouville | January 29/30, 1944 | 22 Mosquitos attacked the Herbouville flying-bomb site and Duisburg. | |
| La Briqueterie & Val-des-Joncs | August 2, 1944 | The 487 BG bombed the V-weapon sites. | |
| Laloge Au Pain | July 8, 1944 | The 487 BG bombed the V-weapon site. | |
| April 16, 1944 | The "heavily-defended ramp and bunkers at Ligercourt" were bombed in the "forest of Crécy near Abbeville." | ||
| Ligescourt | December 5, 1943 | B-26s of the Ninth Air Force attacked three V-1 ski sites near Ligescourt-Bois de St. Saulve, the first No-Ball mission. | |
| Lottinghen | March 13, 1944 | Ninth Air Force: 40 B-26s attacked a "V-weapon site at Lottinghen/Les Grands Bois", France; 37 abort due to bad weather. | |
| Maisoncelle | June 1, 1944 | ||
| Oisemont Neuville-au-Bois | June 20, 1944 | ||
| Oisemont | June 21, 1944 | ||
| Oisemont | June 23, 1944 | ||
| Oisemont | June 30, 1944 | ||
| Oisemont | July 1, 1944 | ||
| Söttevast | February 29/March 1, 1944 | 1 Mosquito to a "flying-bomb site at " | |
| Söttevast | March 3/4, 1944 | 2 Mosquitos to the " flying-bomb site" | |
| Söttevast | May 5, 1944 | ||
| Saint-Martin-l'Hortier | June 17, 1944 | ||
| Saint-Martin-l'Hortier | June 21, 1944 | ||
| Saint-Martin-l'Hortier | July 1, 1944 |