Weapons in World War II

“Death is sure, rapid, and relatively painless.”(Brian Ford, German Scientist and writer). The use of gases, rockets, and flamethrowers increased the casualty rate dramatically. Some of the new weapons that were developed for WWII were flamethrowers, which increased the casualty rate, poison gases like sarin and phosphorous that increased the speed of death, and the German V weapons that were used to attack an enemy from a distance.

German vengeance weapons, also called V weapons, were made to attack London from France as a last ditch effort to destroy London and turn the tide of the war. The first attack using one of the V weapons was a week after D-Day. There were three types of V weapons. The V1 was the first to be developed, but did not do enough damage and could easily be shot down. The V2 was another bomb that went at the speed of sound and did a large amount of damage. The V2 could not be stopped once in flight (V2). The V3 was the third and final weapon of the V weapons that was capable of hitting London with a bomb every 12 seconds, but only two smaller scales were made and fired only a few rounds (“German Vengeance Weapons”). They were the final attempt and may have changed the war if they started to make them earlier in the war.

The V1 was the first made V Weapon and the first fired was a week after D-Day. The V1 was nicknamed “Cherry Bombs” by Hitler. The V1 reached a height of 300 feet and a speed of 400 mph. There were 8564 V1 rockets recorded that were launched, but only 50% made it to London. On June 13th, 1944, 100 v1 rockets hit London every hour for about 80 days. At the end of the 80 days more than 6000 people were killed and left 17000 wounded. The British needed to defend the attacks so they placed most of their anti-aircraft guns and set-up 800 barrage balloons. The British also sent pilots in the air to knock the rockets off course, but many people were still killed or wounded from the rockets (Trueman). The V1 rocket was the first of the V1 series and was also called the A4 rocket.

The V2 was the second vengeance weapon used in WW2. The rocket was mainly used against London and, unlike the V1, the majority hit London. London civilians did not know about the V2 rocket until the first one hit. The V2 could travel at the speed of sound and could not be stopped or seen once in flight. The rocket weighed 13 tons and stood 46 feet tall. It took the rocket 30 seconds from launch to hit the speed of sound and flew 30 to 60 miles high (Trueman). The V2 rocket was a scientific breakthrough and was the first liquid hydrogen bomb made.