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http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/v1.htm

Above -- A German V-1 bomb in flight about to crash and explode in London. (Photo credit: U.S. National Archives)

The 'V' came from the German word Vergeltungswaffen, meaning weapons of reprisal. The V-1 was developed by German scientists at the Peenemünde research facility on the Baltic Sea, under the direction of Wernher von Braun and Walter Dornberger.

They were nicknamed "buzz bombs" by the British due to the distinct buzzing sound made by the pulse-jet engines powering the bombs, which overall resembled a small aircraft. Other British nicknames included "doodlebugs" and "flying bombs." Each V-1 was launched from a short length catapult then climbed to about 3,000 feet at speeds up to 350 miles per hour.

As the V-1 approached its target, the buzzing noise could be heard by persons on the ground. At a preset distance, the engine would suddenly cut out and there would be momentary silence as the bomb plunged toward the ground, followed by an explosion of the 1,870 pound warhead.

The first V-1s were launched against London on June 13, 1944, a week after the D-Day landings. During the first V-1 bombing campaign, up to 100 V-1s fell every hour on London. Over an 80 day period, more than 6,000 persons were killed, with over 17,000 injured and a million buildings wrecked or damaged.

Unlike conventional German aircraft bombing raids, V-1 attacks occurred around the clock in all types of weather, striking indiscriminately, causing suspense and terror among the population of London and parts of Kent and Sussex.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill recalled, "One landed near my home at Westerham, killing, by cruel mischance, twenty-two homeless children and five grownups collected in a refuge made for them in the woods."

According to German records, 8,564 were launched against England as well as the port of Antwerp, with about 57 percent actually reaching their designated targets. The remainder failed as a result of antiaircraft guns, barrage balloons, and interception by fighter planes.

Over 29,000 V-1 bombs were built, mainly through slave labor at a huge underground factory near Nordhausen. Launch sites and production facilities were specially targeted by Allied bombers during Operation Crossbow. In those raids, nearly 2,000 Allied airmen were killed.

Eventually, British and American planes knocked out the majority of the launching sites. By September of 1944, however, the Nazis introduced the V-2 rocket, a liquid-fueled rocket that traveled at supersonic speeds as high as 50 miles, then hurtled down toward its target at a speed of nearly 4,000 miles per hour, smashing its 2,000 pound high explosive warhead into the ground without warning. Unlike the V-1, the V-2 rockets could not be intercepted. Over a thousand were fired at London.


I just finished watching an old movie called "Operation Crossbow".  Excellent study in courage, by the way.

How can anybody look at the numbers in the above article (6,000 killed, 17,000 wounded and a million buildings destroyed or damaged) and think a madman like Saddam would act any different?

The Brits have such short memorys.

Just food for thought.

LOKI

 

1 posted on 09/28/2002 6:29:04 PM PDT by Lokibob
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To: Lokibob
So what there where 400,000 last week protesting the ban on fox hunting.

Tells you what more dear to the british.

BTW it maybe time for the Final Option.

2 posted on 09/28/2002 6:35:58 PM PDT by dts32041
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3 posted on 09/28/2002 6:36:25 PM PDT by Mo1
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To: Lokibob
The Brits have such short memorys.

I looked at the pictures. It seems to me that many of the protesters are of Arab descent. They weren't there during WWII.
And remember that at least some of the terrorists came from a Mosque in England.

The Brits have a real problem with the terrorists; they just haven't been hit yet. If we don't clean out Iraq, they will be next.

4 posted on 09/28/2002 6:52:46 PM PDT by speekinout
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To: Lokibob
To the Brits:
Iraq at the present time is a threat to the United States and the rest of the Free
World! Iraq cannot be allowed to develope or possess weapons of mass
destruction. Sadam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction on his own
people as well as having used them during Iraq's war with Iran(It's being looked
into if he used them against Our troops during the Gulf War). I would not be
surprised if Hussein's regime backed the attack on New York and Washington on
9/11!!!! To allow Hussein's Regime to aquire(if he has'nt already) Nuclear
weapons or transfer weapons of mass destruction technology to other Terrorist
entities would be Disastrous!!!! Hussein and his Bathe Party are very Brutal(with
proven Deadliness) to Iraq's own people. Don't believe the Democrats party line
that War with Iraq is not part of the War On Terror!!!! Eliminating Hussein and his
Bathe Party and replacing it with a Free and Democratic Government helpful to
the Iraqi people as well as the rest of the world will be a BIG VICTORY in the
WAR ON TERROR!!!! The War On Terror and Eliminating Hussein is one and
the same!!!! Hussein and his Bathe party are proven terrorist(against Kuwait as
well as his own people) that must be eliminated!!!!
5 posted on 09/28/2002 6:54:13 PM PDT by Defender2
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To: Lokibob; All

Translation:

The Syrian regime murders 20.000 fundamentalists...

Saddam Hussein butchers countless Shi'its and Kurds (also with poison-gas)...

In Algeria and Afghanistan there are a lot of terrible massacres...

The Americans launch cruise-missiles on the Taliban...

7 posted on 09/28/2002 7:05:34 PM PDT by knighthawk
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To: Lokibob
The only thing that saved London was that the guidance systems on the V weapons were rather crude, with todays
navigational systems, even these V-1's would be a serious
threat.

Iraq? What are we waiting for?!
11 posted on 09/28/2002 7:11:43 PM PDT by tet68
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To: Lokibob
Say, didn't these same people, make the same marches,

In 1938 !

Iraq? What are we waiting for?!

12 posted on 09/28/2002 7:13:39 PM PDT by tet68
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To: Lokibob
Somebody's lying. The above article sez 250K marchers. This article sez 50K. So, who's telling the truth? Probably neither! LOL
16 posted on 09/28/2002 7:33:17 PM PDT by upchuck
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To: Lokibob
OK, I did the math. If someone counted people at the rate of one person per second, it would take 69.44 hours to count 250,000 people, in other words almost 3 days. Anyone here besides me doubt whether such a count took place?
18 posted on 09/28/2002 8:28:11 PM PDT by yooper
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To: Lokibob
"The Brits have such short memorys."

Maybe so, but this march represented 1/240th of the British people if the most optimistic figures are to be believed.




20 posted on 09/28/2002 8:44:19 PM PDT by Tomalak
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To: Lokibob
Demonstrators bring the streets of London to a standstill with a message of peace

I for one am getting more than a little tired of these jerks and their "message of peace". Quarter-million idiots who couldn't their buts with both hands and a road map
27 posted on 09/28/2002 9:15:25 PM PDT by Valin
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To: Lokibob
Well it looks like Daschle, Gore and Kennedy energized the Terrorist. Their supporters seem to be out in full force.
35 posted on 09/28/2002 9:37:13 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: Lokibob
Another thread has this number at 50,000 not 250,000!
36 posted on 09/28/2002 9:42:43 PM PDT by Let's Roll
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To: Lokibob
In this case peace is really war. The marchers were marching for the Islamonazis to wage war upon and destroy hated Western civilization. Appearances can be deceiving and rest assured the marchers in the London Nuremberg Rally were for anything but peace.
41 posted on 09/28/2002 10:44:32 PM PDT by goldstategop
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