Air Launched V-1 Campaign Book Request

[hucks216]

Hello all,
Would anyone know of a good English language book that covers the air launched V-1 campaign with details of the operations & the various Kampfgeschwader's roles in it? I have the three The Blitz T&N volumes and while I have heard of Air-Launched Doodlebugs: Hitler's V 1 Missiles And III/KG 3 & 53 by Peter J.C. Smith judging by the reviews on both Amazon and in this section the title seems to be a bit misleading as it sounds like it covers the British counter-measures more than the German operations themselves. Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Hi,

Do you mean "Air-launched doodlebugs - The forgotten campaign" by Peter J. C. Smith (ISBN 1-84415-401-7)? I have a copy and read it some time ago. Quoting from memory and by briefly leafing through the book, your impression is generally correct: The book shows in chronological order what happened regarding the air launched V-1 operations: How many V-1s were launched and by which units, where they crashed, damage done etc. This information is indeed mostly from the British side, but on the other hand that is quite thorough: You'll get eyewitness accounts (victims, RAF pilots), bomb plots, crash sites (Then and Now!), all the countermeasures taken with technical details, LW aircraft losses etc. You'll definitely get the idea at the end of the book that you know in general what has happened.

The only thing that might disappoint you after reading the book is that you will still not have a feeling of how it felt to be on the German (Luftwaffe) side of things. There are hardly any German eyewitness accounts (so far I only found BF Hans Hoehler, of KG53)..I don't know if this is because nobody of the participants on their side survived the war or that the author just didn't manage to make contact with them..Not much German photos either, but the ones that are in the book (from Hans Lachler) show the whole sequence from preparing the V-1 on the ground through how it is being installed on the He 111.

My personal opinion: With these caveats I would pick up a copy, certainly if you can find one below the asking price of 20 Pounds. (I have seen examples for 14 Pounds.)

Hope this helps,

Marcel

[hucks216]

Thank you Marcel. It isn't so much eye witness accounts from the German side that I seek, more details showing which Staffel/Gruppe took part on what raids on what dates, their targets etc especially anything relating to KG 53.
I have been able to find a copy of the Peter Smith book for £11 so it may be worth obtaining it to see what it contains.

[Bombphoon]

Chaps - I think you're being a little bit harsh on the book.

It is the ONLY book to deal purely with the campaign.

It DOES have German details: it has German unit details, which raids these units participated in, even times of the raids.

The reason why there is very less German detail is because a) the campaign only lasted about 6 months of the whole war b) only 1 or 2 units were involved c) both units were part of Luftflotte 2, whose records were destroyed at the end of the war.

Nonetheless it is a very good and detailed book and if you're interested in the campaign, you will enjoy it.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Hi Bombphoon,

Never meant to be harsh. Just wanted to inform people that you do not get the 50/50 ratio regarding Luftwaffe vs. RAF data as some might have expected. And as I said above, the data itself is good.

Regards,

Marcel

[Chris Goss]

I am afraid that I reviewed Peter J C Smith's book for an aviation magazine and I found it was not the complete picture but if you wanted a book which covered the British side well, this book is for you. I would agree with Marcel's analysis-I have contacted a number of surviving KG 3/KG 53 crews from this period and have quite a number of photos but none show the V1 in situ

[hucks216]

Thanks for the replies guys. As it appears to be the only book that deals exclusively with the campaign and provides some mission details for the Luftwaffe aspect I think I will take a chance on it.
Reason I asked is that I have a Wehrpass to an air gunner who served in 4./KG 53 and on the campaign pages of the WP it states that he flew on 10 sorties against the UK during this period.

[Chris Goss]

I have all the NVM for KG 3 and KG 53 for this period so if you have any specifics, PM me

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Bombphoon

both units were part of Luftflotte 2, whose records were destroyed at the end of the war.

A typo there: it was Luftflotte 3 and translations of some of their daily ops reports (including the opening of the air-launch campaign in July 1944) are in the the National Archives.

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

A typo there: it was Luftflotte 3 and translations of some of their daily ops reports (including the opening of the air-launch campaign in July 1944) are in the the National Archives.

Thanks Nick.