V-1 flying bomb

The V-1 flying bomb (also called the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug) was a World War II weapon.Cooksley, Peter 1979. Flying Bomb, the story of Hitler's V-Weapons in World War II. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Haining, Peter 2002. The Flying Bomb War: contemporary eyewitness accounts of the German V1 and V2 raids on Britain 1942–1945. London: Robson Books. ISBN 978-1-86105-581-1 

It was a flying bomb, an early cruise missile. Its jet engine made it travel at 350 mph (600 kmph).  The Luftwaffe aimed it at London, and also Antwerp in Belgium. V-1s destroyed nearly as many houses as the Blitz did but killed fewer: 22,892 people were killed by the weapon. 

The Allies tried to stop these attacks by bombing their launching places, by shooting at them in the air, and by flying fast planes close to them and nudging them off course using their wings.

They had a fairly crude guidance system. Overall, only about 25 per cent of V-1s hit their targets. Most were lost lost by defensive measures, mechanical unreliability or guidance errors.

Related pages
 V-2 rocket

References

Category:Explosives
Category:Nazi Germany