The 'weapon of vengeance' Germany's V-1 flying Buzz Bomb

GREENCASTLE

It looks like an antiquated missile system ready to launch against an enemy attack from the air.

It is anchored on the southwest corner of the Putnam County Courthouse in Greencastle.

But this weapon was not for defending; it was for attacking.

Built by Germany, it was used in World War II against the Allies.

German scientists working for the Luftwaffe first designed it in 1939 as one of the earliest auto-guided missile systems.

It could be launched on the ground from an elevated track or secured to the underside of a plane and dropped from the air.

Hitler began using it in 1944 against England as a terror bomb. And it did produce some terror.

Germany called it the Vergeltungswaffe (“Vengeance Weapon”).

The Allies called it the Buzz Bomb — for the buzzing sound that it made in flight — or Doodlebug.

The V-1 was 27 feet long, 17 feet wide and almost 5 feet tall. It weighed 4,740 pounds, which included its 2,000-pound warhead. It could travel distances of up to 160 miles at a speed of 400 miles per hour and at an altitude between 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

Germany produced 30,000 of them.

The fact that Hitler was using the pilotless missiles at all was evidence of his diminishing fleet of planes in the Luftwaffe.

In 1940, Hitler had begun his blitz bombing of London. While the bombs dropped from German planes resulted in much destruction of property and considerable loss of life, the cost in loss of planes and pilots proved to be too high for the Germans to sustain the air attacks.

Thanks to great aerial defense of England by British Spitfires and other planes, the Luftwaffe stopped their aerial attacks in May 1941.

They resumed the aerial bombing on June 13, 1944, with the V-1. Largely a response to the Allied landing at Normandy, the V-1s were launched from ground facilities along the Pas-de-Calais on the French coast.

From June to October, over 9,500 V-1 missiles were fired at southeast England. Sometimes over 100 of them were fired in one day.

Upon impact, the V-1 lived up to its German title, “vengeance weapon.” It packed a wicked explosive punch.

The British Royal Air Force and ground anti-aircraft artillery quickly grew in their knowledge and skill in successfully shooting down over 4,000 of the V-1s before they could detonate. But not before a large number had reached their target and caused terror and destruction.

Of the almost 10,000 buzz bombs that were fired at England, 2,419 hit targets in and near London, killing 6,184 Brits and injuring 17,981. The explosions also caused significant damage to buildings and property.

Their use against England progressively lessened as air and ground forces in France located and disarmed them. By October 1944, the Allies had captured or destroyed most of the V-1 launch sites in coastal France, bringing an end to their “vengeance” upon London.

From that point on, the retreating Germans directed their V-1 attacks on the port at Antwerp, Belgium, where most of the Allied supplies arrived from the United States. From October 1944 to March 1945, the German Luftwaffe successfully fired 2,448 V-1s that hit Antwerp.

The use of the V-1 continued until a month before Germany surrendered in May 1945.

Greencastle, the county seat in Putnam County, acquired a V-1 when resident, Frank Durham learned that the Buzz Bomb in U.S. possession was about to be destroyed.

Shortly after the war, the military was interested in analyzing Germany’s captured weapons. But the interest soon waned and, when storage space became a problem, the decision was made to scrap most of the weapons.

With the help of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1550 in Greencastle, Durham successfully acquired the V-1 from the military in 1946. His intended to display it as a memorial in his hometown.

It took an act of Congress, however, before permission was granted to allow the V-1 to be used as a war memorial. That legislation was passed and, on Nov. 11, 1947, the new memorial was dedicated.

The V-1 rests on a large limestone base that is in the shape of a V. The base was designed by DePauw university student Art Perry. And the limestone was a gift donated by Sen. William Hoadley, who lost his son in the war.

On the ground next to the limestone base is a marker that provides a brief description of the Buzz Bomb and states, “It is intended as a memorial to the men of Putnam County who lost their lives in World War II.”

A bronze plaque on the limestone base identifies the names of the 73 men from the county who are remembered.

It might seem peculiar at first for the citizens of Putnam County to have a German weapon of vengeance on display at their courthouse. Even more so, to use it as a memorial for the men from their county who died in that war.

However, in another respect, the peculiarity of the V-1s presence is ingenious.

While it is a weapon the Germans used against the Allies, it is also a weapon that ultimately, like every German weapon, was silenced.

Silenced because of the Allied air attacks and infantry advance that eventually killed or chased away the men needed to launch the V-1.

In retrospect, the limestone “V” platform of the memorial is not just the letter of the “V-1” — it is the first letter for “Victory” over Germany.

Putnam County pays tribute to their husbands, sons, brothers and friends who secured that victory with their lives.

I like to think the 73 men whose names appear on the plaque would be proud to be remembered in this way.

Only a few V-1s are on display in the United States today.

Ronald P. May (USN — Ret.) is author of the book, “Our Service, Our Stories.” He helps veterans share and preserve the stories of their military service. For more information or to tell your story, contact May at 317-435-7636 or by email at yourlifestory@live.com. You can also follow him on Facebook at Our Service, Our Stories.