Text 17527, 55 rader
Skriven 2005-12-02 22:08:15 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
     Kommentar till en text av Roy Witt
Ärende: Re: Collateral Damage
=============================
> WD> also its aiming was kind of problematic as it could not be
> determined
> WD> in a radius of 50km were it would hit.
 
> Also untrue. Granted, they didn't have a guidance system, but the
> calculations required to launch at a certain degree of elevation and
> direction were quite easy. Determining when it would run out of fuel was
> also closely calculated.
 
There was no way they could compensate for wind-direction (as that information
was not available), nor for air-temperature (as that information was not
available), nor for air-density (as that information was not available), nor
for barometric-pressure (as that information also was not available).
 
Maps of V2-impacts clearly indicate that their accuracy was horrible.
 
> WD> They were effective at causing terror, but not at destructing
> WD> targets.
 
> Don't tell that to the Brits. Nor would you ever convince my aunt and
> uncle of that.
 
My parents and all of my family at that time all lived in and around Antwerp
which registered 50% more inbound V1 and V2 devices than London did, but of
course London is a much more famous target so gets higher attention from
historians.
 
The target in Antwerp was the seaport which at a specific moment could be used
to shorten the supply-lines still starting in France by over 600km. At that
point Antwerp became the prime V2-target.
 
Of the thousands of V-weapons that were launched towards Antwerp not a
single-one hit something of interest in the port and did not slow it down for a
single moment.
 
The most notable hit was when a V2 exploded in a movie theatre with over a
thousand children during a matiné of the movie 'Buffalo Bill" killing everybody
inside the theatre.
 
Other than that there was hardly damage, destruction and casualties.
 
My parents said that V2's were not an issue because they flew supersonic and
you didn't hear them approach. So when they impacted and exploded you were
either dead or alive.
 
They told me that V1's were a different thing as they flew subsonic and you
could hear them approach. As long as you heard the sound you were OK, but when
the engine cut and the bomb went into a dive it was sheer terror.
 
Forget London, the V-bombs it took were a piece of cake.
 
 \%/@rd

--- In-a-gadda-da-vida
 * Origin: "Leonard will be free" - http://www.leonardpeltier.org (2:292/854)