London Blitz vs V1

David Lesher wrote in message ...
(Eugene Griessel) writes:


IIRC they tried radio-controlled bombers (obsolete marks of B17 rings
a bell) on the ski-sites?

This was used against the V2 underground factory, as I recall.
"Operation Aphrodite" killed JFK's older brother, Joe Kennedy Jr.

IIRC Joe was killed in a remote controlled B24 Liberator during August
1944, flying from Wingfarthing-Fersfield in Norfolk and the intended
target was a suspected rocket launching site in Heligoland.

Using such against a ski ramp would be like using a M60 to kill a
fly....

Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

"Eugene Griessel" wrote in message
om...
David Lesher wrote in message
...
(Eugene Griessel) writes:



Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

True but the Germans switched to using portable steel ramps
when the allies were clearly bombing the fixed sites.

Keith

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ...
"Eugene Griessel" wrote in message
om...
David Lesher wrote in message
...
(Eugene Griessel) writes:



Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

True but the Germans switched to using portable steel ramps
when the allies were clearly bombing the fixed sites.

The Germans partially abandoned the idea of on site storage facilties
altogether (some ski sites - obviously the less damaged ones - were
still used for storage). The modified sites were very simple, a quick
prefab launch ramp that could be assembled in 48 hours and the little
compass alignment room were often the only indication that they
existed at all. It also made them unprofitable targets as they were
easy to move and hard to hit. In fact if the Germans had not spent an
enormous effort on fixed ski sites (96 I think, in all) they probably
could have got the campaign off to a much earlier start.

Sometimes a modified site was erected near or on the facilities of a
less damaged ski site. I have, somewhere in my magazine collection, a
quite extensive article on a modified site/ski site with the skis
still usable but the assembly, alignment and launching all being done
from modified facilities.

In message , Eugene
Griessel writes
David Lesher wrote in message
...
(Eugene Griessel) writes:


IIRC they tried radio-controlled bombers (obsolete marks of B17 rings
a bell) on the ski-sites?

This was used against the V2 underground factory, as I recall.
"Operation Aphrodite" killed JFK's older brother, Joe Kennedy Jr.

IIRC Joe was killed in a remote controlled B24 Liberator during August
1944, flying from Wingfarthing-Fersfield in Norfolk and the intended
target was a suspected rocket launching site in Heligoland.

Using such against a ski ramp would be like using a M60 to kill a
fly....

Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

The launch ramps were ski-shaped. I have never been able to find out
why.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...


Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

The launch ramps were ski-shaped. I have never been able to find out
why.


Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

Keith




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"Keith Willshaw" wrote:


"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...


Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

The launch ramps were ski-shaped. I have never been able to find out
why.


Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

The ski sites got their name from the three 270ft long storage
buildings. (Ok one was slightly shorter). I have a detailed
construction drawing of one here - it held 20 missiles.

Build three odd shaped buildings like that - and from the PRU photos
available to me, little effort at camouflage was made - and you are
just asking for bomber attention IMHO.

Just perusing some data as well - for about 4 months, 40% of allied
bombing effort in the European theatre was expended on the ski-sites,
the storage bunkers and the modified sites. In one month alone, 3000
tons of bombs was dropped on just one modified site. Obviously as a
bomber effort attractant they succeeded too!

Eugene Griessel

In message , Keith Willshaw
writes

"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...


Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

The launch ramps were ski-shaped. I have never been able to find out
why.


Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

M. J. Powell wrote:

In message , Keith Willshaw
writes


"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...


Ski ramp? The ski sites took their name from the large concrete
ski-shaped bunkers used to store V1s. Those were the intended
targets.

The launch ramps were ski-shaped. I have never been able to find out
why.


Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg


That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

No, actually as Keith said above, it was the bunkers which looked like
that. The ramps looked pretty much like ramps. If they had been bent at
the end, the V1 would have fallen off. The Germans were pretty stupid,
but not that stupid.

John

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

"M. J. Powell" wrote:

Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

You appear to be a bit confused.

Quote: Constance Babington-Smith's "Evidence in Camera": "Late that
evening, when Douglas Kendall got back from a day's meeting in London,
he made straight for the army section. With Simon and Rowell he
looked quickly at each of the eight sites - each one partly in a wood,
and each apparently to have a set of nine standard buildings, some of
them strangely shaped. Then he settled down to gaze at the site which
was furthest advanced. It was near Bois Carre. Three of the
buildings were unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. Except -
yes - they were like something. The took his mind back to winter
sports before the war, for they reminded him of skis.

'Skis', he thought aloud. 'That's what they look like - skis'."

Quote RV Jones "Most Secret War": "The information was confirmed by
photographic sortie E/463 of 3rd November, which showed that the most
prominent feature were ski-shaped buildings 240-270 feet long, from
which the sites were promptly named".

Quote: From Edward Leaf's "Above us all unseen": "The photographs
revealed three ski-shaped buildings (from which the sites took their
name) and a ramp which pointed directly at London".

The launch ramps were fairly straight, though a few do seem to have
saggy middles - I have a number of films of launches and none of the
ramps bears the slightest resemblance to a ski. The fixed concrete
ramps at the ski sites were all straight. The only ones that seem to
have a slight "dip" in the middle are the modified site ramps. I
doubt this was intentional. Probably the hastily laid concrete "pins"
had not been carefully aligned. Or had sunk into the ground a bit.

Eugene Griessel

In message , Eugene Griessel
writes
"M. J. Powell" wrote:

Its my understanding that the ramps looked like a ski-jump
rather than a ski. Certainly the one at Duxford appears that way.

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ima...tlaunchpad.jpg

That site appears to be a bit confused. It refers to V1's and V2's as
'Rockets'.

The V2's were launched vertically and had no ramp, only a concrete pad.
The V1's were launched along a ramp which looked like a ski laid on its
side, the curved bit near the 'adjustment house' where the compass was
set and the aircraft demagnetised with mallets.

They were called 'ski-sites' from the first aerial photographs IIRC.

You appear to be a bit confused.

Quote: Constance Babington-Smith's "Evidence in Camera": "Late that
evening, when Douglas Kendall got back from a day's meeting in London,
he made straight for the army section. With Simon and Rowell he
looked quickly at each of the eight sites - each one partly in a wood,
and each apparently to have a set of nine standard buildings, some of
them strangely shaped. Then he settled down to gaze at the site which
was furthest advanced. It was near Bois Carre. Three of the
buildings were unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. Except -
yes - they were like something. The took his mind back to winter
sports before the war, for they reminded him of skis.

'Skis', he thought aloud. 'That's what they look like - skis'."

Quote RV Jones "Most Secret War": "The information was confirmed by
photographic sortie E/463 of 3rd November, which showed that the most
prominent feature were ski-shaped buildings 240-270 feet long, from
which the sites were promptly named".

Quote: From Edward Leaf's "Above us all unseen": "The photographs
revealed three ski-shaped buildings (from which the sites took their
name) and a ramp which pointed directly at London".

The launch ramps were fairly straight, though a few do seem to have
saggy middles - I have a number of films of launches and none of the
ramps bears the slightest resemblance to a ski. The fixed concrete
ramps at the ski sites were all straight. The only ones that seem to
have a slight "dip" in the middle are the modified site ramps. I
doubt this was intentional. Probably the hastily laid concrete "pins"
had not been carefully aligned. Or had sunk into the ground a bit.

Ok! OK! I was wrong! I was overloading the few memory cells that I have
left.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell