Object structure
Title:

Discovery of a German V-2 Rocket Fall Site in the Area of Chodzież, in Greater Poland

Creator:

Alagierski, Piotr ; Kuczara-Alagierska, Katarzyna ; Sokołowski, Maciej

Publisher:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2023

Description:

il. ; 24 cm

Type of object:

Czasopismo/Artykuł

Subject and Keywords:

World War II ; German V-2 rocket ; Chodzież ; Heidekraut training ground ; experimental flights of V-2 rocket ; V-2 rocket explosion crater

Abstract:

In the 1930s, in the town of Peenemünde on the northern edge of the Usedom Island in the Baltic Sea, the Germans established a military research centre to work on rocket engines. In Peenemünde, the Aggregat 4 – the first ever rocket to cross the space frontier – was constructed and launched. However, it went down in history under the name V-2. This weapon was the world’s first ballistic missile used in combat. At the end of World War II, V-2 rockets were a technological marvel of the time. Reaching supersonic speeds, they were an unrecognized design for the Allies in terms of control and targeting principles. They were a weapon almost impossible to shoot down. The RAF’s destruction of the Peenemünde facility in 1943 was the reason for its relocation to the Heidelager military training ground in the village of Blizna, Subcarpathian province, out of the range of Allied aviation. Threatened by the Soviet Army’s offensive, it was moved again in 1944 to the Heidenkraut training ground in Wierzchucin, Kuyavia-Pomerania province. As a result of archaeological work in the area of Chodzież, in northern Greater Poland province, the so far unknown site of the fall of a German V-2 rocket fired from the Heidekraut training ground, from a distance of 108 kilometres, has been located. Analysis of the finds, the appearance of the fall site and GPR surveys lead to the conclusion that a version of the rocket with little or no explosive material exploded in Chodzież. The current state of research into the active use of the Heidenkraut training ground at the end of the War leads to the conclusion that the Chodzież region, located in northern Greater Poland, was a zone of not very intensive experimental firing of V-2 rockets. Much more intensive was the firing of the Kalisz region located in southeastern Greater Poland. Further research into the sites of V-2 rocket falls both in Greater Poland and in other parts of Poland may contribute to a better understanding of the poorly known German experiments with ballistic missiles. The Polish lands are particularly interesting in this regard, as they were training grounds for rocket experiments at the end of World War II.

References:

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Relation:

Archaeologia Polona

Volume:

61

Start page:

105

End page:

126

Resource type:

Tekst

Detailed Resource Type:

Artykuł

Format:

application/octet-stream

Resource Identifier:

0066-5924 ; doi:10.23858/APa61.2023.3554

Source:

IAiE PAN, sygn. P 357 ; IAiE PAN, sygn. P 358 ; IAiE PAN, sygn. P 356 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Licencja Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 4.0

Terms of use:

Zasób chroniony prawem autorskim. [CC BY 4.0 Międzynarodowe] Korzystanie dozwolone zgodnie z licencją Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 4.0, której pełne postanowienia dostępne są pod adresem: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Original in:

Biblioteka Instytutu Archeologii i Etnologii PAN

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