OSS WASHINGTON -- EYES ONLY GEN DONOVAN
OSS LONDON STATION -- EYES ONLY COL BRUCE, LT COL STEVENS
FROM OSS BERN
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GENTLEMEN,
I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO ANNOUNCE BAD NEWS, AND ESPECIALLY NOT TO SUGAR-COAT IT. THAT SAID: HITLER DOES IN FACT HAVE AERIAL TORPEDOES -- THE FIESELER 103, HEREAFTER “V-1” -- UNDER PRODUCTION. THERE ARE DESIGNS FOR THE V-1 TO CARRY WARHEADS CONTAINING HIGH EXPLOSIVE AND CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS.
WHEN WE CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE FILES SHOWING ACTUAL PRODUCTION DATA FROM CHEMISCHE FABRIK FRANKFURT A.G. FOR THE AMATOL AND THE TABUN, WE FOUND THAT IT ALSO CONTAINED PRODUCTION DATA FOR THE V-1. THE EVER EFFICIENT SS-STURMBANNFUHRER KLAUS SCHWARTZ HAD KEPT THESE COPIES IN HIS CHEMISCHE FABRIK OFFICE, PRESUMABLY NOT EXPECTING HIS EARLY EXPIRATION (MORE ON THAT SHORTLY).
THE V-1 FUSELAGE IS ABOUT 22 FEET LONG, 3 FEET IN DIAMETER, WITH A 17-FOOT WINGSPAN. ENGINE IS PULSE-JET. MAX FUEL IS 160 US GALLONS OF E-1 AVIATION GAS. MAX CRUISE IS 415 MPH AT 4,500 FEET. MAX RANGE IS 130 MILES WITH A 1-TON AMATOL WARHEAD. (NO FIGURES FOR TABUN WARHEAD DUE TO NO TESTS CONDUCTED. BUT TABUN WARHEAD WILL WEIGH ABOUT HALF THE AMATOL, GIVING THE WEAPON AT LEAST GREATER RANGE AND VERY LIKELY FASTER MAX SPEED.)
AS WE WERE AWARE, THE FIRST V-1 UNPOWERED FLIGHT WAS IN OCTOBER 1942, LAUNCHED FROM AN FW-200 KONDOR. THE FIRST SELF-POWERED FLIGHT WAS IN DECEMBER 1942.
WE NOW LEARN THAT THERE SINCE HAVE BEEN EXACTLY ONE HUNDRED (100) TEST LAUNCHES OF THE V-1, WITH APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD (1/3) AIR-DROPPED FROM HEINKEL HE-111 AIRCRAFT AND THE REMAINDER LAUNCHED FROM GROUND-BASED CATAPULTS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE WERE, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, FAILURES. ONLY ONE (1) IN TEN (10) ACTUALLY PERFORMED CLOSE TO WHAT WERNHER VON BRAUN HAD EXPECTED. NOT ONE OF THE 100 MADE IT DIRECTLY ON TARGET.
IT WOULD APPEAR THAT EVEN ROCKET SCIENTISTS HAVE BAD DAYS, AS VON BRAUN DID NOT KNOW WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE ROOT OF THE V-1 PROBLEMS. NEWS OF THIS HAS MADE HITLER FURIOUS, YET HITLER WAS IN FACT PART OF THE PROBLEM BECAUSE HE HAS ORDERED VON BRAUN TO RUSH THE PROGRAM.
DUE TO THE RUSH, THE MAJOR COMPONENTS -- ENGINE, AIRFRAME, GUIDANCE SYSTEM, CATAPULT -- HAD BEEN TESTED SEPARATELY. WHEN THEY WERE ASSEMBLED AND THE V-1 TESTED, VON BRAUN FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE WHICH PART -- OR PARTS IN CONCERT -- WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A PARTICULAR CRASH.
ONE MAJOR CAUSE WAS VIBRATION. AT FIRST, THE WINGS WOULD STRIP OFF, THEN THE FUSELAGE WOULD BREAK APART. IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE MAIN SOURCE OF VIBRATION WAS THE ENGINE ITSELF. THE PULSE-JET IGNITES FUEL 50 TIMES PER SECOND, CAUSING A REMARKABLE AMOUNT OF VIBRATION. IT TOOK EXTENSIVE TESTING ONCE THE SOLUTION OF INSULATING THE ENGINE WAS REACHED. THEN THEY HAD TO FINE-TUNE THE WING DESIGN. BECAUSE THE NECESSARY TYPE OF STEEL IS IN SHORT SUPPLY, THE WINGS HAD TO BE CRAFTED OF PLYWOOD.
AND THEN THEY HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE LAUNCH DEVICE. A PISTON THAT CONNECTS TO THE FUSELAGE IS PROPELLED BY HIGH PRESSURE GAS. THEY FIRST HAD TO TWEAK THE PRESSURE OF THAT GAS TO THE FIRST TESTS. WHEN THE ROCKETS WERE MODIFIED TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS WITH THE PULSE-JET VIBRATIONS, THE LAUNCHER HAD TO BE RECONFIGURED. AND WHEN THE WOODEN WINGS WERE THEN MODIFIED, AGAIN THE LAUNCHER HAD TO BE RECONFIGURED. AND SO ON. THEY BURNED THROUGH THOSE 100 V-1S IN SHORT ORDER -- ABOUT TWO MONTHS.
HITLER AGAIN COMPOUNDED PROBLEMS BY DEMANDING THAT THE V-1 BE LAUNCHED FROM BOTH GROUND AND AIR IN ORDER TO DELIVER QUOTE AN OVERWHELMING PUNCH UNQUOTE. GEN MILCH DID NOT THINK THAT AN AIRBORNE LAUNCHER WOULD FUNCTION ON A HE-111 -- HE ARGUED THAT THE WEIGHT AND DRAG WOULD DANGEROUSLY SLOW THE BOMBER, MAKING IT AN EASY TARGET -- BUT AGREED TO DO SO WHEN CONVINCED IT WOULD CONFUSE THE ALLIES.
WITH THE BUGS NOW MOSTLY WORKED OUT, HITLER IS DEMANDING THAT PRODUCTION BEGIN IMMEDIATELY SO THAT FIVE THOUSAND (5,000) V-1S CAN BE LAUNCHED IN DECEMBER 1943.
IN ADDITION TO THE CHEMISCHE FABRIK STANDARD PRODUCTION OF AMATOL, THERE NOW IS A V-1 SPECIAL PROGRAM ORDER -- SIGNED BY FIELD MARSHAL MILCH, GEN VON AXTHELM, AND REICH MINISTER GORING -- REQUIRING 100 TONS OF AMATOL EACH MONTH, RISING TO 5,000 TONS EACH MONTH, AND ABOUT HALF THAT OF TABUN.
AS TO THE EXPIRATION OF KLAUS SCHWARTZ, HIS DEATH BY THE POLISH HOME ARMY WAS CONFIRMED BY WERNHER VON BRAUN WHEN HE MET YESTERDAY WITH WOLFGANG KAPPLER IN BERLIN. VON BRAUN STATED THAT SCHWARTZ, UNDER HIS ORDERS AND USING HIS PERSONAL RAILCAR, HAD BEEN TRAVELING WITH THE TWO SS-SCHARFUHRERS (NOTED IN MY 28 MAY MESSAGE TO YOU) WHEN SABOTAGE BY QUOTE POLISH GUERRILLAS UNQUOTE DERAILED THEIR TRAIN. HE DESCRIBED THE TRIP AS ONE OF QUOTE HIGHEST PRIORITY UNQUOTE.
HE WOULD NOT REVEAL TO EVEN KAPPLER WHERE THIS HAPPENED. BUT SINCE WE KNOW IT WAS NEAR THE CAMP UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT BLIZNA, POLAND, I HUMBLY SUGGEST THAT THE CAMP IS CLOSELY CONNECTED TO ONE OF VON BRAUN’S PROGRAMS. AND AS SUCH, HAVING HAD ITS RAILROAD SABOTAGED, IT WILL BE MORE HEAVILY GUARDED THAN BEFORE.
LASTLY, WE HAVE WORD BACK FROM THE ABWEHR AGENT IN MESSINA WHO MET WITH OSKAR KAPPLER TWO DAYS AGO. THE AGENT TOLD BRIGADE GENERAL HANS OSTER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR TO ADMIRAL CANARIS, THAT SON BELIEVES AS HIS FATHER DOES.
IN LIGHT OF ALL THE ABOVE, IT IS MY OPINION THAT GETTING KAPPLER’S WIFE AND DAUGHTER AND SON TO SAFETY SHOULD TAKE PLACE AT FIRST OPPORTUNITY.
TO THAT END, I HAVE SENT, THROUGH THE MESSINA ABWEHR AGENT, A MESSAGE TO OSKAR KAPPLER -- UNDER WOLFGANG KAPPLER’S SIGNATURE BUT WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE -- ALERTING OSKAR TO EXPECT CONTACT FROM OSS AGENT JUPITER FOR HIS EXTRACTION.
STAN FINE WILL LET ME KNOW WHEN JUPITER HAS THE SON. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER.
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DULLES
TOP SECRET
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“With a range of a hundred and thirty miles,” Stevens said, “it would appear that von Braun really did design the V-1 specifically to strike London. It’s right at a hundred miles between here and France’s coastline. I wonder what Churchill’s pompous pal the Prof will have to say if these bombs start hitting here. And in December?” He paused, then added, “This is Ike’s worst fear.”
“Using the five thousand figure,” David Bruce said, “one-tenth means five hundred aerial torpedoes hitting London. And with ‘the bugs worked out,’ that figure could likely be higher.”