Operation Backfire was a military scientific operation of the Western Allies during and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that was performed mainly by British personnel. The operation was designed to completely evaluate the entire

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

assembly, interrogate German personnel specialized in all phases of it, and then to test and launch missiles across the North Sea.

Background

With the end of the war, the Allies scrambled to acquire German technology. Several military operations had been previously mounted by the British to complete this task, including the Fedden Mission and Operation Surgeon. With the consent of U.S. General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

, Operation Backfire was orchestrated by Major Robert Staver of the Rocket Section of the Research and Development branch of the Ordnance Office, which had been tasked in directing the effort to find and interrogate the German rocket specialists who had built the V-2. Since 30 April 1945, Major Staver had been in the Nordhausen area searching the smaller laboratories for V-2 technicians.

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(ATS) Junior Commander Joan Bernard also played a role in this operation.

''Backfire''

For this operation, three or possibly four

s were launched during October 1945 from a launch pad at north-east of Arensch near

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

within the British Occupation zone in Germany in order to demonstrate the weapon to Allied personnel. The Americans had already taken away most of the V2 rocket technology from the German underground

Mittelwerk Mittelwerk (; German for "Central Works") was a German World War II factory built underground in the Kohnstein to avoid Allied bombing. It used slave labor from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp to produce V-2 ballistic missiles, V-1 flyin ...

factory at the

Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour f ...

concentration camp near Nordhausen. Before the Soviets took control of that area, the British were given the opportunity to gather material. They were able to assemble parts sufficient to build eight V2 rockets. Some parts were still missing and there was a search throughout Germany. Some 400 railway cars and 70 Lancaster flights were used to bring some 250,000 parts and 60 specialized vehicles to Cuxhaven, the most elusive parts being electrical batteries to operate the guidance gyros. The US supplied some tail assemblies from those that they had taken. Many of the rockets and the hydrogen peroxide fuel used in the operation were provided by

T-Force T-Force was the operational arm of a joint US Army–British Army mission to secure German scientific and industrial technology before it could be destroyed by retreating German forces or looters during the final stages of the Second World War a ...

, a secretive British Army unit that had, in spring and summer 1945, searched for German military technology and scientists. The handling and launch procedures were unknown, so German personnel were ordered to perform these, which for the most part they did willingly. The launches were filmed and because the personnel wore their original uniforms and the rockets were painted as in their original livery, this footage (often used for documentaries) has been mistaken for footage of wartime German launches.

Launches

According to the Report on Operation Backfire, there were three Cuxhaven launches. Backfire Rocket One was prepared for launch on 1 October 1945, but did not function. Backfire Rocket Two was prepared for launch on 2 October 1945 and was launched without difficulty. The second Cuxhaven launch took place on 4 October 1945 with Backfire Rocket One. A third and final rocket was launched for representatives of the press and Allies on 15 October 1945 under the name Operation Clitterhouse. According to one site, there was a fourth launch on 17 October 1945 that reached an altitude of about .

Aftermath

For these launches, the British recruited German personnel, even those transferred from US custody and due to be returned, to assist with this missile programme. The technical aspects of the operation were detailed in a five-volume report.Report on Operation "Backfire", The War Office, London 1946
/ref> At the site of the former launchpad there is a trough and some remnants of shelters.

References

External links