V-2 - Launch Sites

Launch Sites

For a description of the V-2 launch equipment and procedure, see Meillerwagen.

Following Operation Crossbow bombing, initial plans for launching from the massive underground Watten and Wizernes bunkers or from fixed pads such as near the Chateau du Molay were dropped in favour of mobile launching. Eight main storage dumps were planned and four had been completed by July 1944 (the one at Mery-sur-Oise was begun in August 1943 and completed by February 1944). The missile could be launched practically anywhere, roads running through forests being a particular favourite. The system was so mobile and small that not one Meillerwagen was caught in action by Allied aircraft, although Raymond Baxter described flying over a site during a launch and his wingman firing at the missile without hitting it.

It was estimated that a sustained rate of 350 V-2s could be launched per week, with 100 per day at maximum effort, given sufficient supply of the rockets.