V-Weapons Program was launched at London on June 13, 1944, confirming that the new threat existed Due to the limited range of the V-1, only about 9,000 were fired at Great Britain before the Western Allied ground advance pushed launch pads out of range Nearly half of the slow “buzz bombs,” or “doodlebugs,” as the British called them, were shot down before reaching their targets Many were intercepted by faster fighters, including the RAF’s top-line “Meteor” jets Others were shot down by excellent and plentiful anti-aircraft guns Some became entangled in the cables of barrage balloons The other 13,400 V-1s fired in anger by the Germans reached for targets on the continent The V-2 was originally known by the designation A-1 through A-4 It was the first weaponized, true ballistic missile: a liquid-fuel, vertical launch rocket originally intended to carry poison gas The V-1 and V-2 rockets were developed by a team of Nazi scientists at Peenemünde led by Werner von Braun In 1938 a prototype V-2 was built by Braun even before the prototype of the V-1—the “V” numbering system was applied later Adolf Hitler showed no interest in the V-2 until midway through the war, when he turned generally to the prospect of varied Wunderwaffen to restore the balance of forces that was already and permanently lost by his earlier decisions Hitler thus did not order mass production of the V-2 until it was too late to make any strategic difference, if that was ever possible Both rocket types were used as terror weapons against British cities immediately after the invasion of Normandy Originally planned for deployment by November 1, 1943, bombing of research and launch sites delayed the first V-2 attacks until September 7, 1944 About 1,300 V-2s hit London during 1944–1945, fired mainly from the Netherlands Many others blew up on their launch pads Winston Churchill was so incensed about the V-2 attacks he proposed using poison gas to retaliate, but was dissuaded from that course by his Chiefs of Staff and opposition from the American president V-2s were too fast to be caught even by the RAF “Meteor.” The threat to London passed only after V-2 launch sites were pushed out of range by Western Allied ground advances Antwerp was also a primary target for V-2 attacks as Hitler tried to deny its port facilities to enemy’s logisticians An experimental, explosive-assisted gun (“Hochdruckpumpe, or HDP”) was commissioned by Hitler in May 1943 This “V-3” had a 150-foot barrel in which supplemental explosions accelerated the projectile beyond its initial speed Fifty V-3 super guns were commissioned to bombard London, which it was believed by the Germans they could strike with barrages of boosted shells fired from the coast of France Before V-3 barrels were ready for use against the British capital, two great bunkers in the Pas de Calais were smashed in RAF raids using “Tallboy” blockbuster bombs Luxembourg was bombarded from two alternate V-3 sites during the Ardennes offensive, with guns using barrels one-third the planned length of the London guns These guns fired under 200 rounds and only small payloads that hardly justified the research effort that went into their design and construction Their shelling was strategically meaningless and stopped when the V-3 bunkers were overrun by Allied ground forces The V-4 “Rheinbote” (“Rhine Messenger”) was a multistage, solid-fuel rocket with a small payload and limited range (100 miles) Also a ballistic missile, it 1148