CHAPTER TEN. A/4 Tail Art Reborn Cuxhaven, Germany

Transcription

1 CHAPTER TEN A/4 Tail Art Reborn Cuxhaven, Germany After fifteen amazing years, the German rocket research in Peenemunde came to a sudden end on 2 May 1945, when Wernher von Braun and his fellow technicians surrendered to the American Army. In the next eight months these top German scientists would experience extreme physical, mental, and psychological effects which I believe was expressed in their new 'reborn' rocket tail art. In the construction of the base at Peenemunde, [August 1936 start] General Dornberger and von Braun had virtually spared no expense. Part of that reasoning was simple, if employees had the best of living and working conditions, they would also perform better on the job. The other reasoning was totally based on secrecy, and the site selection on heavily forested Usedom Island, located on the Baltic Sea coast was perfect. Usedom was first of all remote, separated to the south by Stettin Lagoon, to the west by the Peene River, and the Swina Channel to the east. The island was not connected to any major road and only three bridges allowed road and rail traffic to exit or enter. The administration buildings, housing settlement, workshops, rocket assembly and test stands were all widely separated over the well-planned eight mile peninsula, camouflaged among the many trees. The housing settlement was designed on a garden city concept and built just west of the Baltic white sand beach, only separated by a stand of pine trees. There were clubs for military officers and civilian workers, bakeries, butcher shop, grocery store, beauty salon, cafes, bookstore, school, tennis court, a large sports field, and four movie theatres. Peenemunde was a mix of paradise, an Army Camp, and

2 a new social experiment for the top German rocket engineers and scientists. To all the employees, secrecy became the central fact of life and they soon became a secret society, located in a new secret world isolated from all of Nazi Germany. Military rank melted away and became secondary to professional technical qualifications. There were security regulations for everything, including even the spoken word. The major security object was to prevent any single German technician from learning the entire rocket operating system. Vital technical drawings were held in one location, with a very limited and controlled employee access. All photos and drawings were top secret or stamped the highest priority state secret. Security forbids the use of any drawing, symbol, or insignia, thus preventing all employees from wearing any badge of pride or showing of their group achievement. During the second A/4 launch on 13 June 1942, a tail art appeared on the rocket just before blast-off and this became routine for the next 32 known test rockets launches at Peenemunde from 13 June 42 to 17 August This secret art was only seen by a select few and each painting contained the launch number [V6, etc.] it also contained a mix of comic/political/female nude style tail art. German happy achievement related to space or the moon appears in eighteen paintings. Seven paintings contain political art directed against the Soviets, British, and Americans, including three directed at P.M Churchill. This good-luck, happy expression of rocket tail art was the scientific team s way of expressing self-pride, a sense of belonging and group achievement? The art was allowed [by von Braun] for the simple fact it posed no threat to German security, since the average rocket burn was seconds and then the A/4 crashed to earth or splashed-down in the Baltic Sea.

3 On the night of 17/18 August 1943, the RAF Bomber Command struck with a surprise attack on Peenemunde, the glory days were gone and mass production moved underground to the caves at Nordhausen. The Peenemunde employees had enjoyed such a peaceful life; it lulled everyone into a false sense of the real world at war in Germany. Now that this spell was broken, the rocket production would move, the secrecy of A/4 was known, and the rocket tail art disappeared. [The grandson of Gerd de Beek, recalls him telling how he was informed to stop painting his tail art] For the next eighteen months, further A/4 rocket testing would be conducted at Peenemunde but only one tail art is known to have been used in 1944, the 100th launch. The official surrender of Wernher von Braun and his technicians to the American Army is dated 7 May 1945, and the Peenemunde secret research ended. Four months later, this sudden death of A/4 testing was quickly followed by its rebirth under control of the British and Americans. The British Government created Operation Backfire to evaluate the complete V- 2 rocket assembly and then launch three rockets. The American Government soon realized that German rocket technology was fifteen years ahead of the world, and speed was the key element to obtaining it. The Americans had von Braun and his top rocket scientists, next came removing 341 train loads of V-2 components, including 100 V-2 rockets, from the soon to be Soviet occupation zone at the Mittelwerk underground factory. The Americans were still missing the 14 tons of central V-2 research records which von Braun had ordered hidden in an abandoned iron mine [British zone]. If Dr. von Braun

4 had destroyed the original HAP-11 archive photo albums, the secret A/4 tail art would be lost and forgotten for all time. This is a microfilm copy made in United States [Fort Eustis] in showing test results of an A/4 launch, V26, plus the black and white image of the rocket tail art painted by de Beek. Each tail art image was used to identify the launch records in the Helmat-Artillerie-Park II binder photo album at Peenemunde.

5 After tricking a German officer into revealing the hidden document location, in the soon to be British occupation zone, the Americans trucked the 14 tons of documents to Paris on 27 May. The A/4 research documents were transported to the U.S. Army Base Fort Eustis in Maryland, where they were recorded on microfilm. This American smuggling act had taken place under the nose of the British, which caused some Allied conflict, until the U. S. government agreed to loan 79 of their new U.S. bound German technicians to the British operation Backfire. On 22 June 1945, General Eisenhower sanctioned the use of captured V-2 rockets to be test fired on the north German coast at Cuxhaven, Germany. Over 2,000 Canadian Engineers [airport construction] were dispatched to the site by the British to begin construction of the new rocket launch site.

6 When Major General Walter Dornberger was first informed he would be assisting the British he was very reluctant, but in the end cooperated. The British would soon arrest Dornberger for his war crimes and he would spend almost two years confined. American political pressure would have him released to U. S. custody and this story has been published many times. Below is his dejected British POW mug shot. German Federal Archives free domain image of Walter Dornberger taken by British in October 1945 at Cuxhaven, Germany.

7 Almost all of the rocket scientists were horrified with the idea they would be turned over to the British control. On 22 July 1945, the British picked 79 [America bound] German technicians housed at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were trucked to Cuxhaven, Germany. I am positive graphic artist Gerd de Beek was one of the selected engineers, due to the large amount of drawings the British required? The organization chart shows 367 German technicians and labor forces of 224 were used in the four test launches. Total 591 Germans. This British study resulted in the most comprehensive evaluations and documentation [including drawings and photos] ever undertaken on the A/4 [V-2] rocket. The British were surprised to learn that no previous evaluation had been allowed at Peenemunde due to the strict top security regulations. This followed the German secrecy rule; no single technician should learn the entire rocket system. Gerd de Beek was an exception to this rule and for that reason was most important to the new American White Sands Space program. Wernher von Braun picked the two German draftsmen [technicians] who would document and complete the hundreds of drawings required by the British. I believe that Gerd de Beek was the man placed in charge of the overall drafting and his second in command was Max Ernest Novak, a draftsman but also the technician in charge of the important A/4 rocket assembly. It is important to note that soon after Gerd de Beek arrived in New York on 16 November 1946, he was placed in charge of the American V-2 rocket assembly at White Sands, New Mexico. In 1949, de Beek was moved to the Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Alabama, and became head of NASA Assembly Engineering Branch in 1960.

8 Max Novak was possibly another expert on the A/4 rocket parts, how they all came together and operated during launch. His history is still unknown outside the tight German/American group in Huntsville, Alabamia. German Federal Archives image taken at Peenemunde in This Soviet POW is being used in the A/4 rocket drafting room. It is possible Gerd de Beek and Max Novak worked together at Peenemunde, using Soviet POW's with drafting skills? This same procedure would be used at Cuxhaven, employing German POW's from the labor force who processed art or drafting skills. The cover art on the memorandum book prepared for the British was drawn and signed Novak, and the question remains, who painted the new rocket tail art that appeared at Cuxhaven, Germany in October 1945? Again I believe it was Gerd de Beek,

9 who was the draftsman in charge, as he also had the free time to create and paint the new German A/4 captured rocket tail art. I also believe the four new tail art paintings created for the Cuxhaven launches contained a special meaning to the German scientists? [This has been fully explained in chapter eight] While the British Army officers were in charge of the launch operation, it became the captured German Army scientists who were in total control. This Third Reich V-2 rocket missile was fifteen years ahead of the British scientists and the Germans knew this fact. The Germans could even control the time it took to assemble and launch a rocket. I believe this was done for the very first launch on 1 October This date was the thirteenth anniversary of Wernher von Braun joining the German Ordnance Office Rocket Program in Germany headed by his friend Walter Dornberger, who hired him. It was a special date shared by only the German rocket team but hidden to the British Army Officers. The first launch attempt began at 09:30 hrs. 1 October 1945 and ended in failure at 15:54 Hrs. A second attempt began at 17:51 Hrs. and again this ended in failure at 18:15 Hrs. This rocket was returned to the Vertical Testing Chamber for overhaul.

10 This little German lady painted by de Beek never flew however I believe the art work had a connection to Wernher von Braun and his anniversary date of 1 October 1932.

11 The next rocket launch [third attempt] begins at 09:30 hrs. 2 October 1945, successfully launched at 14:41 hrs. This becomes the first A/4 launch observed by Allied personnel at close range. The first German tail art launched by British.

12 The fourth launch begins at 09:15 hrs. 4 October 1945 and is successfully fired at 14:14 hrs. This is the rocket that failed to fire twice on 1 October 45. It has new art with number "1". The third and final rocket is launched on 15 October.

13 The topless lady with fruit? The A/4 rocket art created for Cuxhaven contains four images, three are female, and two are nudes. I believe the three female images have a connection to the German lady - "Die Frau im Monde", the lady in the moon?

14 The Royal Canadian Engineers at Cuxhaven, Germany 1945 Shortly after the Boer War ended, the Canadian Government realized that in defence of Canada, the Army required more than just one infantry battalion and two artillery batteries for their permanent defence force. In 1903, the Royal Canadian Engineers were founded on the basis of a permanent military engineer force, while a militia force was created for future leadership development. The Royal Canadian Engineers expanded dramatically in both the First and Second World Wars, and provided post war reconstruction in Germany for civil rehabilitation. It should be noted, unlike the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, Canada was not selected as one of the Occupying Powers of Germany in 1945, or a member of the Allied Control Commission. Once again Canada would fall under British control, and on 11 December 1944, the Canadian Government approved the participation of Royal Canadian Engineers in the British Army of Occupation in North-West Europe. By 1944, the Royal Canadian Engineers had reached their maximum WW II strength of 210 officers and 6,283 other ranks. Like the very beaver that graces their Canadian national emblem, the Royal Canadian Engineers were building and extending the Canadian and American airfields, with speed and precision unmatched in British history.

15 The Standard, Montreal, 23 October [Author collection]

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17 Note R.C.E. badge on shoulder.

18 The sudden death of the A/4 rocket research at Peenemunde officially came to an end on 7 May 1945, when Wernher von Braun surrendered to the American Army. This death was quickly followed by its rebirth under control of the British and Americans. On 27 May 1945, one American officer, tricked a German officer into revealing the location of 14 tons of hidden documents on the V-2, this caused some serious conflict between the British and Americans. The hidden V-2 documents had been stored in an abandoned iron mine, which was located in the soon to be British sector of Germany. The American smuggling act had taken place under the nose of the British and in return General Eisenhower sanctioned the use of captured V-2 rockets to be test fired by the British. On 22 June 45, the British operation "Backfire" was formed, which would result in the most comprehensive study and documentation of the V-2 weapon to that date. The amount of preparation would prove very difficult for the British: first they had to find a safe launch site, facilities, ground support equipment, flight hardware, and a cooperative German knowledgeable work force. The British selected an abandoned German naval gun range near Cuxhaven, on the coast of the North Sea. This site had radar, rail sidings, and other infrastructure for the V-2 launches, but still required enormous construction in a short period of time. On 11 July 1945, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division [with 25,000 men] arrived in North-West Germany, from the Netherlands. They were placed under command of the British 30th Corps District including the five Divisional engineer units of the Royal Canadian Engineers. For this reorganization they bore the prefix "2" before their respective numbers. These units were involved in Hospital construction, mine clearance, demolition of German bunkers, batteries, and radar towers, plus construction of shelter for

19 displaced persons. In late July 45, approximately 2,000 Canadians were sent to Cuxhaven to assist with the construction the V-2 launch facilities. Records show two other Canadian units were posted to Cuxhaven, under British 21 Army Group Command. They were No. 17 Detachment of the Canadian Field Ambulance Section, and No. 6 Canadian Field Security Reserve Detachment. It is further stated that a large number of Canadian Engineers were employed at Cuxhaven under British Army Command, but never posted to the area under 21 Army Group. These Canadian Engineers were employed chiefly in construction and in three weeks Engineers succeeded in constructing the V-2 assembly area, test and checkout hangars, which included a 300 foot long facility with overhead crane. The V-2 checkout building was constructed from sections of Army Bailey Bridge. The Canadian Engineers were experts in building airfield cement runways, and were most likely employed in the pouring of the cement pads for the V-2 launch? It is believed members of the following Canadian units took part in the construction of the A/4 launch site at Cuxhaven 1945 and the last unit remained on site until 8 May /18 Canadian Field Company [R.C.E.] left Cuxhaven 23 March 1946, disbanded England 17 March. [German home base was Varel] 2/3 Canadian Field Company [R.C.E.] left Cuxhaven on 24 April 46, disbanded England 18 April. [German home base was Oldenburg] 2/6 Canadian Field Company [R.C.E.] left Cuxhaven, Germany, on 8 May 1946, disbanded England on 16 May. [German home base had been Leer]

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21 V-2 checkout building at Cuxhaven, Oct. 45

22 Cement launch pad probably built by R.C.E. at Cuxhaven, Oct. 45

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