Stealing Hitler’s Rocket
An incredible story of World War 2. In 1944 the Germans were testing V2 rockets from a secret site deep within occupied Poland. This work was observed by partisans from the Polish underground, the Home Army, and when a test rocket landed intact some 200 miles away, their network enabled them to reach the projectile before the German authorities. The 14-metre-long rocket was recovered in short order, dismantled, and the parts hidden securely in factories and farms.
Descriptions were sent to the Polish government in London, for analysis by British scientists, but in order that they could understand this new weapon, they asked for access to the whole rocket. The men and women of the Home Army cheerfully rose to this near-impossible challenge. Lorry drivers in German uniforms and with forged papers took the pieces of the rocket, sealed in disguised packaging, some 300 miles to a flat field in the south which was within reach of a British aircraft. An RAF plane from a base in Italy picked up the rocket. Then, via Italy, it was sent to England for analysis. This did not prevent the onslaught of V2 attacks which commenced that autumn, but understanding the ‘vengeance weapon’ helped to combat it.
Describing how these rockets were far ahead of all other technology in their day, Walters does not forget that their manufacture was largely done by concentration camp prisoners under SS control; something conveniently overlooked by rocket designer Werner von Braun. As gripping as any novel, this book is written with eloquence and passion, making a fitting tribute to the Nazis’ victims and to the hundreds of Polish patriots who risked their lives in this epic conspiracy.
