V2
"A4"
The first V-bomb that hit Antwerp was a V2 on Friday 13 October 1944, announcing a hellish period for the city.
In het museum doorlopen we de werking van deze revolutionaire raket, terreurwapen doch ook mijlpaal in de ruimtevaart.
The missile that would become known as the "V2" was the 4th missile of the "Aggregat" series developed since the 1930s.
Especially with the young Wernher von Braun, passionate about space travel and active since the age of 17 in a Berlin military test center, great progress was made. Of course, the military was mainly looking for new ways of flying explosives to certain places on Earth, rather than people into space. By 1935 the "A4" rocket had already grown so large that a new test center was built in a more remote place, the well-known "Peenemünde".
Evolution of the Aggregat series (source).
During the war Hitler gained more interest in revolutionary weapons.
This was not so much due to his progressive spirit but rather a need for “miracle weapons” given the increasingly unfavorable war conditions.
In the "A4" he saw a suitable "Vengeance weapon" to retaliate for the Allied bombing of Germany. The team in Peenemünde was under increasing pressure to get the missile operational. A first successful test flight followed on October 3, 1942 which was a great milestone in history but of course also increased the pressure to get the rocket into mass production and operational as soon as possible.
This would take almost 2 more years but in that time they were already causing a lot of misery in their production, especially in the infamous Mittelwerk factory. The death toll in the factories and camps involved in the production of both retaliatory weapons would exceed the number killed by their use.
In September 1944 the A4 could be used operationally and the first targets were attacked.
After a few shots at Paris, fired from the Ardennes, a first V2 fell on England on 8 September. The day before it had been announced in England that, except for a few possible last V1 shots, the “Battle of London” was over. The city would be spared from the V1 until March, but the A4 soon followed and thus became the “Vergeltungswaffe 2”. Contrary to the V1 there was no defense against this second vengeance weapon.
It was the second retaliatory weapon that, although more for strategic reasons, also heralded the V-weapon terror for the Antwerp region on 13 October 1944.
For the next 6 months a V2 could come down at any moment, unstoppable and without warning sound as the V1 would give. Coming down at about 3 times the speed of sound, Antwerp during this period was truly the “City of Sudden Death” as described in a LIFE magazine article in 1945.
“Visitors move through the area with fluttering hearts, get out as fast as they can. Some combat troops, sent to Antwerp for a “rest,” stayed one day, wanted to be sent back to the front.“
The corner of the Schilderstraat after the impact of the first V2 on Friday October 13, 1944. The surprise and confusion about the cause at that moment would not last very long.
The deadliest V2 hit the full Cinema Rex on December 16, 1944 (567 killed, 291 injured).
Overview of V2 operations in 1944, by Charles Ostyn.
This map clearly shows the operational areas and targets of the V2 units. The figures also show the intensity of the V2 offensive on Antwerp. Despite receiving her first V2 some 5 weeks after London, by the end of 1944 she saw 927 shots fired at her, more than double the number launchad at London by then. A list of V2 launches is available on the website V2Rocket.com.
Charles Ostyn (1926-2022) was 18 in 1944 and lived in Hoboken, south of the city. He experienced the V-weapon terror himself and was fortunately able to tell the tale. On the excellent V2Rocket.com page on Antwerp some of his experiences are incorporated into the highly recommended information offered there on the subject.
The collection of V2 and related objects not only showcases the impressive technology, but also leaves no doubt as to the murderous purpose it served.
Visitors who are less technically savvy can also get a clear idea of the incredible effort required to develop, produce and ultimately use the weapon. Each object is accompanied by information about its location and function within the enormous V2 rocket.
As impressive the technology was, as horrifying were the casualties it caused. From production to actual use. A striking example of this in the collection is the tombstone of a V2 victim, proof in stone of the madness for which all this advanced technology was misused.
An emotional reunion after many years…
This tombstone was used for decades as a foundation stone under a football canteen in Hemiksem, south of Antwerp. After the latter was demolished, Henri Steenacker came across it while walking the dog and noticed the piece of Antwerp history. When he got home he told his wife Agnes Busschop and together they went to look and take some pictures. Fortunately it was moved and kept safe by someone with his heart in the right place, Eddy Herremans then went looking for a good home and that is how it came to the Antwerp Bunker Museum.
In March 2022, during our opening weekend, we received additional information from a very special visitor. Jacques Peeters, the 82-year-old son of Paula Impens, told us the moving story behind the tombstone and that tragic day, January 16, 1945.
“The visit and seeing my mother's tombstone made a huge impression on me.”
Paula Impens and August Peeters were married in Antwerp on August 26, 1939, just before WW2.
Their son Jacques was born in 1940 and in mid-January 1945 temporarily stayed with his grandparents who lived nearby.
“My parents temporarily lived in the Steenbergstraat at the time, after they were forced to leave a building in Drukkerijstraat that was also damaged by a V-bomb. I temporarily lived with my grandparents in the Bogaerdestraat, a few hundred meters from Steenbergstraat.”
The house in the Steenbergstraat had been offered by relatives who had decided to leave for a safer place to stay, their country residence in the south of the country.
In the morning of January 16, Jacques and his grandmother went to fetch milk from a shop in the Steenbergstraat and also rang his parents' door. Father opened a window on one of the floors and said: “We are getting ready and then coming for lunch”.
About 200 kilometers north of Antwerp, soldiers of Batt. SS Abteilung 500 were also preparing for their task. At 12:04 another V2 took off from launch site 410 near Hessum (NL), towards Antwerp…
After returning to the Bogaerdestraat, Jacques and his grandmother heard a hellish noise from the impact just after noon.
“Everyone rushed to the Steenbergstraat and there we saw the devastation.”
© Katoen Natie, Collection Frans Claes.
Father August Peeters was injured but fortunately he was quickly liberated. At the time of the impact, he was in the front room of one of the floors and was just bending down to lift a zinc bath and bring it to the back. After the impact, he suddenly found himself surrounded by debris and trapped with both arms under a bluestone window sill.
"He was fully conscious and immediately started calling when he heard the emergency services arrive."
Lucky as he was to be among the first to be rescued, the process proved painful as they tried to free him. In addition to some bruises, one of his hips had also been dislocated. He immediately informed them that Paula was in the back of the house at the time of the collision but she would remain missing for several more days.
“They were able to free mother from the rubble a few days later, unfortunately she had passed away.”.
(Hamme, 19.11.1919 – Antwerp, 16.1.1945)
© François De Laet.
Also after the bombardment, V2's continued to arrive in Antwerp but now fortunately by road and rail.
From here they were shipped to Allied army bases, most of them to the United States of America, where Von Braun and many from his team also ended up.
In addition to collecting German technology, the Americans also tried to get their hands on as many German scientists as possible during "Operation Paperclip". This was also the case, perhaps most of all, in areas that would later be handed over to the Soviets. Many rockets, parts and equipment left for the United States via the port of Antwerp, where they would serve as a base for the American space program.
The first photo of Earth taken from space.
Taken in 1946 with a camera attached to a V2 launched from White Sands, New Mexico (USA).
This V2 came by road to Antwerp for display at the Groenplaats as part of the SHAEF exhibition, mid-1945.
Click here for the webpage about this exhibition.
Might you have something to share?
Of course, any information that might be added to our V2 study is welcome, however small it may seem. The archives will be accessible for hundreds of years to come, but stories and family albums are in constant danger of being lost as the memories associated with them disappear. Don't hesitate to contact us if this danger might threaten a story, document or object that you are aware of. Please help us preserve this history. You can also contact the museum if you have any questions for the “International V2 Research Group”.
Looking for more V2 info?
The V2 website with a wealth of information on the subject.
Sublime and deep dive into V2 history and technical aspects.
Thousand of technical drawings are available online thanks to the Deutsches Museum (click here).