The V1 flying bomb

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

In 1944, Nazi Germany launched the V1s against the UK. The V1 was a pilotless, jet-propelled flying bomb - the first of its kind in the world and a precursor to the modern cruise missile. The V1 was also the first of Hitler's secret "revenge weapons" which he hoped would change the course of the Second World War. Some 10,000 V1s were fired at the UK. They killed more than 6,000 people and injured 20,000 more. Using archive recordings we hear from civilians who survived V1 attacks and from those tasked to stop the flying bombs.

Photo:A German V1 or 'Doodlebug' pilotless flying bomb in flight, circa 1944. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless
0:06.8	searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the
0:11.8	telly we share what we've been watching
0:14.0	Cladie Aide.
0:16.0	Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
0:19.0	Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
0:21.0	And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less
0:24.9	searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Alex
0:40.0	Last and in today's episode using archive recordings we look back at the V1, a precursor to the
0:47.3	cruise missile.
0:48.5	It was one of the revolutionary high-tech so-called revenge weapons developed by Nazi Germany which killed
0:55.4	thousands of civilians in World War II. It was my birthday June the 13th, 1944 and that night the signs sounded and
1:09.8	that night the signs sounded and we went down into the shelter.
1:17.0	On the 13th of June, 1944, towards the end of the Second World War, a terrifying new German weapon flew fast over the English Channel heading towards
1:25.9	London. It was the V1 flying bomb, a kind of jet-propelled missile carrying a one-ton explosive warhead, the first of its kind in the world.
1:36.4	When the engine cut, it fell to earth, devastating whatever was below.
1:40.8	It was the first of Hitler's so-called revenge weapons. Londoners called it a
1:45.8	doodle bug or a buzz bomb.
1:47.8	Something like a very loud motorbike overhead and then suddenly
2:01.0	the frightening part was suddenly silence and you knew it was about to drop.
2:06.0	One evening about 7 o'clock I was out playing I heard the air aid going the siren and I run for
2:16.2	the shelter.
	...

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