Walter catapult
The V1 or Fieseler Fi 103 was a very modern weapon for its time: an unmanned aircraft about 8.3 meters long with a wingspan of 5.4 meters. It carried an explosive payload of approximately 830 kg and could reach a target 250 to 280 km away. The weapon is an early version of the cruise missile used by Nazi Germany in World War Two.
To launch the flying bomb from the ground a catapult system was used, known as the Walter catapult. This system used a 48-meters long ramp supported by eight pillars resting on small concrete anchor blocks with a gradual incline to 5 meters, through which a high pressure steam propelled piston underneath the rocket pulled the V1 to its launch speed of approximately 320 km/h (200 mph). From here the V1s Argus As 109 Pulsejet engine took over taking it to its target 250 to 280 km away.
Target Antwerp
Although at first most of the V1 launch sites were situated in Northern France along the Channel coast to target London, this changed with the Allied invasion of Normandy. After the Allied forces rapidly liberated Northern France, the launch sites had to be abandoned and London fell out of reach for the V1. When the Allies captured the port of Antwerp in Belgium to secure a shorter supply line for their further advance into the Low Countries, the city became the new main target.
In the Eastern provinces Overijssel and Gelderland of the Netherlands a total of 16 launch sites for V1 rockets were constructed for this purpose. The dense camouflage possibilities and good railway connections in this area made it an ideal location. The launch sites were often placed in forested areas, hidden from Allied aircraft and near secondary paved roads so they could be supplied quickly. The surrounding area would be declared “Sperrgebiet” (English: restricted area) and closed off for unauthorized personnel. Locals living in the area were expelled from their homes.
The V1 attacks combined with V2 attacks on Antwerp would claim a total of 4229 lives lost and an estimated 7000 wounded.
Launch Site nr. 528
This site is a partial reconstruction of the original V1 launch site that was located here. There was also a second launch site along this road. Between 16 December 1944, which is the start of the German Ardennes Offensive (a.k.a. the Battle of the Bulge), to 27 March 1945 the German Army launched hundreds of V1 Flying Bombs from this location in the Netherlands towards the Belgian city of Antwerp.
At the end of the war, the Germans blew up the launch site, leaving only 16 anchor blocks where the support pillars once stood. The main foundation (or launch ramp) was removed in the 1980s when the road was renovated.
The concrete anchor blocks are now partly hidden underground.
The site today
In 2018 the site was restored in the state it is today. We can see the marking of the original base plate, which is hidden underground, replica’s of the first three support pillars and yellow pickets in the forest floor to mark the remaining anchor blocks. This gives an idea of the situation in World War Two.
Visit
You can visit this site freely along the Nijverdalsebergweg in Nijverdal, the Netherlands. An information sign tells the visitor about the site, although it is in Dutch.
A V1 exhibit can be found in the nearby Memory Museum in Nijverdal.
