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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation Crossbow | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossbow | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:12:38.446925+00:00 | kb-cron |
At the request of the British War Cabinet, on 19 April 1944, General Eisenhower directed Crossbow attacks to have absolute priority over all other air operations, including "wearing down German industry" and civilian morale "for the time being", which he confirmed after the V-1 assault began on the night of 12/13 June 1944, saying to Arthur Tedder "with respect to Crossbow targets, these targets are to take first priority over everything except the urgent requirements of the Overlord [invasion of Normandy] battle; this priority to obtain until we can be certain that we have definitely gotten the upper hand of this particular business". The launches surprised the Allies, who had believed that the earlier attacks on the sites had eliminated the danger. The British, who had not expected German bombing of Britain to resume so late in the war, were especially upset. Some suggested using gas on the launch sites, or even executing German civilians as punishment. Carl Spaatz, commander of US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), responded on 28 June to "complain that Crossbow was a 'diversion' from the main task of wearing down the Luftwaffe and bombing German industry" for the Combined Bomber Offensive, and to recommend instead that Crossbow be a secondary priority since "days of bad weather over Germany's industrial targets would still allow enough weight of attack for the rocket sites and the lesser tactical crises". By 10 July, Tedder had published a list of Crossbow targets which assigned 30 to RAF Bomber Command, six to the tactical Allied Expeditionary Air Force, and 68 to Spaatz's USSTAF; after which Spaatz again complained, so Eisenhower allowed "spare" bombing of non-Crossbow targets: "Instructions for continuing to make Crossbow targets our first priority must stand, but ... when ... the entire strategic forces cannot be used against Crossbow, we should attack – (a) Aircraft industry, (b) Oil, (c) Ball bearing (German): kugellagerwerke, (d) Vehicular production" (Eisenhower, 18 July). Over a quarter of the Combined Bomber Offensive's tonnage of bombs were used against V-weapon sites in July and August; many of the attacks were ineffective, as they were against unused sites rather than the launchers themselves. Spaatz unsuccessfully proposed that attacks concentrate on the Calais electrical grid, and on gyrocompass factories in Germany and V-weapon storage depots in France. The gyrocompass attacks, along with targeting liquid oxygen tanks (which the Allies knew the V-2 needed), might have been very effective against the missiles. On 25 August 1944, the Joint Crossbow Target Priorities Committee (established 21 July) prepared the "Plan for Attack on the German Rocket Organization When Rocket Attacks Commence" – in addition to bombing of storage, liquid-oxygen, and launch sites; the plan included aerial reconnaissance operations. Following the last V-1 launch from France on 1 September 1944, and since the expected V-2 attacks had not begun, Crossbow bombing was suspended on 3 September and the campaign against German oil facilities became the highest priority. The V-1 threat from occupied France ended on 5 September 1944, when the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division contained the German military units of the Nord-Pas de Calais area, with their surrender following on 30 September.
=== Resumption === Crossbow bombing resumed after the first V-2 attack and included a large 17 September raid on Dutch targets suspected as bases for Heinkel He 111s, which were air-launching V-1s. Modified V-1s (865 total) were air-launched from 16 September 1944, to 14 January 1945. The British had initially considered that an earlier 18–21 July 1944 effort of 50 air-launched V-1s had been ground-launched from the Low Countries, particularly near Ostend. In addition to air-launched V-1s, launches were from ramps built in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands in 1945. Allied reconnaissance detected two sites at Vlaardingen and Ypenburg, and along with a third at Delft, they launched 274 V-1s at London from 3–29 March. Only 125 reached the British defences, and only thirteen of those reached the target area. Three additional sites directed their fire on Antwerp. After using medium bombers against V-2 launch site in the Haagse Bos on 3 March, the RAF attacked the V-1 sites in the Netherlands with two squadrons. An RAF Fighter Command unit used Spitfires against Ypenburg on 20 and 23 March, while a RAF Second Tactical Air Force unit used Hawker Typhoons against Vlaardingen on 23 March. Counterattacks on V-1 and V-2 sites in the Netherlands ended on 3 April, and all Crossbow countermeasures ended on 2 May with the end of World War II in Europe.
== V-1 defence ==
On 2 January 1944, Air Marshal Roderic Hill, Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of Air Defence of Great Britain submitted his plan to deploy 1,332 guns for the defence of London, Bristol and the Solent against the V-1 "Robot Blitz" (the "Diver Operations Room" was located at RAF Biggin Hill). Against V-1s attacks there were belts of select units of Fighter Command (No. 150 Wing RAF) operating high-speed fighters, the anti-aircraft guns of Anti-Aircraft Command, and approximately 1,750 barrage balloons of Balloon Command around London. "Flabby" was the code name for medium weather-conditions when fighters were allowed to chase flying bombs over the gun-belt to the balloon line, and during Operation Totter, the Royal Observer Corps fired "Snowflake" illuminating rocket flares from the ground to identify V-1 flying bombs to RAF fighters. After the Robot Blitz began on the night of 12/13 June 1944, the first RAF fighter interception of a V-1 was on 14/15 June. Moreover, anti-aircraft guns increased the rate of downed V-1s to 1 per 77 rounds fired after the introduction of proximity fuses. Despite the defences, by 27 June, "over 100,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed by the V-1 ... and shattered sewage systems threatened serious epidemics unless fixed by winter." Of the 638 air-launched V-1s that had been observed, guns and fighters brought down 403; 66 fell in the London Civil Defence Region and 169 in other places, including Southampton on 7 July and one as far north as Manchester.