Was the Cippenham V1 air Launched?
More that one reader has suggested that given the date it is almost certain that the Cippenham V1 must have been launched from an aeroplane in the Thames estuary aimed at London and that the ranging device probably failed and causing it to fly on until it ran out of fuel. We therefore decide to investigate and it seems our Cippenham V1 was part of a salvo launch as there are records of at least 5 others over the space of an hour.
- 7:58 New Southgate, exploded
- 7:59 Cippenham, exploded.
- 8:20 Acrise (inland from Folkestone), shot down by AA
- 8:20 Elham (inland from Folkestone/Dover), shot down by fighter
- 8:32 Chiswick, exploded
- 9:00 Lyminge (near Folkestone) shot down by AA
We drew a line on a map from Cippenham through the middle of the three interceptions and it end up at Pas de Calais. According to Peter J C Smith’s book “Air-launched Doodlebugs. The Forgotten Campaign” there were no V1 air-launches after 22 August until 29 August. During this period the Pas de Calais batteries were still in action. The last V1 fired from Pas de Calais was on 1 September.
[…] the air from a long ramp by steam catapult at intervals of a few minutes from each other. At least six missiles were launched over the space of an hour, three of which penetrated the coastal defences. At 7:59 AM […]