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The V-1 flying bomb «Vergeltungswaffe 1» (Vengeance Weapon 1)—also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug and in Germany as «Kirschkern» (cherry stone) or «Maikäfer» (maybug), as well as by its official RLM aircraft designation of Fi 103 - was an early cruise missile and the only production aircraft to use a pulsejet for power.
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The V-1 was the first of the so-called «Vengeance weapons» series deployed for the terror bombing of London. Because of its limited range, the V-1 missiles launched into England were fired from launch facilities along the French and Dutch coasts. The Wehrmacht first launched the V-1s against London on 13 June 1944, one week after the successful Allied landings in France. At peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9'521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun by Allied forces.
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As part of operations against the V-1, the British operated an arrangement of air defences, including anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft, to intercept the bombs before they reached their targets.
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The anti-V-1 sorties by fighters were known as «Diver patrols» (after «Diver», the codename used by the Royal Observer Corps for V-1 sightings). Attacking a V-1 was dangerous: machine guns had little effect on the V-1's sheet steel structure, and if a cannon shell detonated the warhead, the explosion could destroy the attacker. The alternative concept was to use the wingtip to «topple» the V-1 flying bomb and deviate it from its course.
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A zone was declared between London and the coast, in which only the fastest fighters were permitted to intercept. The next most successful interceptors were the Mosquito, Spitfire XIV and Mustang.
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The image shows ace S/L Kynaston of 91 Sqn with 21 destroyed V-1's.
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Text: Wikipedia