Looking down one of the roads leading of from the junction shows the narrowness of the roads and the tree cover. ![]() This is the view of the junction as I walked up to the site: This is the junction of Lijsterlaan, Konijnenlaan and Koekoekslaan. One was from the junction of three roads shown as point 1 in the above map. (The above two maps are “ © OpenStreetMap contributors”).Īt around 6:35 pm on the evening of the 8th September 1944, the residents of Wassenaar heard a loud roaring noise and saw two objects rising above the trees, slowly at first before quickly gathering speed, then rushing skyward. The map also shows the wooded nature of the site and that these were side roads – good concealment for the time needed to prepare and launch. These were ideal locations as road junctions offered a larger space for the rocket launcher and supporting vehicles as the rocket was fueled onsite. ![]() There were two simultaneous launches at two different road junctions. The first launches against London took place on the evening of the 8th September 1944. The following map extract shows Wassenaar in detail. Follow the orange road (the N44) that runs from the Hague to the north east and you will find Wassenaar. The following map shows the city of the Hague. Wassenaar was one of the main launch sites for V-2s and the first rockets against London were launched from Wassenaar’s roads.īefore leaving the Hague, I wanted to find the location of the first V-2 launch against London, so headed out on the short drive to Wassenaar. It is a wooded area with small roads crossing the area, concealed under trees which also line the roads. Wassenaar is a suburb of the Hague, located to the north east of the city. In use, the rockets did not have a colour scheme.īlack and white (CL 3405) V2 on launching platform Copyright: © IWM. Most photos of the V-2 show the black and white painted rocket, these were the test versions and the painted colour scheme ensured that any rotation of the rocket could be identified during flight. The following photo shows a V-2 rocket on a launch platform. The trajectory for the rocket was a parabola from the launch site up to the edge of space before descending at up to three times the speed of sound to the weapon’s target. The speed of the rocket meant that it was almost impossible to destroy whilst in flight. ![]() The supporting infrastructure allowed the rocket to be launched from a mobile launcher with fueling carried out on site along with final setting of the gyros that would guide the rocket to its destination. The V-2 was a highly sophisticated weapon. The Hague had the rail connections to bring in the rockets and their fuel, and the suburbs of the Hague offered a large wooded area, crisscrossed by small roads which provided the perfect cover for mobile launches. This was the V-2 rocket which had a much more flexible launch method than the V-1 and also longer range so launching against London was possible from the areas still held by German forces.Īlthough Allied forces were pressing up from the Belgium border, through Eindhoven and Nijmegen, the coastal west of the Netherlands was still under German control and the area around the Hague offered the ideal location to launch against London. In September 1944 a new weapon was first used against London. ![]() London had been under fire from V-1 flying bombs starting in June 1944 until October 1944 when the launch sites were captured as the allied forces progressed through France and Belgium. I was in the Hague for my last post, and before leaving I wanted to visit a site in a suburb of the Hague that has a very direct and tragic connection with London.
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