Resisting Vengeance: The Allied Intelligence War Against V Weapons

This documentary history provides a detailed overview of Allied intelligence efforts during World War II, focusing heavily on gathering information about Germany's V-weapon program, specifically the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. The sources describe the broad methods of British intelligence, including diplomatic and military intelligence gathering, as well as covert operations involving interception and the use of undercover officers. A significant portion highlights the crucial role played by various sources, such as German defectors like Hans Mayer (Oslo Report) and Austrian scientist Paul Rosbaud, and numerous French, Belgian, Luxembourger and Polish resistance networks (including Alliance, AGIR/Z-175, and Polish Home Army/Monika W), in identifying key German research and launch sites like Peenemünde and the distinctive "ski sites" in Northern France. It includes messages about sites carried by racing pigeons. The texts also detail the Allied response, including photographic reconnaissance by RAF Medmenham and the subsequent Operation Crossbow bombing campaigns by the RAF and USAAF, alongside deception tactics like the Double-Cross system to misdirect German V-weapon targeting.