 Most rocket geeks are familiar with the German V2 rocket, but what does V2 stand for? That story is what we're looking at today on Vintage Space. Though associated with the Nazi regime, the German rocket program of the Second World War was actually under the German Army, under the leadership specifically of Walter Dornberger. And, famously, working under Dornberger was Werner von Braun, a young engineer that had joined the army in 1932. But the SS, and specifically the leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, didn't like this at all. In fact, Himmler started trying to wrest control of the rocket program from Walter Dornberger as early as 1937. That spring, Dornberger and von Braun were among the first technicians and engineers to move into the German Army's rocket development site in the northern German island of Penemünde. And, at the time, von Braun was promoted. But the promotion came with a caveat. He would only have the promotion if he joined the ranks of the SS. It was an appointment von Braun didn't actually want, but the alternative was to give up a half decade of work on rocketry. His life's work on rocketry. And so, he decided to take the appointment and stay with the army developing rockets. About once a year after that, von Braun got another promotion, rising steadily through the ranks of the SS. But still, Himmler could not wrest control of the program from Dornberger until August of 1944. Following the Allied invasion at Normandy, Himmler was promoted to head of the Home Army by Adolf Hitler. And because Dornberger's group reported to the Home Army, he and his rocket program were now under the control of the SS. And direct control of the rocket program was given to another SS officer named Hans Kamler. Kamler was neither a rocket scientist nor an engineer, and the changes he made to the rocket program irked Dornberger. But Kamler did bring with him the full might of the SS, and he did fast-track one of the army's rockets, the A4, in an attempt to get it field-ready against the oncoming Allied armies. Towards the end of August, the Allied forces were making steady progress towards Berlin when Hitler ordered a rocket bombardment and began as soon as possible. At 6.48 in the evening on September 8, 1944, an A4 rocket rose through the sky from a launch site north of The Hague. It traveled 200 miles to London, where Allied radar had no way of tracking the incoming missile. Dornberger's group at Panamunde, who had built the rocket, learned of its success through a newspaper headline that arrived the next day. It said, in German, Vengeance Weapon 2 in action against London. The rocket was not called by its internal designation of Aggregate 4 in the newspapers. It was called Felco Junzwaffe Zwei, or Vengeance Weapon 2, a name given to it by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. And that is where the moniker V2 comes from. I should point out that that is the extremely condensed version of the A4 story, and the full story is absolutely fascinating. So, a couple of book recommendations for you guys. The first is the Nazi Rocketeers from Stackpole Military Books, and I'm sorry I'm not going to try to pronounce the author's last name because I will absolutely butcher it, but it is a really great chronological retelling of the rocket program in Nazi Germany. These Walter Dornberger's memoirs just called V2. It's a fascinating look from the inside of the program. And for those of you wanting more details and more on Fun Brown, I absolutely recommend Michael Neufeld's biography, Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. It is just phenomenal, and he's the authority on Fun Brown. Definitely have a link to this one in the event section below as well, for you guys if you want to check it out. The V2 is an interesting rocket because it once it killed a lot of people during the Second World War, but it was also the technological jumping off point for the rockets that have sent astronauts into space. So where do you guys land on the V2? How do you feel about it? Let me know in the comments below, and of course if you have ideas for later episodes or topics you'd like to see covered, let me know in the comments below as well. And I can tell you right now, we will be dealing with a little bit more V2 and the aggregate series of rockets in future episodes. For Vintage Space content every single day of the week, be sure to follow me on Twitter as AST Vintage Space. And with new episodes going up every single Tuesday and Friday, follow me right here so you never miss an episode.