The World War II Gallery in the National Museum of the United States Air Force includes displays of bombs, guns, and other items.
Republic/Ford JB-2 Loon (V1 “Buzz Bomb”)
According to the Museum:
The JB-2 was a U.S.-made copy of the famous German V-1 surface-to-surface, pilotless flying bomb first used against England in June 1944. The Republic Aviation Corp. built the airframe for the JB-2 from drawings prepared at Wright Field, using dimensions taken from the remains of several V-1s brought from Germany. The Ford Motor Co. built the engine, which was a copy of the V-1's 900-lb. thrust Argus-Schmidt pulse-jet.
Republic and Ford built 1,000 JB-2s for the Army and Navy. Production delivery began in January 1945, but the U.S. Army Air Forces cancelled further production when World War II ended. The first JB-2 test flight in took place at Eglin Field, Fla., in October 1944. Just before the end of the war, an aircraft carrier en route to the Pacific took on a load of JB-2s for possible use in the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. Although never used in combat, the JB-2 provided valuable data for the design and construction of more advanced weapons.
The V-1 was launched from a 200-ft. inclined ramp using a steam-powered catapult. Launching accelerated the missile to about 250 mph, fast enough for the winged bomb's jet engine to operate. Since the V-1's range was only around 150 miles, launch sites were set up on the French coast in order to bombard London. Magnetic compasses, a timer and a system of gyroscopes guided Buzz Bombs along a preset course and distance at an average altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. When the course was complete, the 1-ton warhead armed automatically and the engine shut off. The bomb then free-fell onto its target. The V-1's unique pulse-jet engine gave the Buzz Bomb its nickname: Louvers opening and shutting rapidly near the intake made a distinctive buzzing noise as the engine's "pulsating" thrust gave the V-1 a cruising speed of about 360 mph.
A single Luftwaffe Flak (antiaircraft) regiment launched all Buzz Bombs in combat. These specially chosen troops had good technical skills, and they trained at Peenemunde and other sites for months before setting up V-1 operations on the coasts of France and later Holland. Each of the 64 original V-1 units consisted of 55 soldiers and could usually launch one missile in an hour. Some V-1s were also launched from Heinkel He 111 bombers, but this effort was mostly unsuccessful.
Germany produced more than 30,000 V-1s in 1944-1945, and an estimated 8,000+ actually reached England and Belgium between the first launch on June 12, 1944, and the last impact on March 30, 1945. About half the missiles fell within eight miles of their targets. Allied countermeasures included bombing launch sites, antiaircraft fire, barrage balloons with wires to snag the missiles, and fighter interception. The Allies dropped some 98,000 tons of bombs on V-1 launch and manufacturing sites. Combined defenses in England and on the continent destroyed a total of 6,176 Buzz Bombs, and an estimated 25 percent of V-1s launched crashed due to malfunction or manufacturing defects.
In England, more than 6,000 people died in V-1 attacks, and another 18,000 were wounded.
The V-1 had a 2,100 pound high-explosive warhead, an operating speed of 375-400 mph, a range of 150 miles, and an operating altitude of 2,000-4,000 feet.
V-2 with Meillerwagen
According to the Museum:
The German army developed the V-2, known also as the A4 missile, as an alternative to super-long-range artillery, which the Treaty of Versailles prohibited after World War I. Designed by rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun, the V-2 was a breakthrough in missile technology but failed to prevent Germany's defeat in World War II. The rocket was inaccurate, which made it a poor military weapon but an effective terror device. Though the rocket was destructive, killing almost 3,000 people in England and probably even more in Belgium in the last year of the war, the German forced-labor system could not produce enough V-2s to affect the outcome of the war. In any case, the comparatively small power of V-2 attacks could not match the massive effect of Allied strategic bombing. After the war, the German rocket team and many captured missiles were brought to the United States, where V-2 technology helped to build the technological base for human spaceflight and advanced strategic missiles.
V-2 Missile Operations
The V-2 was the first practical modern ballistic missile. Its operation was complex and involved specialized transport and launching equipment. Unlike the V-1 flying bomb operated by the Luftwaffe, the German army operated the V-2 rocket. Erecting, servicing and launching a V-2 took from four to six hours and required some 32 different trailers and vehicles carrying fuel, batteries, pumps, spare parts, radios and other equipment. The entire operation required hundreds of soldiers, with the launch team alone needing more than 100 people to service and test the rocket, survey the site, run the support equipment and command the process. In all, more than 10,000 people and 3,000 vehicles were devoted to V-2 activities.
After rail transport to the launching vicinity, large mobile cranes loaded rockets onto trailers, which took them to the actual launch site. The V-2 on display is on such a trailer, called a Meillerwagen.
The best launch sites were flat, wooded areas with clearings big enough to operate the missile and with ground or pavement firm enough to hold it. At the launch site, crews raised the rocket vertically with the Meillerwagen, then fueled it with alcohol and liquid oxygen. After several tests and adjustments, the rocket could be fired from the safety of an armored control car some distance away. The V-2's rocket engine burned for about a minute. The missile then continued in a ballistic unpowered trajectory to its target. During its flight, the V-2 reached an altitude of 50-60 miles, and its top speed was around 3,400 mph.
The V-2, once launched, could not be stopped -- it was too fast and flew too high. Since the V-2 arrived at several times the speed of sound, there could be no warning to its approach. The missiles impacted before the sonic boom they created was heard. Allied efforts to prevent rocket attacks depended on bombing production facilities and attacking rail transit with fighters. Allied air power destroyed many V-2s before they reached launch sites; the V-2 on display was damaged in an air attack.
Germany produced nearly 6,000 V-2s in 1944-1945. Like the V-1, the V-2 was inaccurate. It could only be aimed at a large area, like a city. Together, the V-1 and V-2 missed their aim points by an average of more than nine miles. The first operational V-2 launch took place on Sept. 8, 1944, and the last on March 30, 1945. During this seven-month period, 1,115 V-2s hit England, and 1,524 fell on continental Europe. Many V-2s broke up or exploded in the air, and around 15 percent were never launched due to ground malfunctions. The total damage done in England by the rockets included 2,754 killed and 6,523 severely wounded. Some of the worst V-2 attacks included the destruction of a cinema in Antwerp (561 killed), and an impact on a crowded Antwerp street the killed 128 people.
The V-2 carried 2,152-2,205 pounds of Amatol 39A explosive, has a top speed of 3,400 mph, a range of 180-220 miles, and a maximum altitude of 50-60 miles.
Ruhrstahl X-4 Air-to-Air Missile
According to the Museum:
Allied bombing success in Germany during World War II led the Germans to develop air-to-air missiles. The X-4 was to be launched from fighter planes against B-17 bombers. This missile, like the V-weapons, is an example of advanced technology that failed to prevent German defeat, but previewed future arms development. The missile's warhead was "tuned" to the vibrations of the bomber's engines, and it was meant to explode as it passed nearby. Fighter pilots guided the missile visually with a small joystick, and thin wires -- nearly four miles long -- relayed guidance commands to the missile. Though about 1,300 X-4s were built, the Allies bombed the Ruhrstahl factory, and the Germans turned their attention to other projects. The X-4 was an early attempt to use guided missiles in aerial engagements, a concept which has since been developed to produce highly accurate weapons that are the mainstay of air-to-air combat.
The X-4 carried a 44 pound warhead, had a range of 2,700 yards, and a top speed of 560 mph.
Japanese Balloon Bombs
According to the Museum:
One of the best kept secrets of the war involved the Japanese balloon bomb offensive. Prompted by the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, the Japanese developed the balloon bombs as a means of direct reprisal against the U.S. mainland. The balloons, made of paper or rubberized silk, carried anti-personnel and incendiary bombs.
The first operational launches took place on Nov. 3, 1944, and two days later a U.S. Navy patrol boat spotted a balloon floating on the water off the coast of California. Japan launched some 9,000 balloons during a five-month period, to be carried by high altitude winds more than 6,000 miles eastward across the Pacific to North America. Perhaps a thousand of these reached this continent, but there were only about 285 reported incidents. Most were reported in the northwest United States, but some balloons traveled as far east as Michigan.
As more sightings occurred, the government, with the cooperation of the news media, adopted a policy of silence to reduce the chance of panic among U.S. residents and to deny the Japanese any information on the success of the launches. Discouraged by the apparent failure of their effort, the Japanese halted their balloon attacks in April 1945.
On May 5, 1945, six picnickers were killed in Oregon when a balloon bomb they dragged from the woods exploded. The U.S. government quickly publicized the balloon bombs, warning people not to tamper with them. These were the only known fatalities occurring within the United States during World War II as a direct result of enemy action.
Actual damage caused by the balloon bombs was minor. However, the incendiaries that these balloons carried did pose a serious threat to the northwestern U.S. forests during dry months. These balloons also offered a vehicle for germ warfare if the Japanese had decided to employ this weapon.
The balloon attacks began after air defense facilities in the United States had been deactivated. To counter this threat, U.S. Army Air Forces and Navy fighters flew intercept missions to shoot down balloons when sighted. Army personnel and USAAF aircraft were also stationed at critical points to combat any forest fires that might occur. In addition, supplies of decontamination chemicals and sprays to counter any possible use of germ warfare were quietly distributed in the western United States. Before detailed USAAF defensive plans had been put into effect, the attacks ceased.
B-17 Sperry Top Turet
According to the Museum:
This turret was one of the first fully-powered machine gun turret designs used to equip American aircraft and was used initially on the B-17E Flying Fortress. It is operated by an electro-hydraulic system, which powers both elevation and traverse of the turret's two .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns, and has a rate of fire of 1,400-1,600 rounds per minute. Turrets of this and later types gradually replaced manually-operated machine guns introduced for bomber defense during the First World War, and so made the bomber and more formidable opponent to attacking fighters. This turret was manufactured by the Emerson Manufacturing Co. to a Sperry Gyroscope Co. design and was donated to the museum by the Hobart Corp. of Troy, Ohio.
88MM Flak 36 Cannon
According to the Museum:
The versatile 88mm cannon was Germany’s main heavy antiaircraft—or “flak”—gun during World War II. When an 88mm projectile exploded at altitude, it sent out jagged metal fragments that tore through nearby aircraft. It also left a characteristic black cloud hanging in the sky.
The 88mm cannon’s high-velocity fire also made it a deadly antitank gun, and it could be used as conventional artillery against distant ground targets. Other versions equipped heavy tanks and submarines.
Flakvierling 38 20mm Antiaircraft Gun
According to the Museum:
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 was a German antiaircraft gun used during World War II. Consisting of four barrels on a common mount, it featured collapsing seats, folding handles and ammunition racks. The mount has a triangular base with a jack at each leg for leveling the gun. The tracker traverses and elevates the mount manually using two handwheels.
The guns are fired by a set of two foot-pedals and can be operated either automatically of semi-automatically. It was widely used against low-flying Allied aircraft and was often installed in flak towers and other permanent mounts. The gun on display was captured in 1945 by the 2nd Armored Division in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. It was restored by museum volunteers.
German BK-5 50mm Cannon
According to the Museum:
The BK-5 was an adaptation of a tank gun and was intended primarily for use against Allied heavy bombers. Its magazine held 22 rounds, and the gun had a rate of 45 rounds per minute. BK-5 cannon were installed in some Me 410 twin-engine interceptors and experimentally in the Me 262 fighter, but the war ended before testing with the latter aircraft could be completed. Only about 300 of the guns were produced and combat usage was limited. When Reich Marshal Hermann Goering was captured and questioned on May 10, 1945, he mentioned the BK-5 experiments translated as follows:
"You might find around Germany some jet airplanes equipped with anti-tank guns. Don't blame me for such monstrosities. This was done on the explicit orders of the Fuehrer. Hitler knew nothing about the air. He may have known about the Army or Navy, but absolutely nothing about the air. He even considered the Me-262 to be a bomber and he insisted it should be called a bomber."
M10 75 Millimeter Cannon
According to the display:
“During World War II, the US Army Air Forces used about 1,400 75mm cannon-equipped B-25 bombers. Essentially ‘flying artillery,’ these heavily-armed B-25s attacked fortified ground targets, bridges, and enemy shipped such as transports, barges, and small naval vessels. Though more powerful than most aircraft weapons, the B-25’s hand-loaded cannon only allowed about three or four shots per firing pass, which limited its effectiveness.”
Pack Howitzer 75MM
OQ-2A Radio-Controlled Aerial Target
According to the Museum:
In the mid-1930s, radio-controlled model airplanes became the basis for the U.S. Army Air Corps' development of the aerial targets for antiaircraft gunnery training. Starting in 1935, the Radioplane Co. in California developed several variations of an original design by former movie star and modeler Reginald Denny. The successful OQ-2A generated contracts for almost 1,000 targets in 1943.
The OQ-2A launched from a catapult, and a controller flew it with a control box on the ground. To recover, the OQ-2A deployed a 24-foot diameter parachute, and it floated down to the ground.
Although Radioplane developed the OQ-2A, other companies shared in production contracts. The target on display was the last in the 1943 production run by the Frankfort Sailplane Co. of Joliet, Ill.
This aircraft was powered by a 2-cylinder, air-cooled, two-cycle 6 horsepower engine. It has a top speed of 90 mph, an endurance of 60 minutes, and a ceiling of 8,000 feet.
More World War II museum exhibits
Air Force Museum: World War II flight jackets (photo diary)
Veterans Memorial Museum: World War II (Photo Diary)
Museum of Flight: World War II memorabilia (photo diary)
Museums 101: World War II Military and the Oregon Coast (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Honoring Veterans (Photo Diary)
Museum of Flight: World War II model airplanes (photo diary)
Museum of Flight: World War II Japanese seaplane models (photo diary)
Museum of Flight: World War II American multi-engine airplane models (photo diary)