| The V-1 Flying Bomb - Hitler's secret vengeance weapon. | On 13 June 1944, a strange sight appeared in the early morning London sky.
It looked like a short-winged plane, half on fire, and it tore through the sky at over 350 miles per hour with a distinctive buzzing engine noise.
Onlookers didn’t know it yet, but they had caught a glimpse of the first Nazi Vergeltungswaffen (vengeance weapon), the V1.
A few minutes later the engine cut out and the flying bomb went into a steep dive.
The aircraft and its 1,800-pound warhead hit a railway bridge. It killed six people and made hundreds homeless.
The V1 flying bomb was one of the most fear-inducing terror weapons of the Second World War. Thousands were killed and wounded.
But alongside the civilians killed and wounded by the V1 are the forgotten victims of the vengeance weapons, the people who made them.
Inside the Harz mountains in Germany, tens of thousands of slave labourers from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp lost their lives building the tunnels where the weapons were made.
The V1 is not only a symbol of Nazi attempts to fight the Second World War in innovative ways but of their greatest crime - The Holocaust.
Click here to watch a video to learn more about the V1 Flying Bomb. |
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| The V1 used to hang in IWM London's iconic atrium. But now it will be suspended between the new Second World War and The Holocaust Galleries, as a striking symbol of how the Holocaust and the Second World War are interconnected.
IWM London’s Second World War and The Holocaust Galleries open on 20 October. Entry is free, but we recommend pre-booking a timed-slot ticket. Click here to book. |
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| DUXFORD BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIR SHOW | Last chance to book tickets for this weekend!
Witness daring air displays, dogfights, and aerobatics – ending with the splendour of our now famous mass Spitfire flypast.
Entry to IWM Duxford is included in ticket prices. Advance tickets only. | |
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| | | | HISTORY OF BOMBS LIMITED EDITION POSTER | Missed History of Bombs at IWM London?
Take home a limited edition print of the full History of Bombs artwork by Ai Weiwei instead.
Includes a signed certificate of authenticity. | |
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