German V-1s were fired in attacks against the strategic port of Antwerp after the Allied capture of the V-1 launch facilities used to attack England. Antwerp was hit by over 2,000 V-1s from October 1944 to March 1945. Numerous Allied antiaircraft units were deployed around Antwerp to defend against the V-1 attacks. The following report describing the rules for V-1 claims by antiaircraft units was published in “Antiaircraft Artillery Notes,” No. 8, December 1944.
SUBJECT: Rules for Confirming Claims of Pilotless Aircraft Shot Down.
SOURCE: Headquarters, Antwerp “X” Command, Operations Memorandum #25.Operations Memo #25, Hq Antwerp “X” Command, 2 December 44, is quoted:
1. In order that all concerned may be apprised of the conditions under which claims for PAC (Diver) shot down are allowed at this Headquarters, the following rules governing the procedure of the Claims Board established by Operations Memo No 13, this Headquarters, are hereby published:
a. The claim is initiated by unit commander who must cite the basis for the claim.
(1) To substantiate a Cat A claim the statement will be made that a PAC while engaged by AA exploded in mid-air.(2) To substantiate a Cat 3 claim the statement will be made that a PAC fell as a result of damage sustained from AA fire as manifested in one or more of the following:
(a) Deflection in course.
(b) Definite and abnormal change or cessation in motor sound.
(c) Appearance of fragments of PAC in air.
(d) Definite and abnormal increase in flame area around target.b. Each claim must be reviewed by commanders in the chain of command. When received at the Statistical Office, the claims board tentatively allows or disallows claim. This does not require a meeting of the entire board but may be done by any one member of the board.
2. All concerned are reminded that the records being compiled, of PAC shot down, are an important military and historical record which will be given the most careful study by higher authority and it is therefore incumbent on everyone in the chain of command to insure that all claims registered are founded on substantial fact. It is considered to be a serious dereliction of duty to enter, or allow, claims which are not so founded.
3. In forwarding claims the commanders concerned will insure that the basis of the claim is fully stated, in order that the claims board may have sufficient data on which to proceed. Prior to 1500 daily, the entire claims board will meet for confirmation of rejection of all claims which have previously been allowed tentatively. After this has been done, credit will be allocated to specific batteries for the PAC shot down.
4. In order to avoid duplication of reports, it is desired to obtain individual battery credits, or PAC Kills, from the daily Statistical Report. To avoid confusion between units “engaging” and units actually “claiming” PAC, Groups and Brigades are directed to plainly indicate on report forms the difference between the two categories.
One way to bring down a V-1 was to have it hit the cable on a barrage balloon; unfortunately, in a lot of cases it then fell straight onto the barrage balloon crew and killed them when it detonated.
I remember reading about some of these cases with the barrage balloons — since the V-1s followed similar flight paths every time, barrage balloons could be effective. Flak was getting pretty good too against V-1s by the end of the war.
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Good rules. Make sense.