Peenemunde Wind Tunnels: A Memoir - Hardcover

Wegener, Peter P

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300063679 ISBN 13: 9780300063677

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1996

Synopsis

In 1943, on orders from the German Air Ministry, young physicist Peter P. Wegener left the Russian front and reported to the Baltic village of Peenemunde. His assignment was to work at the supersonic wind tunnels of the rocket laboratories of the German Army. Here Wernher von Braun led a team that developed the V-2, the world's first large rocket-powered guided missile, and laid much of the groundwork for postwar rocket development. In this fascinating book, Wegener recounts his experiences during Hitler's time, World War II, and his years at Peenemunde. He tells how he was working one night in August 1943 when the Allies bombed the laboratories, but left the wind tunnels undamaged. The tunnels were moved to Bavaria, and Wegener was ordered to follow in 1944. After the war, the tunnels were moved again-this time to the United States, accompanied by the author and other German scientists. Shortly before the end of the war, Wegener visited Germany's underground V-2 production plant to retrieve archival material on aerodynamics that had been stored in caves for safekeeping. He describes the appalling history of the concentration camps where SS guards watched over inmates who toiled underground in inhuman conditions and often did not survive. A photoessay enhances this remarkable memoir.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter P. Wegener is Harold Hodgkinson Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science, Yale University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0300063679
• ISBN 13: 9780300063677
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 198