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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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V1
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and V-2 Pilotless bombs developed by Germany at the end of World War II. The initial V stood for Vergeltungswaffe (reprisal weapon). The V-1, more commonly known in Britain as the doodle-bug or buzz-bomb, was literally a flying bomb – a cylinder with small wings carrying about 900kg/2000lb of explosives and powered by a ramjet engine at the tail. From June 1944 to March 1945 more than 2000 were launched against Britain. The V-2 (about 1300 launched from September 1944 to March 1945) was the first modern rocket, a ballistic missile with a payload about the same as the V-1, which left the earth's atmosphere in its trajectory and re-entered faster than the speed of sound. It was the basis of postwar rocket develpment in both the USA and the USSR.
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