Chapter Six – Wernher von Braun

Research and story by Clarence Simonsen

All rights reserved

Engineer and rocket expert Wernher von Braun was born in Wirsitz, Germany, in the province of Posen, [now Wyrzysk, Poland] on 23 March 1912. The family of Baron Magnus von Braun was wealthy, and life was filled with the zest for serious reading, listening to classical music and conversation in five different languages.

In 1899, German composer Paul Lincke wrote the original score of an Operetta he titled “Frau Luna”. The music told the story of a trip to the moon by Berliners in a hot air balloon, who meets the Lady in the moon – “Frau Luna.” Part of this original score included a famous march “Berliner Luft” which became the unofficial anthem of the city of Berlin. In 1906, the Operetta music became a hit in the 2 act of a burlesque show which included part pop tune and operetta. In 1922, Lincke revised the original Operetta and his new classical music soon became a part of the new Weimar Berlin era of cabarets, pleasure-seeking music culture. Wernher was only ten years old but thanks to his father, well involved in German classical music.

As a little boy, von Braun mastered the piano and even composed his own music. Much has been written about his early interest in music by friend and biographer Ernest Stuhlinger. In the 1920s von Braun was accepted for piano lessons by the famous composer Paul Hindemith, and by age 15 [1927] had composed some of his own pieces. He demonstrated his piano talent by expertly playing Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, which had connections to the moon. Von Braun also took cello lessons at the Hermann Lietz boarding school at Ettersburg Castle where he became a member of the student orchestra at age 14 years. They played the works of Mozart, Haydon and Schubert. [Ernest Stuhlinger and Frederick I. Ordway III, Wernher von Braun Crusader for Space, Biographical Memoir Florida 1994]

Another von Braun biographer, Helen B. Waters, has written Wernher’s father had a huge liberty of books and his son was drawn to science fiction, where the works of Jules Verne fired his imagination. [Helen B. Waters – Wernher von Braun Rocket Engineer, New York, 1964, page 18]

In addition to music and literature, at age 13 von Braun was drawn to the heavens when he received a life-changing gift from his mother. He had just begun his studies at Ettersburg Castle, when the gift of a telescope arrived. He soon developed a strong passion for astronomy and moon watching, which led to a curiosity about building a vehicle to carry a man to the moon. At age 16, he transferred to a North Sea school at Spiekeroog Island, where he developed leadership, organization and communication skills. To further his astronomy he persuaded the head master to purchase a five-inch retracting telescope and helped build an observatory. He also began to write about astronautics and his five-page story “Lunetta” [Little Moon] was published in the school magazine. The story involved a rocket trip to a space station, where crews wore space suits and observed earth through special windows.

In 1924, the family moved to Berlin where von Braun read the book “Die Raket zu den Planetenrumen, [The Rocket into Interplanetary Space] published 1923 by Hermann Oberth. This spurred his strong desire to better understand the science and math related to space travel, and he soon became a top student in both subjects. Oberth’s book helped to spark the rise of amateur rockery in all of Germany.

In the summer of 1929, von Braun enrolled at the Berlin Institute of Technology taking mechanical engineering. On 15 October 1929, a movie premiered in the Universum Film AG Cinema, Berlin, titled “Die Frau im Monde” [Women in the Moon] directed by Fritz Lange.

Lange hired author and space expert Hermann Oberth as the film technical advisor. The movie displayed remarkably accurate moon rocket design, acceleration, and weightlessness in space, featuring the very first countdown in seconds before rocket ignition.

The movie historically changed the imagination of space travel for thousands of German male youth, including 17 year old von Braun. The movie also reintroduced von Braun to Oberth, and the German female figure soon became his heroine, “Women in the Moon.”

Due to the historic breakthrough of the movie [Die Frau im Monde], Oberth ask director Lang if he would assist him to raise money to build an operational space rocket. This by-product of the Frau im Monde movie would have a major effect on rocket development and earn Oberth the title –“Father of German Space Flight” movement.

The original rocket group of three included Oberth, and two assistants, a WW I fighter pilot, Rudolf Nebel, and a Russian emigrant, Alexander Sherchevsky. They began work on the new rocket but the project soon fell apart, Sherchevsky was fired, Oberth was injured, suffered a nervous breakdown and returned to his native Rumania. Nebel regrouped and continued work on the rocket using leftover material. In early 1930, Oberth agreed to return and work with Nebel on the new rocket. While conducting his graduate studies, von Braun joined the group and assisted Hermann Oberth with experiments in building and firing the new small liquid fuel rockets. On 23 July 1930, they succeeded in building and successfully test firing a gasoline, liquid oxygen rocket.

This historic photo shows Oberth, Nebel, and a number of helpers. One eighteen year old youth, wearing suit and knee breeches, is Wernher von Braun.

After this test, Oberth returns to Rumania and Nebel will form the most important rocket group in Germany, [Raketenflugplatz Berlin]. Their work was conducted in an abandoned Army ammunition dump, located on swampy, hilly, wooded, lowland at Reinickendorf. In May 1931, the Raketenflugplatz group launches a rocket they christened “Repulsor” after a German space vehicle in a fictional novel. In the spring of 1932, Capt. Walter Dornberger came to visit and the German Army began to fund the rocket flight club. After completing the first half of his mechanical engineering program at the University of Berlin, von Braun was made a doctoral candidate in applied physics. He officially began work at the new Army Artillery range at Kummersdorf on 1 October 1932. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler forces his way to power in the Weimar Republic and becomes chancellor of Germany. He next leads a parliamentary coup, suspends the constitution and begins rule by decree. The new rocket research will become part of the German Totalitarian Society, over which the new rocket engineers and scientists will have little control.

In early 1932, von Braun had graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and with the help of Capt. Dornberger, enrolled at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin, to study physics. His doctoral studies were funded by the Ordnance Department of the German Army. This German Army grant financed von Braun’s rocket research located at the old Army Artillery range at Kummersdorf, next to the solid-fuel rocket facility headed by Captain Walter Dornberger.

In 1934, von Braun obtained a doctorate degree in physics from the University of Berlin, by that time he was technical director of rocket research at Kummersdorf. That same year, he led a group that successfully launched two liquid-fueled rockets into space. He named these rockets MAX and MORITZ after the famous German cartoon characters created by Wilhelm Busch in 1865.

Born in Bremen on 13 July 1904, Gerd de Beek would become a friend to von Braun, and worked his entire life for his rocket teams. From 1937 to 45 von Braun became technical director of the German rocket research at Peenemunde, and research professor from 1943 to 45. He was responsible for the successful development of the German A4 rocket, which first flew on 3 October 1942. This new rocket was designed on paper by Gerd de Beek and his design team, plus this missile carried a special tail art painted for Wernher von Braun. The painted image featured his heroine a nude “Frau Luna” on the moon, imposed over the outline of an A4 rocket with V4 [4th launch] on tail. A second painting featured a Frau Luna wearing a dress and shoes. [The reason for this second art is still unknown]

The Army A/4 test rockets did not display any German national markings or Nazi colors, which was possibly forbidden due to the classification of “State Secret.” The first A/4 missiles were hand built prototypes painted in a glossy black and white scheme designed for tracking the rocket rotation after lift-off and this was all recorded on 35 mm film and 16 mm motion picture. This early black and white paint scheme was applied by brush in the large assembly building and gave a rather crude appearance to the missile finish. When the black and white painting was completed artist de Beek took over and created his tail art image which was mainly painted between fin number 1 and 2. The German scientists had no way of knowing when the first missile would make a successful flight and thus de Beek had no idea which one of his tail art images would make world space history. The first three tail art images all feature a German female, [possibly Frau Luna on V2, then a witch on V3, and now V4 becomes the very first fully nude lady painting. The two images on right [below] are from the original pre-launch 16 mm film recorded at Peenemunde, Germany.

Microfilm copy of original 35 mm prelaunch images showing the nude Frau Luna, 3 October 1942. These were copied at Fort Eustis, Maryland, in 1946-47 and today are public domain National Archives and Records Administration at Maryland, USA. This flight burn was 58 seconds; however the pitch was too steep due to an error. This became the first man made missile to reach into outer space, 87 to 90 k/m, reaching a top speed of 0.75 miles per second. The photo records the tail art was painted between fin #1 and #2, as the early rockets were manufactured with air rudders on tail fins 1 and 3.

This is the free domain image showing the takeoff of A/4 V4 at 4 p.m. on 3 October 1942, where the rocket achieved the world’s most historic space flight, reaching a maximum altitude of 52.8 miles. It was witnessed by General Leeb and General Koch, with flight duration of 58 seconds burn; it traveled 120 miles before crashing into the Baltic Sea. This rare historic space artifact is still waiting to be re-discovered from the sea bed, and I believe the “Frau Luna” nude space art still survives on the rear section sitting in the Baltic.

This successful flight-test came at just the right moment, as the next thirteen test missiles would all be a total failure in functioning property. Wernher von Braun used this A/4 test film to his full advantage on 6-7 July 1943, the date he was finally allowed a face to face appointment with the Fuehrer. Dr. Steinhoff was the pilot of a He-111 which flew Dornberger and von Braun to meet with Hitler in his East Prussia bunker, [Wolfsschanze]. At 17:00 hours they were ushered in for a briefing, in the presence of Hitler, Jodl, Butale, Keitel and Albert Speer. The presentation film began with the impressive vast assembly hall at Peenemunde, showing the production, assembly, vertical roll-out, the P-7 launch complex and finally the A/4 launch. This was followed by von Braun presenting Hitler with model and plans to construct a huge protected production and launch bunker on the coast of France. At the end of the film presentation, Hitler promoted Dornberger to the rank of Generalmajor and appointed von Braun as professor. Hitler had problems to understand the technical developments of the rocket, however he finally agreed to a monthly production of two thousands A/4s.

This film came to the United States with von Braun in 1945, and can be viewed online today. I’m positive the little nude Frau Luna was also explained to Hitler on 7 July 43.

Clarence Simonsen
All rights reserved

It is possible this A/4 rocket art nudity reflected on the German Weimar 1920’s era, which gave way to open displays of lewd dancing, with full nudity; to the point all German cabarets [Over 500] had at least topless German dancers. Von Braun was able to erect a strange wall of silence around this part of his sexual past and the number of lovers that he made contact with. In 1929, he was a handsome 17 year old student living in Berlin, where he was often seen in the evenings in the company of two girls at once. This was the main time period where Berlin was the hottest pleasure city in all of Europe, where gay men, lesbians, and transvestites openly displayed their sexuality. Even today, nobody knows if von Braun was bi-sexual, or straight, but he was in Berlin, had money to spend and each night hundreds of men costumed as women and hundreds of women as men, danced in transvestite balls. Von Braun had a charismatic personality and is recorded as being a ladies man, so you can let your imagination run wild. This madcap Weimar “Golden” period was captured in paint and pencil by a famous German artist Jeanne Mammen, who depicted sensual women in the dark side of Berlin City nightlife.

Jeanne was born in Berlin in 1890, fled with her parents to Paris in 1916, and spent a good part of her life working with people of different class backgrounds. She found work as a commercial artist and her mainly pencil drawings with a watercolor wash, illustrated the urban atmosphere of Berlin from late 1920 to early 1930. With the arrival of Hitler in 1933, the Nazis banned her art and denounced her subjects as hated Jewish. Until the end of the war she painted for advertising magazines and sold second-hand books. Her portrayals of Weimar period German life and lesbian women were most disturbing to Hitler and his Nazis. Wernher von Braun spent the fall of 1929, until the spring of 1933, in this Weimar wild nightlife. [Age 17 to 21 years]

1930 pencil and watercolor by Jeanne Mammen titled – Lesbian girlfriends

This famous 1930 pencil drawing by Jeanne Mammen is titled – Boot Whores Berlin.
The illustration captures the blind and poor Germans attempting to make a living to stay alive, while the young girls sell their bodies on the street. Most of the prostitutes wore high top leather boots which earned them the nicknamed “Boot Whores.” When you look at the little nude “Frau Luna” on A/4 rocket V4 she is wearing only stockings and her high top black leather boots. Could she in fact be a “Boot Whore” painted for von Braun by Gerd de Beek?

The historical impact of the film “Die Frau im Monde” supplied the funds to build the first German rocket which was launched on 23 July 1930. Eighteen year old von Braun was part of this historical event, and it is most likely he attended a large number of the Weimar Berlin cabarets; combined with his movie heroine “The Girl in the Moon” this could have influenced the launch tail art on 3 October 1942. Smithsonian Historian Michael Neufeld recorded in his 2007 book – “Von Braun Dreamer of Space Engineer of War”, [he was known as a ladies’ man], processed power and money, which attracted the German high society to the Berlin cabaret lifestyle.

From 13 June 1942 to 27 January 1954, Wernher von Braun approved the painting of forty-four rocket tail art paintings by his friend Gerd de Beek. Fifteen German female images were created for his rockets, and six featured female nudity. While von Braun was obsessed with space and going to the moon, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see he was also obsessed with nude German ladies.

Image of young von Braun from the Website V2rocket.com, rocket tail art images from author collection

Chapter Five – The Hitler Youth Organization and Nazi Nudity

Research and story by Clarence Simonsen

All rights reserved

Hitler had only been in power for three months, then in April 1933, all German clubs for boys and girls ages 10 to 18 were consolidated by the State. Hitler Youth organizations were created and all German youth were set on a course to prepare them mentally and physically to serve Hitler and the Reich. German parents had no right to prevent their children from being selected for special schools, where academics were taught under military control. One examination even measured the youth’s skull, making sure it was “Aryan” enough in shape. Hundreds of these young men would meet the requirements for the SS, who became the fountainhead of the future German racial elite. The SS were given every encouragement and opportunity to sire children for their “Fuhrer”, and the young women were urged to mate with the SS men to produce children as their sacred duty. They did not have to get married, and the children were considered to be legitimate.

On 12 December 1935, Reichsfuhrer-SS-Heinrich Himmler created a new program known as Lebensborn [Fountain of Youth]. They built a chain of maternity homes throughout Germany where the new Lebensborn children were raised by student nurses called “little blond sister”. The baby was later placed with a suitable German family and the young women produced a child for the super race. Each SS child was given a silver spoon, a silver beaker, and a blue silk shawl.

German Federal Archives – Maternity Nurse [little blonde sister] at Lebensborn facility 1943.

Contrary to some belief, Hilter had no problem with nudity as long it showed the Nordic or Aryan look. The Nazi nude male was used in paintings and sculptors, depicted as responsible, heroic and powerful.

The “Bund Deutscher Madel in der Hitler-Jugend”[League of Girls] were used in publication of nudist magazines and posters showing neat, clean, full breasted, German girls having a flat belly, long-muscled thighs and slim over-all. The new Nazi image of the German “Aryan” girl. On 1 December 1936, a new law concerning Hitler Youth, forced all eligible [10 years of age] ethnic German girls to become a member of the BDM, League of Girls. The girls age 10-14 became Jungmadelbund, and the girls 14 to 18 became Bund Deutscher Madel [BDM]. The senior German girls were indoctrinated in their duty to bear children for the Reich, in or out of wedlock. Special social events were arranged to bring the SS men together with the young women of the League of Girls. In most cases, the pre – or extra marital relationship was more a line of Nazi duty than love and affection for the father.

Historians all seem to agree, it is very hard to understand the attitude of von Braun towards the National Socialist regime he served under, or the reason he obtained his Nazi Party membership. He has stated, “My membership in the party did not involve any political activity.” He also stated in a 1952 memoir, “I fared relatively well under totalitarianism.” Maybe some of his reasons were also driven in connection to his sexual life style which was reflected in some A/4 tail art?

Wernher von Braun enrolled in the Berlin Institute of Technology in the summer of 1929, taking mechanical engineering. This 17 year old student was attractive to girls, had a charismatic personality and soon became known as a ladies man. Weimar Berlin was at the height of its unhinged morally, with 500 sexually experimental nightspots and cabarets. Braun joined in the sexual party life and was often seen in the evenings in the company of two girlfriends.

In 1933, Hitler closed down the Weimar Republic sex life style in Germany and replaced it with the new Nazi controlled birth of a new super “Aryan” race. It is possible von Braun used the Nazi swastika pin on his lapel for political gain as well as sexual gain at Peenemunde. Braun was a very intelligent man who knew what he would face if he disagreed with the Nazi ideology and he simply took advantage of this for his own gain. He joined the S.S. #185,068 on 1 November 1933, and reached the rank of SS-Sturmbannfuhrer [Major] on 28 June 1943. He officially applied for membership in the Nazi Party 12 November 1937, just six months after Peenemunde opened. He had many successful affairs within the secretarial and female office pool at the rocket base. I believe he fathered a number of children for the new super race. He possessed all the perfect qualities of the super Aryan race father, a Nazi party member, a S.S. Officer, combined with the fact he was the Technical Director of the Army Rocket Centre at Peenemunde. He lived in the best of all worlds.

In order to achieve their racial ambitions, the National Socialists introduced many reforms which redefined the German social structure. They sought to control the behaviour of all Germans both in and out of the public eye. Under the Third Reich a person’s body was no longer considered their own, but recognized as public, and used to produce the new Aryan race. These new social concepts on gender and sexuality were reflected in the male and female sculptures of the Nazi era. Aron Breker was the best known German sculptor from 1933 to 1942, and maintained a personal friendship with Hitler. Hitler wanted males depicted as responsible, heroic, powerful with boastful muscles, and most of all Aryan or Nordic in appearance. This is clearly reflected in his work as the German human being is slowly being transformed into a living military weapon on the battlefield and a life-like image in Breker’s sculptures.

Arno Breker was born in the town of Elberfeld, near Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1900. He received his earliest training as an apprentice working under his father, who was a sculptor and stonemason. During World War One he attended arts and crafts school and also took private instruction in drawing. In 1920, Breker began formal sculpture training in the State Art Academy in Dusseldorkf from Hubertue Netzer and Wilhelim Kreis. These studies led him to move to Weimar, Paris, and Rome where he worked among renowned masters from 1922 and 1933. This also introduced the young artist to Mussolini’s new fascist Italy, which left a life long impact on the sculptor and his future works of Nazi art. During his six months of study in Rome, Hitler was appointed the new German chancellor and began building his “Thousand Year Reich.” The new Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels made a visit to Rome to meet Mussolini and also stopped to visit Breker at the Academy of Art in Rome. He was encouraged to leave Italy and lend his new talents to building a new Germany, and become a state sculptor working for Hitler. History books describe many options for his magnetism towards Hitler, but all agree his artistic style went through a complete change when he returned to Germany in 1934. In 1936, he completed two sculptures, Victory and Decathlete, for the new Olympic stadium in Berlin, and received a silver medal from the Olympic Arts commission. In 1937, Breker joined the Nazi Party and was named the regime’s Official State Sculptor and Hitler next lavished him with a huge studio for his production of sculptures designed for monumental Nazi buildings. The new studio came with a small staff of professional sculptors, and the head of the S.S. Heinrich Himmler facilitated the transfer of German [possibly also gays and Jews] concentration camp detainess for the forced hard labor in the studio. In this same year, Breker was appointed professor of Berlins’ School for fine Art, and instructed at the Prussian Academy of Fine Arts. His work was also unveiled to the world in the summer of 1937, at the Paris World’s Fair.

Albert Speer and Breker began to collaborate on Hitlers new Reich Chancellery design in January 1938, and two of his male nude sculptures flanked the entryway from the chancellery’s ceremonial “Court of Honor”, which led to a series of adjoining rooms that culminated at Hitler’s appointed office.

On the left is “Torch Bearer” and right “Sword Bearer” both muscular nude males of Aryan perfection.

These two bronze sculptures were eight times larger than life-size and titled by Breker: Torch Bearer, and Sword Bearer, which Hiter changed to [PARTY] flame and [ARMY] sword for Wehrmacht. The presence of Breker’s Greek and Roman god influence is undeniable and this was just the beginning of many that would disseminate the Nazi ideologies in the German minds.

Professor Albert Speer, Inspector-General of Building Construction for the Third Reich, was commissioned by the Fuhrer on 11 January 1938, and the construction began in March 1939. During the nine months of actual construction hundreds of architects, artists, and workmen came from all over Germany. The new Chancellery officially opened on 11 January 1939, and to the world it represented the new modern Nazi Third Reich.

The long hall in the Reich Chancellary was a gallery of bright marble walls, 480 feet long, which led to the Fuhrer’s study. Between the doors hung large goblins from the 17th century, and bronze multi-light fixtures which gave character to the size of the room. Beautifully shaped tables and chairs lined the complete length of the long hall. The entrance to Hitler’s study was located at the end of the hall on the right, constructed of dark marble frame, it reached thirty feet in height.

The door to Hitler’s study was 20 feet high made of solid mahogany [glass inlay] and trimmed with 30 feet of dark marble. This door connected the study with the long hall, which appears on the right in photo. The top of door was decorated with the initials of the Furher, A.H.

The study of the Fuhrer was 33 feet high, 90 feet long and 50 feet wide, walls of dark-red marble and a coffer-work ceiling of redwood. The floors were light decorated marble covered with two thick rugs. Four doors were made of mahogany and inlayed with glass planels, 20 ft high by 6 ft wide. A door on the left [not shown] led outside to the courtyard of honor where Breker’s two large sculptures of the “Party” and the “Wehrmacht” guarded the entrance.

This bronze sculpture by Arno Breker stood beside the Fuhrer’s desk in his study. The name is not known and it is believed to have been destroyed by the Soviet Army in May 1945.

These first Breker sculptures glorifying the Aryan purity and a strong gigantic German nation allowed him into the closest circle around Hitler, which included being invited to tour events and foreign countries with the Furher himself. In May 1940, Hitler bestowed on sculptor Arno Breker the Golden Badge of the Nazi Party. After the fall of France to German forces, Breker, and Speer, accompanied Hitler on his tour of Paris on 23 June 1940. His intimate knowledge of Paris and France was important to Hitler and he remained in Paris for two more years. He appropriated the luxery former Paris home of very rich Polish-American cosmetic manufaturer, Helena Rubenstein, while he continued to receive awards and favored treatment from Hitler and the Nazi leadership. Born in Poland as Chaja Rubinstein, she formed the first female cosmetic company in 1908, and became one of the richest women in the world. Using the name Helena, she moved to Paris and lived in a large townhouse from 1912-15. It is believed Arno Breker picked this home as he suspected Helena was a Polish Jew, which is possibly true.

German Federal Archives – Hilter visits Paris on 23 June 1940. The man on his left is German Architect Albert Speer and Sculptor Arno Breker stands on the right.

This image has been published many times but the importance of this photo is always lost to historians. Some authors credit the man on the right as a cameraman, who just recorded the events of Hitler in Paris. These two men are in fact key figures in helping Hitler build his new Third Reich and both are friends in the inner-circle of the Furher’s elite. They have completed building the new Reich Chancellery [11 January 1939] and now seventeen months later they have come to Paris with the boss himself. Breker did not stay in Paris to drink red wine, he was appointed by Hitler to secretly orchestrate the Nazi plundering of French art and sculptures back to Berlin. His vast art knowledge and connections in the French art world will allow the Nazis to steal the best, and they in fact did. He is the only German artist to exhibit in occupied France, when his sculptures were unveiled at the Paris Orangerie Museum in 1942. The sculpture art of Breker was slowly taking over the entire nation of Germany, imposing the Nazi ideologies with the power of an Aryan race, which appeared to offer a brighter future for the German society in general.

In 1940-41 Breker continued to live in Paris, [steal art for Hermann Goering] plus live and work in his studio in Germany, creating colossal sculptures for Hitler and the Nazi party. With the fall of France, he was able to locate and employ French prisoners of war as sculptors to work in his forced labor studio, which in turn speeded up his creations. These muscular nude male and female sculptures were like the ancient Greek and Roman gods and this beautiful art was being used as a weapon of propaganda by Josef Goebbels and his Nazi regime. At the same time Germans longed for a stable life and thanks to viewing sculptures, war was becoming a symbol of employment, security, and a brighter future for them personally. It is very easy to see why Breker became the favorite “State” sculptor and friend of the Furher.

It is reported that in 1938, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, was so impressed with the monumental statues created by Breker he attempted to commission works from him, but Hitler refused. I also believe this state sculptor nude Aryan style became part of the early A/4 rocket tail art painted by Gerd de Beek at Peenemunde test site in the fall of 1942 and had connections to V4 and V5 tail art.

This free domain image of a German female shows the Aryan style created by Arno Breker for Hitler.

On 3 October 1942, the very first successful launch of an A/4 took place at Peenemunde. Artist Gerd de Beek had no idea which launch would place the world’s first manmade object to leave the atmosphere. For this rocket tail art V4, he selected the image of Wernher von Braun’s heroine “Frau Im Mond” [Girl in the Moon]. While the girl, moon, and stars are clearly understandable, the full nude wearing black whore boots is not as easy. Was de Beek a smart artist who knew what he would face if he disagreed with the Nazi influence or was he simply another gullible German victim of Berker’s propaganda?

Did this nudity reflect on von Braun’s wild night life, during the Weimar Republic era when he attended University in Berlin 1929-32? Possibly, but I also believe it came from the powerful Arno Breker sculpture era 1937-42. The fact remains artist Gerd de Beek also created a Frau im Mond [Lady in the Moon] who was painted in the same pose but fully clothed and wearing shoes. It is impossible to know the true motives behind the creation of this nude Frau Luna and why von Braun picked it over the lady wearing clothing.

The next A/4 rocket launch V5, 21 October 1942, seems to confirm my feelings. The nude male fits all the heroic and powerful aspects of the perfect Aryan sculpture by Arno Breker. This nude German Aryan male is stepping from earth to a cloud while reaching to outer- space.

German Federal Archives of V-5 launch art at Peenemunde.

This became the last A/4 rocket where de Beek painted directly on the rear above the rocket thrust ring. The rocket flew 147 k/m and this original oil based art could survive today in the Baltic.

Arno Breker was captured after the fall of Berlin by the Soviet Army and completed a denazification process but was never tried for any war crimes. He remained unrepentant for his activities with Hitler and the Third Reich until he died in 1991.

Today over seventy of his famous sculptures can be viewed in Germany, and they still face some public resistance in what they stood for from 1935 to 1945.

From 1940 until 1944, Hermann Goering acquired thousands of looted paintings, or three paintings per week. He kept a personnel art log book which totaled over 600 pages, and today it has been published as an amazing book. Arno Breker played a large part in this Nazi art looting scheme.

Chapter Four – German U-boat Insignia in WW II

Research and story by Clarence Simonsen

All rights reserved

It is important to note that the Luftwaffe was the most politically favored branch of the entire German Wehrmacht in the first two years of WWII. They designed and painted unit insignia in enormous numbers that possibly reached 1,500 badges and emblems. In the early years of the war, the new Nazi Party introduced past German military events and heroes into the Luftwaffe names and badges. For some reason this proved very unpopular with Luftwaffe units who adopted the more common themes for aircraft use. Another very uncommon practice was the usage of the same Luftwaffe political art, emblems, and badges, on the conning tower of the German U-boats.

Over 430 WW II German U-Boats [Kriegsmarine] painted insignia or emblems on their conning towers. This art varied from U-Boat flotilla emblems [24] to German coat of arms [32]. A few German cities adopted a U-Boat, while other coats of arms were painted for the Commander’s home town or region in Germany he was born. Nine of twenty-four flotilla emblems featured a U-boat in the design, and these were adopted and used on many different boats.

Much like the early political nose art used by the German Luftwaffe, the German U-Boats also used British symbols which made fun of Winston Churchill and the umbrella of Neville Chamberlain. Known emblems [19] featured – devil catching Churchill, alligator and umbrella, map of Britain with rabbit Head, Churchill getting torpedo in the rear end, elephant stomping on Churchill, Mickey Mouse defending himself against bombs under umbrella, Chamberlain with inverted umbrella, Skull and Crossbones with umbrella, English top hat with word “Chamberlein !”, scorpion attacking map of Britain, seal with top hat, small dog biting tail of Lion, creature with umbrella sitting in chair, devil holding Churchill near sea mine, British bowler hat, two Black umbrellas, Pig with umbrella, red heart with letters W.C. pierced with a torpedo, and British Bulldog with bone.

Half a dozen emblems featured the swastika, two had the German Iron cross, nineteen U-boats carried the 1936 Olympic rings, six featured a sword, eleven had a laughing sawfish, nine used the horseshoe, four painted cards with four aces, two Queen of Hearts, two black spade cards, three had a Viking ship, seven contained crossed swords, eight used the letter “V”, five had a black Cat, and another nineteen used the snorting bull emblem. Other symbols used – boot, swan, white whale, fish, mushrooms, horse shoe, four leaf clover, cupid, dolphin, dogs, stork with baby, red heart, horse, lighthouse, laughing cow, tree, axe with U.S.A. on blade, bucking donkey, green frog, eagle with swastika, flying fish, star, Mercedes Benz logo, snowman, wolf, grinning fox, black lobster, black beetle, Jolly Roger flag, hedgehog, an eel, squirrel, bear drinking milk, clown, shark mouth, black spider, and teddy bear in circle.

Only two emblems contained a German female, one was the face of a German lady with brown hair, the second was the only known nude, an ugly looking witch riding her broom adorned the conning tower of U-1024. Commissioned 28 June 1944, U-1024 was based at Bergen, Norway and sailed under 11th Flotilla, which featured a Polar Bear and U-boat in the design. This Flotilla badge was also used as emblem art on nine other U-boats in WW II.

This nude witch painting did not impose on the Nazi ideology of the new German wife and mother role in giving birth to a new super Aryan race. Thus it was allowed, possibly for its hidden sexual content.

U-1024 was sunk by the Royal Navy on 13 April 1945.

Clarence Simonsen
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While the German Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine [U-boats] followed the Nazi ideology of not painting German females as unit badges or insignia, they both painted images of at least four witches flying on their brooms. When you view the second rocket tail art that artist de Beek painted for the launch of V3 on 16 August 1942, you will find the image of a witch carrying her broom as she flies her A/4 rocket to the moon.

I believe these witch insignia all have one common message involving German humor and sexual content and obviously nothing to do with our modern Halloween. Most early beliefs in the supernatural were simply fueled by drug use in the dark periods of European history. The use of drugs by witches was very common in the middle ages in Europe, including Germany. Many of these so called witches were in fact the ‘ladies of the evening’ who also supplied drugs for their customers. Many different hallucinogenic compounds made from plants were mixed into a special brew, ointment, or witches salves for use in their witchcraft. The earliest known written use of hallucinogenic grease appears in a book by Alice Kyteller was dated 1324. “The witch greased a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through the thick and thin.” The witch had anointed her broomstick with the drug grease and then became high as she rode around the room. The ointment covered broomstick was placed between her legs, coming in contact with her rectum and or vagina, where the mucus membranes quickly absorbed the drug mixture. The benefit of absorbing a hallucinogenic drug in this manner bypassed the liver and the drug passed directly to the brain, allowing the witch to get high faster. This also avoided sever intestinal pain, and in many times even death, if the brew had been taken orally. Obviously there was also a sexual part to this entire witch’s brew but that is not my objective. Many early paintings of witch art show the female nude, partly nude or flying with the broomstick backwards. This art also suggests the use of the broomstick for sexual stimulation after the application of the witch’s brew. One of the most famous witch etchings was published in Madrid, Spain, in 1799, titled “Linda Maestra” [Pretty Teacher]. This could also help explain the reason for de Beek painting the witch riding test rocket V3 at Peenemunde, 16 August 1942.

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was the most important Spanish artist and printmaker during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, referred to as both an old master and the first of the new modern era. Immensely successful in his lifetime, he began as an old style master painting romantic ladies. Two paintings featured the same lady in the same pose, one was fully clothed [La Maja Vestida] and the other was fully nude, La Maja Desnuda. The model is believed to have been Pepita Tudo, the secret mistress of the Prime Minister of Spain, Manuel Godoy y Alvarez, but that has never been verified. This became the very first life-size female nude painted in the Western art world and was never publicly exhibited during the artists lifetime. This nude painting changed the artistic horizon of the period, when he painted a women’s pubic hair for the very first time. In the 1900’s this famous painting also opened the door to other artists in nude female painting. The two original paintings, both size 97 cm by 190 cm, hang side by side in the Musedo dei Prado in Madrin, on public display since 1901. They are priceless works of art, published in books, stamps, and film.

Wernher von Braun’s father had a huge liberty of world famous books and he was always reading the works of Jules Verne and science fiction. I sure he also read and observed the art of Francisco de Goya, including the nude ladies and famous flying witches.

La Maja Desnuda, painted by Francisco de Goya for the Prime Minister of Spain, his mistress Pepita Tudo. Owned by Manuel de Godoy until 1808, then seized in 1813, as obscene art. Public display in 1901, today a priceless work of art.

In 1792 Goya became deaf from an unknown illness, and during this time he created a series of etchings which he titled “Caprichos.” He produced this series of 80 etchings which were a scathing commentary on the era he lived in Spain. The set of prints were published in Madrid in 1799, and once again he upset many with his showing of sexuality and the ugliness of witches he had witnessed in Spain. The set began with a self-etching of the artist himself.

The number 68 etching was titled Linda Maestra [Pretty Teacher].

The image shows an old witch [front] flying at night [owl] and she is teaching the new young witch [rear] the tricks. The Goya humor is in the title [Pretty Teacher] and the old witch is in fact teaching the young witch how to apply the witches brew to her broom stick [which is backwards] and hallucinate they are night flying. This print clearly shows the artist’s sharp satirical wit combined with his attack on the follies found in civilized Spanish society. While the sexual content is most often never explained, the image is a big attraction even today, selling on the internet. Original print is property of British Museum collection and displayed from time to time.

The insignia used by the torpedo testing aircraft of “Torpedowaffenplatz der Luftwaffe” in 1942 also could have a connection to artist Gerd de Beek at Peenemunde.

In 1933, the Polish Air Force constructed an airstrip in West Prussia, located 6.5 k/m N.W. of Gdynia a port city north of Danzig, Poland. In the fall of 1941, the invading Germans began construction of a Nazi science center for testing and analysis of all torpedoes, including German U-boats and [Air-Sea] launch from Luftwaffe flown aircraft. This huge concrete structure opened on 2 April 1942, constructed in the water for safety reasons and remains today at Hexengrund [Babie Doly] Poland.

In the same time period, [1941] the German Luftwaffe began construction at the old Polish airfield at Gdynia, adding six complete runways, two concrete 1,830 meters long. The new infrastructure included two hangars, workshops, and barracks for the new torpedo testing aircrew. The new Luftwaffe unit was named – “Torpedowaffenplatz der Luftwaffe and they designed a new unit insignia which featured an ugly witch flying on a Nazi test torpedo, and in her right arm she carries her broom.

Insignia for Erp. St. Torpedow p.d. L.W. 1942
Clarence Simonsen
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This insignia would first appear on the Heinkel He 111 J-1, [torpedo-bomber] which was manufactured to carry and test torpedoes. In the summer of 1943, Messerschmitt produced a special Me 410 B-5, aircraft used in the Luftwaffe torpedo testing which lasted until early 1945. These aircraft carried the very same witch insignia. This is the only German insignia I can find, where the witch is flying on an object and not her broom. This could also have sexual over tones, the witch is getting high riding the test torpedo, and she carries her broom, which is no longer her sexual object.

It is very likely a number of the Luftwaffe test aircraft, with the witch insignia, landed at Peenemunde during test trials. The reason for this all began in June 1942, when an engineer on the von Braun team [Dr. Ernst August Steihoff] conducted experiments with a submarine launched sea-to-air missile. By July, he had installed and successfully fired salvos of rockets from a special German U-boat submerged under 15 meters of water. His younger brother Fredrick Steinhoff was the Capt. of U-511, and assisted with these new test trials.

The special U-511 with underwater launch equipment was later sold to Japan for testing and became RO500. Frederick took over command of a new boat U-873 on 1 March 1944.

I believe Gerd de Beek observed this Luftwaffe witch insignia on the He111 J-1 test aircraft and adopted the same idea for his painting of the launch of rocket V3. It is possible he was also a passenger in one of these aircraft flown by Dr. Ernst A. Steinoff.

Both Brothers Dr. Ernst and U-boat captain Fredrick Steinhoff were avid National Socialists, and Nazi members who joined the party in 1937. By 1940, Ernst Steinhoff had received three degrees: a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics 1931, a Master of Science in 1933, and a Doctor of Engineering degree in Applied Physics in 1940. He was also a qualified pilot and employed by the German Research Institute for Glider Flight, where he first met von Braun in spring of 1939. His professional qualifications mattered the most to von Braun, and by July 1939, his new friend had appointed him Director for Flight Mechanics, Ballistics, Guidance, and Control of all Instrumentation at the German Army Rocket Research Center at Peenemunde, Germany. Steinhoff would often take the control of a He-111 and fly to a meeting or research project, such as the ex-Polish airfield at Gdyna. During his 1942 submarine testing, many technical drawings were required and I believe Gerd de Beek was his architect. In the fall of 1937, all technical drawings at Peenemunde were stamped “STATE SECRET” and the coding and spoken word became a secret part of everyday life at the testing center. This secrecy created a massive restriction on areas you could enter, objects you could see and topics you could talk about.

Few members at Peenemunde were given the highest priority, which allowed them to read, observe, and visit the test activities on the complete secret base. The highest priority was given to Hitler, Dornberger, Speer, von Braun and Ernst Steinhoff. I believe that Gerd de Beek had this high priority or at least when he was working with von Braun or Steinhoff. Steinhoff was in charge of planning, development and testing of missile guidance systems, including automatic controls. This involved numerous technical drawings which were produced in the [Zeichnungsverwaltung] Drawing Administration Division where de Beek was a manager. Peenemunde administrators maintained a very close watch on all “State Secret” documents, tracking on paper to whom and where they were passed. If de Beek completed a sketch on paper, this hand-drawn image must be destroyed as soon as the official technical drawing was completed. For that reason alone it is obvious that Dr. Steinhoff and illustrator Gerd de Beek worked very close together under the complex rules of German secrecy. Somehow amid all these secret rules and regulations a little witch tail art painting was completed. It is still a mystery why this tail art was allowed in the first place, which will be described in another chapter.

De Beeks little test rocket witch appears holding her broom in her right hand, as she rides the new green A/4 rocket into space. The German rocket has received the nickname – “Cucumber”, which could be a play on words in this case, as the Peenemunde witch is getting high riding her cucumber to the Moon. The first Germans rockets were born under the Weimar Republic, when Berlin was the drug, and sex capital of the world. Wernher von Braun was a young man living in Berlin and enjoying this part of his life which involved many girls and possible use of drugs? The Berlin nightlife involved intercourse with both sexes, while everyone indulged in cocaine, morphine, and hallucinogenic compounds which were imported from Africa. It is also possible these ideas were combined in this second known A/4 tail art painted by Gerd de Beek for Wernher von Braun on 16 August 1942.

On 11 May 1945, brother Captain Fredrick Steinhoff surrendered his U-873 to the U. S. Navy and was imprisoned with his crew in a Boston jail, awaiting transfer to a P. O. W. camp. He was a dedicated Nazi National Socialist and followed all the ideals of the Third Reich. This possibly cost him his life in a Boston police cell. On 18 May 1945, he was being question in his cell by a civilian interrogator from the U. S. Government when he became violent. A large U. S. Marine guard beat Fredrick in the face and he was returned to his cell bleeding and swollen. The next morning he was found dead from self-inflicted wounds to his wrist, which had been cut using the broken lens from his sunglasses. His boat U-873 was scrapped in 1948.

Dr. Ernst A. Steinhoff was one of the German V2 scientists who surrendered to the U. S. Forces at Bavaria on 2 May 1945. He was then loaned by the U.S. Forces to assist the British to launch four captured A/4 rockets at Cuxhaven, northern Germany, in October 1945.

On 23 February 1946, he arrived with 104 other German scientists at El Paso, Texas, to begin work at the new White Sands Missile Range. Once again he will be united with graphic artist Gerd de Beek and more rare tail art will be painted in the United States.

[More details in Chapter Eight].

National Archives and Records Administration – public domain.

Clarence Simonsen
All right reserved

Chapter Three – German Luftwaffe Aircraft Art in WW II

Research and story by Clarence Simonsen

All rights reserved

World War Two aircraft nose art has conventionally always been undervalued in serious aviation research material because it is seen merely as humorous, political, or heraldic in design. The nose art images used by the Luftwaffe in WW II included all of the above, and some can be strongly linked to British symbols and early events in aviation combat history.

The German national colors “Black-Red-Gold” originated in the arly nineteenth century. They were officially replaced in 1852, but remained and continued to be honored by common German people until the Weimer Empire restored them again to official national colors in 1918. Adolph Hitler adopted the swastika as the official logo of the National Socialist party in 1919, and they soon became inseparable. When Hitler came to power in 1933, the three German national colors were banned and replaced by the swastika symbol. Emotionally and psychologically the swastika with colors red, white, and black became the most important German symbol from 1933 to 1945. Beginning in 1933, the German aviation industry designed, tested and produced aircraft on the cutting edge of aviation excellence and technical innovation. The new national German insignia of the Luftwaffe became the “Balkankreuz” or Greek cross which was commonly referred to as the Black Cross. This cross marked the upper and lower wing surfaces and the fuselage. It appeared in many forms from 1933 to May 1945, always painted in Black and white.

The Hakenkreuz symbol of Nazi Germany, the Swastika appeared exclusively on the aircraft tail, painted in various sizes on the fin or across the tail fin and rudder. From 1933 to 1939 the Swastika appeared on the tail inside a wide red band. From 1939 to 1945 the Swastika appeared in solid Black or White, but usually with an outline in mostly White and occasionally Yellow.

The most common use of German political style comic nose art on Luftwaffe aircraft appeared in early 1938 lasted until the end of October 1940. The Nazi Germany political cartoons for a 1938 stereotype of the “Englander” always showed a man carrying a black umbrella and wearing a Bowler hat. Many times a Union Jack flag appeared on the Bowler hat. When P.M. Neville Chamberlain departed for Germany to sign the Munich Agreement in 1938, he carried his “Brolly” gripped tightly in his hand. To the British this visual impact showed confidence for peace, security, and the British way of life. When Hitler invaded Poland, 3 September 1939, the German view of Chamberlain and the British as a whole became a joke, and this appeared on aircraft in a political comic nose art style, as well as official unit Luftwaffe insignia. Chamberlain led Britain during the first eight months, the greater part of the ‘phony war’, and then resigned on 10 May 1940. Today his actions and reputation remain controversial among many historians. For the German Luftwaffe, his resignation triggered the beginning of the end to aircraft political, comic, nose art and emblems.

This Luftwaffe nose art appeared on a Do17 in March 1940. PM Chamberlain glares at the first Lord of Admirality Winston Churchill, while both hide under the PM’s unbrella. In his left hand Chamberlain holds a purse like an old British women. The circle of Britain is under attack from the Luffwaffe, and surrounded by German surface ships and U-boats. [author collection]Simonsen life-size replica painting of German political nose art, donated to Aero Space Museum of Calgary 1994.

This nose art appeared on a Heinkel He-111 during Battle of Britain, 15 August 1940. The Luftwaffe aircrew laughs at P.M. Churchill, the “pants farter” above the gas cloud reads “Like this silly.” [author collection]

Luftwaffe nose artist paints a jockey on a He-111, Battle of Britian 1940. [author collection]

German Federal Archives free domain image – Bomb marked with Churchill Aug-Sept. 1940.

Before and during the Second World War, two animals were primarily identified as the symbols of Great Britain and in general the English people. The British Lion was originally chosen as a Royal Badge in the 1100’s and became the symbol of courage, power, sovereignty, and the favoured heraldic image of the British ruling elite. When P.M. Chamberlain led Great Britain into World War Two, the German Luftwaffe created nose art images and official unit badges which showed the Lion as an unworthly creature. The British Lion became a cowardly beast, with a loud roar and no bite. Part of this was due to the failed Munich Agreement where Hitler made the British Prime Minister look foolish to the rising Nazi power in Germany.

German Federal Archive – free domain- 29 Sept. 1938. Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Ciano at the infamous Munich Conference.

One famous Luftwaffe official emblem featured a cowering Lion being attacked by the powerful Luftwafffe Eagle. This appeared on a He 111 bomber in August 1940, the official emblem of 3./KG 1.

When Chamberlain resigned on 10 May 1940, the new Prime Minister of England became Winston Churchill, and with him came the symbol of the Bulldog, which replaced the patriotic lion in nose art and newspapers. This British ‘true breed’ canine found fame in the Roman times, for their vicious fighting ability in sport dog-fights and use in time of war. The bulldog shared a number of charactorists with PM Churchill, a round wrinked face, short but solid in build, gentle in temperment, but vicious in a fight, to win at all cost.

This 1/JG2 insignia featured a “Bonzo” dog running with tongue hanging out, also making fun of the new British Prime Minister Churchill. The Bonzo dog was created by British cartoonist George Ernest Stiddy on 8 November 1922, featured in many children’s books and became very famous.

The German Dachshund also appeared in early Luftwaffe nose art and official emblem art, portrayed as the German counterpart to the British Bulldog. This mixed breed of hound and terrier was developed in Germany for fox and badger hunting, becoming the only breed with true German roots. Some Luftwaffe units incorporiated the Dachshund, shown attacking and crushing a russian I-16 aircraft in its teeth, January 1942 [Z]/JG 5.

The Dachhund was used on five emblems, the most famous showing the dog peeing on a British top-hat, 8./JG 1. This German dog art insignia could never come close to the power of the Bulldog, and the Allies took full advantage of the German dog’s size and shape. RAF nose art images commonly showed the ‘sausage dog’, which frequently appeared with plump or fat Germans, like the over-weight head of the Luftwaffe Reich Marshal Hermann Goering.

On 10 July 1940, units of the Luftwaffe attacked England, and the Battle of Britain had begun. Many of these aircraft carried polictical comic art into battle, in both nose art and unit emblem form. These aircrews were very confident in total victory over England and the Royal Air Force. The famous battle ended on 31 October, with the defeat of the attacking German Luftwaffe, the first turning point of the war, which prevented Hitler from launching a proposed invasion of Great Britain. This also maked the end of political comic art in the Luftwaffe. From this date until the end of WW II, all German Luftwaffe nose and emblem art became German Heraldic symbols.

This insignia appeared in 1940 during the invasion of Norway, seen on a Bf 109T fighter in JG77. From German Federal Archives free domain. The Luftwaffe put a great amount of creative design into their unit insignia which provided a strong esprit de corps amoung the pilots and ground crews.

During World War Two the Luftwaffe squadrons created and carried over one thousand badges, emblems, and nose art images. In viewing over 920 images, not one single women appears in Luftwaffe aircraft art design.

Only two Luftwaffe badges feature a female, and both are a witch. Jagdgeschwader 333 [JG333] has it roots traced back to 1 October 1934, when it first began as an Kustenjagdgruppe I/136, [floatplane base] guarding the Kriegsmarine [U-boat] bases at Jever, North Germany. The original unit insignia became a young witch riding her broom. During the war in Spain, some of these pilots flew with the Legion Condor. On return to Germany these pilots converted to the Bf 109B and were renamed II/JG333 in 1938. The witch has an extra long nose, showing sexy garter belt and human hands in place of her feet. The unit was renamed on 1 May 1939, and became Stab II/JG77, they retained their witch insignia until end of WW II.

The second witch badge appeared on a Luftwaffe torpedo squadron, Erprobungsstaffel Torpedowaffenplaz der Luftwaffe, flying He 111 and Me 410 Gotenhafen/Hexengrund. They were part of the torpedo rooms testing facility built in the Baltic Sea, on Puck Bay, in Gulf of Gdawsk, Gdynia, Poland. Constructed in April 1942, and located in the sea this huge structure remains today. Built by the Lufwaffe and used for air-to-sea torpedeo testing in various aircraft based at the airfield at Hexengrund. They also were used for all new German submarine torpedo testing and may have a connection to the use of one witch on U-Boat conning tower?

Luftwaffe fighter and bomber aircraft artists used almost anything for inspiration in creating unit insignia. Unlike the Allied Air Forces the Luftwaffe never used the image of a female and nudity was forbidden. The strong influence of the Nazi Party idealisted the German female as a wife or mother and frowned on any other useage, including unit insignia or nose art on aircraft. In 1945, Luftwaffe insignia began to disappear or was painted in a very small image. This was replaced by the names of wives or girlfriends which became the dominant nose art or fuselage painting. This was possibly ordered by the commanding officer or the German Propaganda Minister, to show they were now fighting for their families rather than the German Reich?

When you use the Luffwaffe insignia data as a comparison to the Peenumunde A/4 rocket tail art you will find two major differences.

The first known A/4 rocket image of a full front woman’s face occurred on the V2 launch dated 13 June 1942. The next twelve rocket launchs all contain tail art related to space tarvel, good luck in space, three pigs in space, two males, one fully nude, six females, two are fully nude and one is Frau Luna. In just thirteen rocket launches the Germans at Peenemunde have used the female image six times and two are fully nude, plus two males appear and one is fully nude. This use of the nude female was officially forbidden by the Nazi ideology of the German wife and mother, however Wernher von Braun allowed it to be painted on his test rockets.

On 25 March 1943, V19 is launched and this tail art opens up a new chapter which could be classified as German anti-British political art, but it also suggests for the first time the use of the German A/4 as a rocket of major destruction? [I prefer to use the term ‘major’ rather than ‘mass’].

The tail art displays a drunk and depressed P.M. Churchill on his second glass of red wine. Churchill was known to drink champaign, wine, and brandy from early morning to late at night. The threat of the German A/4 rockets being used against the United Kingdom will cause him to drink more to his death.

On 11 June 1943, V29 is launched and this carries the tail art showing the attack on the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and the United States by a German A/4 rocket. This is the most daming art to this point and clearly shows the new test rocket being used to defeat three major allied powers.

This original photo came to America in 1945 in the HAP-11 BILD photo albums and clearly showed the German scientists ‘intent’ to use the A/4 as a weapon of major distruction against the Allies, including the United States of America.

This is a copy of the original black and white image which was in the original Peenemunde HAP-11 photo archive research album. It came from the private collection of Mr. Frederick I. Ordway III, and after his death [2014] it was donated to the U.S. Space and Rocket Museum in Huntsville, Alabama. This is the only A/4 tail art to show a Peenemunde rocket being used to attack the United States of America.

Frederick Ira Ordway III was an American space scientist and author or co-author of some thirty books and three hundred articles on visionary spaceflight. Upon his death in July 2014, he was the longest-serving member of the American Rocket Society, becoming a member in 1939. He was a technical consultant on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, part of the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency 1960, and worked for the Marshall Space Flight Center space systems at Huntsville 1960-63. He was a close friend with Wernher von Braun and personnaly knew all of the German Paperclip members in Huntsville, Alabama. He owned a large collection of original oil paintings depicting space and astronautical themes, and I believe he obtained a copy of all of the tail art paintings that appeared in Peenemunde, Germany, 1942 – 1944.
When you turn over the above photo image of V29 tail art it is part of the ARFOR Library and Picture Archives created by Fred Ordway III.

The last line states – “Such cartoons were painting on many A4s.” This proves that he knew, possibly in 1945, that this tail art was painted on the A/4 rockets in Peenemunde. Why was this tail art history never published in any of his books or released to the American citizens and world in whole? The full truth may never be known but my repainting of the original A/4 rocket tail art clearly shows six tail art images, V19, V28, V29, V40, V41 and V47 show the German intend to use the A/4 as a weapon of mass distruction. In the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s the image of the secret Nazi scientists brought to American in “Operation Paperclip” was directed at space flight and this tail art shows a much different image. In 1958, the original German Peenemunde HAP-11 BILD photo albums, with contains all the A/4 tail art photos, were returned to then West Germany, where today they remain at Munich Deutsches Museum. Out of sight, out of mind.

The 920 images of Luftwaffe insignia painted from 1933 to 1945 provides serious research image material to judge the art painted in Peenemunde by Gerd de Beek from 1942-1944. In viewing over 430 German Kriegsmarine [U-Boat] conning tower emblems and insignia we view and come to the same conclusions.