Don't *think* this has been mentioned here before... A friend happened to
notice <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80DzifHHIxk> and called it to my
attention: a British documentary on Operation Backfire, with extensive
footage of the original launch procedures for the V-2.
(For those not aware of this bit of history: soon after the war ended, an
Allied group led by the British made an effort to document V-2 operations.
They rounded up assorted bits of battered hardware -- the Americans having
already made off with the intact stuff :-) -- and some of the German
launch crews, repaired and rebuilt the equipment, and had the crews go
through everything, up to and including several all-up live firings from
near Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast. With Allied observers watching and
movie cameras running throughout.)
The introductory bits on the history and the hardware are a bit sketchy,
but it gets much more interesting when they start into the blow-by-blow
footage of getting the rocket ready to fly.
Henry
