In one of the most daring covert missions of World War II, Polish resistance fighters managed to steal Adolf Hitler's top-secret V2 rocket, hide it from Nazi search teams, dismantle it, and secretly smuggle its parts to Britain. The operation, known as Operation Most III (Wildhorn III), gave the Allies their first close look at the world's first long-range ballistic missile and helped them understand one of Nazi Germany's most advanced weapons.
By early 1944, the V2 rocket had become Hitler's prized "wonder weapon." Developed under the leadership of engineer Wernher von Braun, the missile could travel nearly 236 miles (380 km) at more than five times the speed of sound, carrying a 2,148-pound (975 kg) warhead. Hitler believed the V2 could turn the tide of the war.
