Boarding School in Stadtoldendorf

Boarding School in Stadtoldendorf

Veterans

Eugene Kimling

A Secret Rocket Base

"We saw what looked like vapor trails going straight up, but no one knew what they could be."

“After Christmas 1944 I was returning to school from my visit to my grandmother when the train to Stadtoldendorf stopped… Several days later we were skiing in that general direction and we saw what looked like vapor trails going straight up, but no one knew what they could be. Later when I was working with the British, I saw pictures of V2 Rocket launches and then knew what they were.”

Editor's Note: In 1944, Eugene was placed at a boarding school in the mountain town of Stadtoldendorf. There, he built model planes with his friends and honed his skills as a budding engineer, without knowledge that Stadtoldendorf also held a base for V2 Rockets.

1944

Kimling, Eugene. A Life to Live: The Autobiography of Eugene Kimling. Marietta, GA: Self-published, 2016, p. 38.