The Meillerwagen (English: Meiller vehicle) was a German World War II trailer used to transport a V-2 rocket from the transloading point[a] of the Technical Troop Area to the launching point, to erect the missile on the Brennstand (English: firing stand),[b] and to act as the service gantry for fuelling and launch preparation.
The unofficial Meillerwagen[c] name was often used in official documents and refers to a parts supplier for the trailer, Meiller-Kipper GmbH of Munich, Germany (founded 1850). The Army Research Center Peenemünde designed the Meillerwagen, and the Gollnow and Son company assembled the Meillerwagen from supplied components. The Meillerwagen was assembled with Italian and Russian prisoner laborers of the Lager Rebstock. The Meillerwagen was vehicle code number 102 of several vehicles in a V-2 launching battery, which included an 8 ton launch control vehicle. Launching of V-2s from mobile equipment was studied under code name Regenwurm ("Earthworm") to replace bunkers such as at the Watten bunker.
The Meillerwagen A-4/V-2 transport-launcher device consisted of the following vehicles:
After completing the process of fitting the warhead to the V-2 rocket, the Technical Troop used a strabo crane at the transloading point to transfer the missile from the Vidalwagen to the Meillerwagen for transport to the launching point. Typically a Hanomag SS-100 tractor pulled the Meillerwagen up to 45 km/h (28 mph) forward with the rocket travelling tail-first – the maximum speed in reverse was 15 km/h since the Meillerwagens pneumatic brakes could not be coupled to the tractor when being pulled backward.
After the Meillerwagen was close to the launch point, the Firing Platoon Truck Section took charge and removed the rockets camouflage cover and rudder protection. The control compartment batteries, alcohol-filling connection, tools, and other equipment were loaded into a box on a strut at the top of the Meillerwagens lift frame. The Meillerwagen was moved via hand winches to the firing stand and then levelled via the two extendable outriggers with end-jacks.
The rocket was raised via the Meillerwagen lift frame and hydraulics. When vertical, the rocket was suspended above the firing stand, which was raised to touch the rocket fins. Clamping collars were used to connect the rocket to the firing stand, and the Meillerwagen was withdrawn less than a meter and the rocket was turned a quarter turn for the fuel connections to face the Meillerwagen platforms, which were lowered into position for standing. A separate three-section extendable ladder, the Magirus ladder, was used for areas of an erected rocket not accessible via the Meillerwagen.
The hydrogen peroxide tank on the Meillerwagen (126 litres) was filled from a 2120-litre tank truck with its own pump, then the rocket was filled from the Meillerwagen tank. Additional Meillerwagen piping included the following.
The elevated lifting frame was fitted with piping to fuel the rocket with A, B, P, and T-stoff.
According to an official document of the time (5240/44GKdos) which describes a 110 minute launch, the Meillerwagen participates thus:
The structure of the Meillerwagen consisted of the wheeled trailer chassis, and the hydraulic lifting frame.
The trailer chassis was a lattice frame of tubular members. It comprised a transverse trunnion box member at the front, from which six longitudinal tube members ran aftward and converged into one large main central tube at the rear; the six longitudinal members were braced vertically and horizontally by smaller-gauge tubes. The rear central tube member supported a large horizontal-plane turntable. A steerable front truck was installed just behind the trunnion box member, while the turntable surmounted a two-axle rear bogey.
The steerable front truck was fitted with twin duplex wheels (four tyres), the inner wheels equipped with pneumatic drum brakes. The duplex wheels rode on swinging wishbone axles with transverse semi-elliptical leaf spring suspension. A steering lock was included for use during rear towing.
A turntable at the rear of the chassis frame supported a bogey, mounted on bearings so it could swivel and pivot. The bogey was fitted with two axles, a fixed middle axle and a steerable rear axle, both of the swinging wishbone type with transverse semi-elliptical leaf spring suspension. The middle axle was fitted with pneumatic brakes, while the rear axle was unbraked. A feedback steering system was included in the design, so that any change in direction by the rear bogey (and fixed middle axle) was duplicated by the steerable rear axle, but to twice the extent. The linkage for the feedback system was for used front towing, and was disengaged during rear towing.
The towing arm could be fitted to the front truck, or the steerable rear axle of the rear bogie. The towing arm was fitted with a sprung force stem, contrived so that the tow arm floated horizontally at zero relative weight.
Each front corner of the chassis was fitted with a swing-out A-frame boom equipped with a screw jack and foot plate. The booms enlarged the Meillerwagen footprint to stabilise it during erection of the rocket, and provided a means of adjusting the Meillerwagen transverse level. The booms deployed outward and forward of the lifting frame trunnion axis to prevent it toppling forward or to either side.
The lifting frame was constructed of two formed I-beams, with tubular and box transverse braces. The lifting frame was fitted with plumbing for fuelling the rocket; wiring for powering and monitoring the rocket and for field telephones; accommodations for carrying and dismounting the rocket; and folding platforms to service the rocket with rungs to access them.
The lifting frame was fitted with outlet sockets and wiring for field telephones. A main connection from the armoured launch vehicle switchboard to inlet sockets on the lifting frame provided circuits for four field phone stations at the Meillerwagen – one each at the upper and lower folding work platforms and two at the launch table.
An early configuration of the Meillerwagen included hard-wiring of two electrical power circuits and two FLAK-plug circuits for the power and control needs of the rocket. The system included four sockets at the upper and at the lower end of the lifting frame, and the connective wiring fixed along the starboard beam. The four circuits were connected to two Stotz ejecting plugs, stowed with their cables along the side of the lifting frame. All of this wiring had become redundant by the time the rocket attacks began, but was not removed from the Meillerwagen.
The Meillerwagen chassis was fitted with a Notek tail light at the rear, its patch plug at the front, and the connective wiring in a conduit along the chassis frame.
The lifting frame erected the rocket from horizontal to vertical, using hydraulic power. The hydraulic lifting equipment consisted of a hydraulic pump and its drive motor, a hydraulic fluid tank, a control valve group with manometers, and the lifting pistons themselves.
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