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Major-General Dr Walter Robert Dornberger ( September 6 1895 - June 27 1980) was a German army officer whose career spanned World Wars I and II. During the 1930s and 40s, he directed Germany's rocket and missile programmes, which culminated in the V-2.

Dornberger was born in Gießen and joined an artillery regiment just prior to the outbreak of war in 1914. A month before the armistice, he was captured by French forces, and was repatriated to Germany in 1920, where he returned to the army.

Between 1926 and 1931, he was detached to the Technical University of CharlottenbergCharlottenberg is a town, and the seat of Eda Municipality in Varmland County, Sweden. It is located approximately 6 km from the border between Sweden and Norway and has about 3. 000 inhabitants. The Charlottenberg railway station serves as the last stati, where he studied physics. In 19321932 is the leap year starting on Friday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 3 British arrest and intern Mohandas Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel January 8 In Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees Jan, Dornberger was approached by members of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR)Members of the VfR, circa 1930. Those pictured include Rudolf Nebel (far left, in white coat), Hermann Oberth (in hat), Klaus Riedel (holding rocket in foreground), Wernher von Braun (behind Reidel, in knickerbockers The Verein fur Raumschiffahrt (VfR "Sp ("Spaceflight Society") amateur rocketry group, who were looking for funding. The German army at the time was interested in developing rocket weapons, since these had not been specifically restricted by the Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles of 1919 is the peace treaty created as a result of the six-month-long Paris Peace Conference of 1919 which put an official end to World War I. The ceremonial signing of the treaty with Germany occurred June 28, 1919. The treaty wa, so Dornberger agreed to attend a demonstration. The launch of a liquid-fuelled rocket designed by the group was a failure, the device exploding on its launch pad. Even so, Dornberger was impressed with the group and with his contact, Wernher von BraunMarshall Space Flight Center desk in Huntsville, Alabama with models of rockets developed and in progress. Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( March 23 1912 June 16 1977) was a Nazi German scientist, SS officer, and one of the leading figures i and offered them a contract to work on secret rocket weapons for the army. The group declined the offer, but von Braun himself agreed to work for Dornberger.

Dornberger and von Braun worked together on a series of ever more powerful rockets at the Krummersdorf artillery base. By 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,, this facility was too small for the experiments they were carrying out, and Dornberger requested and was granted a larger site, which became the research station at PeenemündePeenemunde is a village in the northwest of the German island of Usedom on the Peene river, on the easternmost part of the German Baltic coast. Rocket facility During World War II, Peenemunde was the location of the Heeresversuchsanstalt an extensive rock. There, the ballistic missile development programme resulted in the first flight of a V-2 in March 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass.

Dornberger remained head of the V-2 project until August 1944 when it came under direct control of the SS, and Heinrich Himmler replaced him with Hans Kammler. Dornberger resented being placed under Kammler's authority and did not believe him to be competent to lead the project. Sympathetic to Dornberger's plight, Albert Speer transferred him and his staff to work on anti-bomber defences in January 1945. Working now for the Luftwaffe, Dornberger's team adapted the technology of the V-2 to the Wasserfall SAM, but this project was hampered by Kammler (with the authority of Hermann Göring) transferring most of Dornberger's technicians back to the V-2 in February.

With the war now clearly reaching its final stages, Dornberger and von Braun led their staff in evacuating Peenemünde. He then surrendered to US troops in May. He was imprisoned in the UK for two years. During interrogation, he maintained that he had never intended the V-2 to be directed at civilian targets, and that this had only happened when the SS took control of the project. Because of this, he was not required to stand trial as a war criminal and was allowed to go free.

He emigrated to the United States soon after his release, and worked for the USAF on guided missiles for three years. From 1950 to 1965 he worked for the Bell Aircraft Corporation and was a key consultant for the X-20 Dyna-Soar project. During this time, he also wrote an account of his time on the V-2 project, simply titled V-2.

Following retirement, Dornberger returned to Germany, where he died in 1980 in Baden-Württemberg.