V-2 rocket offensive began on 8 September 1944, when "Lehr- und Versuchsbatterie No. 444" () launched a single rocket guided by a radio beam directed at Paris. Wreckage of combat V-2s occasionally contained the transponder for velocity and fuel cutoff. The painting of the operational V-2s was mostly a ragged-edged pattern with several variations, but at the end of the war a plain olive green rocket also appeared. During tests, the rocket was painted in a characteristic black-and-white chessboard pattern, which aided in determining if the rocket was spinning around its longitudinal axis. The original German designation of the rocket was "V2",
Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II December 1943 21 January 1944 10 March 1944 12 June 1944 July to September 1944 8 September 1944 17 September 1944 22 September 1944 3 December 1944 1 February 1945 27 March 1945 29 March 1945 2 May 1945 8 May 1945 9 May 1945 23 May 1945 16 June 1945 18 June 1945 5 July 1945 26 July 1945 15 August 1945 Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II This is a Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II covering Britain 1939–45. For a brief narrative see United Kingdom home front