N. Y, HERALB TWBWIf RussiaBelieved Testing V*2s at Peenem uende Former W ehrmacht Expert Has Unverified Reports Plants Are in Operation By IVireless tc the Herald Tribune Copyright, 1946, New York Tribune Inc. FRANKFURT AM MAIN, July 31. Recent press reports of rockets observed ver Swedish ter- ritory and the Baltic Sea probably mean that the Russians are en- gaged in V-2 experimentation at Peenemuende, in northem Pome- rania, according to a former Wehrmacht rocket expert who now Tives in Frankfurt arn Main. This German engineer, who pre- fers to remain anonymous, was until the last days of the war en- gaged in rocket research at Peene muende and other experimental He said he has received uncon- firmed reports from the Russian zone of occupation that the former rocket production and assembly plants and laboratories at Nord hausen, Bleicherode, Sonderhau sen and Saalfeld are operating again, though no detailed informa tion is available as to the nature and type of the work. Nordhausen was an elaborate underground assembly plant, and the other three stations manufac- tured V-2 parts and carried on If rockets are being launched out ver the Baltic, as recent re ports from Stockholm would indi- cate, then undoubtedly the Rus sians hav put the famous Wehr macht rocket station at Peenel muende back into operation, this engineer states. Peenemuende was bombed by I the Royal Air Force during thel closing months of the war, but| was not damaged beyond repair. The rocket-launching sites were untouched when this engineer and the entire staff were evacuated from the Baltic experimental sta tion in the last weeks of the war. Between 3,000 and 5,000 work- ers and several hundred experts were taken from Peenemuende to Bleicherode and later to Oberam- mergau, in Bavaria, where they were taken ver by American troops. According to this in- formant, most of these scientists were sent to England and to Amer ica in rocket teams to continue their research work. 100 of the rocket technicans are! now in the United States, but the British group has been disbandedl and brought back to Germany,1 according to this source. If they are carrying on rocket experimentation in their zone, the Russians are suffering from sev eral basic handicaps, the inform- ant said. Except for skilled labor, the Russians are unable to gather in the key technicians. However, a top-ranking rocket engineer who isa friend of this informant is known to be working for the