28 NOVEMBER 1981, Page 18

German V sign

Sir: May I correct a small error in Mr Woodhouse's review of Albert Speer's book The Slave State (14 November). The designations VI (for the flying bomb, not the rocket) and V2 were originally German, the V standing for Vergeltungswaffe — weapon of retaliation. A4 was the rocket's official numbering during its development and continued to be used in parallel with V2 after it came into service.

G. A. Coulson

97b Denmark Street, Diss, Norfolk