Of course the work would have been done eventually - but the significance of the V2/A4 project was more than von Braun's expertise. It demonstrated that (admittedly limited) space flight was practical, and that it had potential military applications. When combined with the newly-developed atomic bomb, the V2 could be a real war winner. This spurred development of ballistic missiles - and it was a Russian ICBM that launched the first satellite, and sparked off the space race. By showing the practical application of this technology, the V2 brought about the development of space flight as a major international effort, rather than just a hobby for scientists.
I don't disagree, in the least. The fact it (V-2) existed was a spur. It couldn't of course lift anything like existing "atomics", and the Soviet rocket wasn't a true "ICBM". It was a single shot orbital rocket, of which the Soviets had few. It did spark the "space race", but was in retrospect a "dead-end" project we (America) over-reacted to. I'm glad we did, but in hindsight was probably a "rush" that was unjustified. The worst thing is that as soon as we (America) "won", we decided that the effort was no longer worthwhile. As that priceless "The Power of Cheese" type ad said; "America went to the Moon, found out it wasn't made of green cheese, and stopped going to the moon."
I think we have concurrence here, Brndrt1. It's a shame the space race seemed to end with the moon, because there's a lot more out there ... but then, that's a topic getting a bit beyond World War II.
