Brécourt
Brécourt aliases: Équeurdreville,[1] Martinvast[2] | |
---|---|
Part of Nazi Germany | |
Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Manche, Normandy, France | |
Coordinates | 49°39′7″N 1°40′12″W / 49.65194°N 1.67000°W |
Type | Bunker, V-1 flying bomb launch facility |
Site information | |
Condition | ruins |
Site history | |
Built | 1932 French oil storage cistern, 1943 Nazi Germany bunker & launch facility |
In use | never used [3] |
Materials | concrete |
Battles/wars | Operation Crossbow |
Events | V-1 launch facility begun 1943, bombed 11 November 1943, captured July 1944 |
Brécourt was a Nazi Germany bunker in Équeurdreville-Hainneville near Cherbourg, in Manche of Normandy, northern France.
History
It was started in 1943 inside an existing underground French Naval oil storage facility. On July 7, 1943, the site was ordered to be completed as a V-2 rocket launch facility.[4] Early in 1944, the facility was converted to a V-1 flying bomb launch facility.[5] and subsequently completed.[6][7]
The Brécourt military installation was virtually undetectable by aerial observation.[3][8] However, the 387th Bombardment Group records indicate Operation Crossbow bombing in Manche of a "Martinvast V-1 site" on 11 November 1943, which may have been Brécourt.[9]
The Allies captured Brécourt a few days before July 4, 1944, and both Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill subsequently visited the facility.[4]
The bunker was declared a French protected monument on 1_ december 1996. [10]
See also
References
- ^ "Fortifications Built by Prussia or Germany". Fortifications of the World. 2003-05-25. Archived from the original on 2005-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ King, Benjamin. Impact: The History of Germany's V-Weapons in World War II. p. 112.
- ^ a b "Cherbourg-Brécourt". Bases launch V1 Cotentin and Seine-Maritime. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-7057-0070-4.
- ^ Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. 147.
- ^ "Brecourt". The Atlantik Wall In Normandy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "La fusée A4 V2". Les Sites V1 du Nord de la France. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Combat Missions". 387th Bombardment Group (Medium). Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- ^ Rampe de lancement de V1 de Brécourt
External links