Brécourt
Brécourt aliases: Équeurdreville,[1] Martinvast[2] | |
---|---|
Part of Nazi Germany | |
Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Manche, Normandy, France | |
![]() Rear view of the incomplete launching ramp for German V-1 flying bombs, at Brécourt, Cherbourg, 12 July 1944. Note the camouflage netting suspended over the site. | |
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 | |
Open to the public | No |
Condition | ruins |
Site history | |
Built | 1932 French oil storage cistern, 1943 Nazi Germany bunker & launch facility |
Built by | Organization Todt |
In use | never used [3] |
Materials | reinforced 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
Codenamed Ölkeller Cherbourg ("Cherbourg oil cellar"), Brécourt's structure is located at the foot of a hillside on which the French Navy had eight underground galleries dug for the storage of fuel oil in the 1930s.
These installations were reused by the German army to store V-2 rockets.[4] Early in 1944, the facility was converted to a V-1 flying bomb launch facility.[5][6][7]
The ramp consisted of two parallel reinforced concrete walls, 75 m (246 ft) long, with a notch on the inside faces giving the slope of the ramp, which was oriented towards the port of Bristol.[8]
The Brécourt military installation was virtually undetectable by aerial observation.[3][9] 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.[10]
The launch pad was not fully completed when the Allies captured Brécourt a few days before July 4, 1944. both Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill subsequently visited the facility.[4]
The bunker was declared a French protected monument on 1 December 1996.[8]
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 (9 September 2009). Impact: The History of Germany's V-Weapons in World War II. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7867-5167-9.
- ^ 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. ISBN 9780312388225.
- ^ "Brecourt". The Atlantik Wall In Normandy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b Rampe de lancement de V1 de Brécourt
- ^ "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.
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External links