Brécourt
| Brécourt aliases: Équeurdreville,[1] Martinvast[2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of Nazi Germany | |
| Équeurdreville-Hainneville, in Manche, France | |
| File:Brecourt.jpg | |
| Coordinates | 49°39′7″N 1°40′12″W / 49.65194°N 1.67000°W |
| Type | bunker |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1932-1944 |
| In use | never used[3] |
| Materials | concrete |
| Battles/wars | Operation Crossbow |
| Events | started 1932 bombed November 11, 1943 captured July, 1944 |
Brécourt was a Nazi Germany bunker started inside an 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,[5] the facility was converted to a V-1 flying bomb launch facility[6] and subsequently completed.[7]
The military installation was virtually undetectable by aerial observation,[3][8] although the 387th Bombardment Group records indicate Operation Crossbow bombing of the "Martinvast V-1 site" on November 11, 1943.[9] The Allies captured the site a few days before July 4, 1944, and both Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill subsequently visited the facility – the latter reportedly dropping an apple he was eating in astonishment of the massive facility.[4]
Notes
^1 The location for the photo of Eisenhower on the stairs has also been identified as Söttevast.
References
- ^ "Fortifications Built by Prussia or Germany". Fortifications of the World. 2003-05-25. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ King, Benjamin. Impact: The History of Germany's V-Weapons in World War II. pp. p112.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ 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.
- ^ "Brecourt". The Atlantik Wall In Normandy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^
Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. pp. p35. ISBN 0-7057-0070-4.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. p147.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "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.
External links