Blockhaus d’Eperlecques

The Blockhaus is located near La Coupole, which is near St Omer. (It is 14km northwest of La Couploe)

The museum has many artifacts covering all aspects to World War Two. There are camp carriages used to transport the unfortunate to concentration camps. You can stand in these and sense the noises and cramp conditions.

The Blockhaus d’Eperlecques was the initial V2 Rocket facility and was started in March 1943. It is a massive bunker, the largest I have ever seen. Local French resistance from the Zero France Network, confirmed the details to London and in May 1943 the RAF took reconnaissance photos of the site.

Dr Jones, an RAF scientific adviser established a link between Pennemunde (V2 research Centre) and Eperlecques.

The site was intended to serve two purposes. It was used as a factory to produce Liquid Oxygen, which is the fuel for ballistic rockets. It was also to be the site for storing and launching up to 100 V2 rockets which would enable the Germans to launch up to 36 missiles a day. The site was only just over 170km from London.

The work was carried out by French workers, conscripted under the Service du Travail Obligatoire. (Forced labour backed by the Vichy Government). More workers were brought in from Prisoner of War camps, including Belgian, Dutch, Polish and Soviets. Construction was 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The conditions were appalling, working 12-hour shifts with only a 20-minute break during the shift.

It is estimated that it required over 200,000 tons of concrete and 20,000 tons of steel to complete the structure.

It was decided in June 1943 by the British War Cabinet to attack both, Pennemunde and Eperlecques. The first bombing raid took place on the 27^th August 1943 by 185 Flying Fortresses of the 8^th USAAF.  It was bombed twenty-five more times over the next year.

After the August attack, it was hit while the shift was changing, and new wet concrete had been laid. The bombing was very precise and rendered the bunker unusable for the V2 rocket launching. It was then solely used for Liquid Oxygen production. Construction then started on the nearby La Coupole.

On the 25^th July 1944 the RAF dropped TallBoy bombs which rendered the bunker unusable. By the time the site was finally captured in September 1944 it had been abandoned.