Brécourt

Brécourt was a Nazi Germany bunker in Équeurdreville-Hainneville near Cherbourg, in Manche of Normandy, northern France.

For the World War II attack, see Brécourt Manor Assault.
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
TypeBunker,
V-1 flying bomb launch facility
Site information
Open to
the public		No
Conditionruins
Site history
Built1932 French oil storage cistern,
1943 Nazi Germany bunker & launch facility
Built byOrganization Todt
In usenever used [3]
Materialsreinforced concrete
Battles/warsOperation Crossbow
EventsV-1 launch facility begun 1943,
bombed 11 November 1943,
captured July 1944

History

Codenamed Olkeller 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
  • V-1 flying bomb (facilities)

References
  1. "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.
  2. 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.
  3. "Cherbourg-Brécourt". Bases launch V1 Cotentin and Seine-Maritime. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  4. Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  5. Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944–1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-7057-0070-4.
  6. Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler's Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. 147.
  7. "Brecourt". The Atlantik Wall In Normandy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  8. Rampe de lancement de V1 de Brécourt
  9. "La fusée A4 V2". Les Sites V1 du Nord de la France. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  10. "Combat Missions". 387th Bombardment Group (Medium). Retrieved 2008-11-12.


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