Brécourt
| Brécourt (aliases: Équeurdreville,[1] Martinvast)[2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of Nazi Germany | |
| France | |
| File:Brecourt.jpg | |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: Unable to parse latitude as a number:dd {{#coordinates:}}: invalid latitude |
| Type | bunker |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1932-1944 |
| In use | never used |
| Materials | concrete |
| Events | captured July, 1944 |
Brécourt was a Nazi Germany bunker in the French commune of Manche. Originally started in 1932 as an underground 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]
Unlike most of the other "Heavy Crossbow" Vergeltungswaffen construction projects detected by the Allied Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) (Watten,[8] Wizernes, Mimoyecques, Siracourt, Söttevast)[9] and bombed during Operation Crossbow, Brécourt was virtually undetectable by aerial observation.[10][11] 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]
References and Notes
- ^ "Fortifications Built by Prussia or Germany" (html). 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 (html). pp. p112.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ NOTE: The location for the photo of Eisenhower on the stairs has also been identified as Söttevast.
- ^ a b Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt" (html – French language). Les bombes volantes V1. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Brecourt" (html). 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)
- NOTE: A similar V-1 flying bomb site at Löttinghen never progressed beyond site clearance.
- ^
Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co. pp. p168.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^
Gruen, Adam L (1998). Preemptive Defense, Allied Air Power Versus Hitler’s V-Weapons, 1943–1945 (html). pp. p12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help) - ^ "Cherbourg-Brécourt" (html – French language). Bases launch V1 Cotentin and Seine-Maritime. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "La fusée A4 V2" (html – French language). Les Sites V1 du Nord de la France. Retrieved 2008-02-27.