Brécourt

For the French actor and the World War II attack, see fr:Brécourt and Brécourt Manor Assault.
For the French courtesan, see Jeanne Brécourt.
Brécourt
aliases: Équeurdreville,[1] Martinvast[2]
Part of Nazi Germany
Équeurdreville-Hainneville, in Manche, France

Dwight Eisenhower visiting the Brécourt1 V-1 flying bomb facility near Cherbourg
Coordinates Coordinates: 49°39′7″N 1°40′12″W / 49.65194°N 1.67000°W / 49.65194; -1.67000
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.[4]

Notes

^1 The location for the photo of Eisenhower on the stairs has also been identified as Söttevast.

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. Impact: The History of Germany's V-Weapons in World War II. p. 112.
  3. 1 2 "Cherbourg-Brécourt". Bases launch V1 Cotentin and Seine-Maritime. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  4. 1 2 Maridor, Jean. "Le site V1 de Cherbourg Brécourt". Les bombes volantes V1. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  5. ↑ "Brecourt". The Atlantik Wall In Normandy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  6. ↑ Collier, Basil (1976) [1964]. The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944-1945. Yorkshire: The Emfield Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-7057-0070-4.
  7. ↑ Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press. p. 147.
  8. ↑ "La fusée A4 V2". Les Sites V1 du Nord de la France. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  9. ↑ "Combat Missions". 387th Bombardment Group (Medium). Retrieved 2008-11-12.
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