Photo:CRM / Shutterstock.com
The V-2 was a revolutionary weapon.
It was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine.
Standing 14 meters tall, the 12.5-ton rocket was fueled primarily by liquid oxygen and ethanol.
But a bunker the size ofBlockhaus d’Eperlecqueswas hard to hide.
Blockhaus d’Eperlecques in Watten.
Construction of the complex began in August 1943.
An elaborate system of camouflage was installed on the hill top to conceal the dome.
The site was constantly bombed throughout its construction period.
Additionally, the dome was surrounded by a bomb-proof skirt of reinforced concrete 2 meters thick.
Map showing the location of Bauvohaben 21, or the Helfaut-Wizernes Dome, and its primary target London.
This chamber was never completed but would have been 40 meters in diameter and up to 33 meters high.
Wizernes site: reconstruction of Octagon.
Photo:Sanders, T.R.B./Wikimedia Commons
Reconstructed probable plan of the main workings at the Wizernes site.
The dome itself was surprisingly undamaged, and it still stands today.
However, the damage to the tunnels made it impossible to continue working on the site.
Eventually, Hitler realized his folly and abandoned plans for launching V-2s from bunkers.
Shortly after, the Allied landed in Normandy and the area was liberated in September.
The museum houses a large number of original artifacts including a V-1 and a V-2.
Satellite image of the area with the dome indicated by the arrow.
Photo: Google Maps
An underground passage of the Bauvohaben 21.
Photo:Vassil/Wikimedia Commons
The Helfaut-Wizernes Dome.
