Northern France Under German Occupation
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| By 1941, the Germans were anticipating a second front to be launched against them by the allies from the west and accordingly Hitler decreed that the 'Atlantic Wall' should be created. These defences, made from reinforced concrete, steel and forced labour, stretched from Norway to Spain and consisted of thousands of bunkers and gun emplacements. As the tide turned against the Third Reich, so Hitler turned to technology for salvation. Due to its proximity to Britain, northern France was selected as the launch pad for Germany's secret ‘V’ weapons.
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Eperlecques The Blockhouse of Eperlecques is the largest bunker in Northern France and is classified as a historical building. Built within four months, this monumental factory was designed to manufacture 84.8 tons of liquid oxygen per day and to launch a maximum of 36 rockets a day. With a range of 4,500 km, the A10 rocket would have been able to target America.
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La Coupole After Allied bombing raids had crippled the Blockhous at Epelecques, the Germans turned their attentions to La Coupole. The menacing concrete dome that emerges from trees hides not only a rocket-launching base but also an underground slave labour camp ‘home’ to thousands of Russian and Polish prisoners.
During your visit to La Coupole, you might wish to include one or two of the other major exhibitions held within its complex such as the Holocaust, the German occupation and the development of the rocket after the Second World War.
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