La Coupole

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

La Coupole

Domed roof of La Coupole
Type bunker
Coordinates 50°42′21″N, 2°14′38″E
Built started April 1943[1]
Built by Organisation Todt
Construction
materials		 concrete
Height 21 m
In use never completed
Open to
the public		 History and Remembrance Centre[2]
Garrison Abteilungen (English: firing detachment) comprising one technical and two operational batteries[3]
Battles/wars Operation Crossbow,Operation Aphrodite

La Coupole ("The Cupola") is the name of a World War II bunker constructed by Nazi Germany in a former limestone quarry close to the villages of Helfaut and Wizernes, Southwest of the French town of Saint-Omer, between Lille and Calais. It is located on the territory of the commune of Helfaut. The complex was intended to be a bomb-proof underground assembly and launch facility for the V-2 rocket.

[edit] Construction

Work on the La Coupole was begun after the nearby Éperlecques site had been damaged by Operation Crossbow bombing. Prior to 1942, the consulting firm of Bauer and Nebel obtained the contract to design the intricate erector to transport checked-out Wizerne V-2 rockets from underground to the surface launcher.[4] For launches, the rockets would be hauled from the service chamber through concrete tunnels Gretchen and Gustav past the planned 1,5 m / 5-foot-thick, 16 m / 55-foot-high[5] solid steel bomb-proof doors.[3] The Allies recovered the doors from storage at Éperlecques prior to installation, and the November 1944 mission to inspect the site was led by Colonel T. R. B. Sanders.[5]

In January 1944 an enormous concrete dome, or cupola, was built over the top of the facility, giving the site its name. The dome was 71 m in diameter, 5 m thick and weighing an estimated 55 000 tonnes. Similar to the Verbunkerung method used at the Sottevast bunker, the Wizernes plan was to build a bomb-proof dome on the ground on the edge of the 30 m / 100-foot-deep quarry, then excavate a facility beneath.[3][6] Directly beneath the dome, a 35 m / 117 ft diameter[5]-by-21 m high hexagonal room was planned to house the rocket production facility. Once assembled and fuelled the rockets were to be moved outside and fired, at a rate of 40-50 per day.[7] In May 1944, the 953 (Semi-Mobile) Artillery Detachment, started Abteilungen (English: firing detachment) training at Blizna for operations at Wizerne.[3]

Railway tunnels were bored underground to allow the rocket parts to be brought in safely. In total more than 6 km of galleries were dug by the Soviet prisoners[citation needed] in order to store the rockets 42 m[citation needed] underground. Liquid oxygen generators were planned[citation needed] to supplement the supply from the Éperlecques site and underground barracks and administrative areas were dug out and lined with concrete.

Following Allied bombing in June 1944 that severely damaged the site, it was closed down in July 1944 before it was completed and before it had fired a rocket. Hitler ordered its abandonment and the Soviet prisoners were put on trains and sent back to Germany. The prisoners have never been traced.[citation needed]

The site has a History and Remembrance Centre[2] open to the public as a museum dedicated to the human cost of La Coupole as well as the legacy of the V2 to modern rocketry.

[edit] Bombing of Wizernes during World War II

The French resistance informed the British of the devastating potential of La Coupole soon after construction began.[citation needed] On November 5, 1943, the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (CIU) reported photographs of the Wizernes rocket project.[3] The first attempts to destroy it took place in March 1944 after the dome had been finished. Over the following five months, 3,000 tonnes of Allied bombs were dropped[citation needed] and the Tallboy bombings in June 1944 succeeded at damaging the area. In late August 1944 the site was captured by the Allies.[3]

Bombing of Wizernes during World War II
11 March 1944 (Mission 255): 34 of 51 B-24 Liberators hit Wizernes using blind-bombing techniques due to thick overcast[8]
19 March 1944 (Mission 266): 1 B-17 is lost[8] -- Boeing B-17G-35-BO Fortress 42-31926 (384th BG, 545th BS, *Lovell's Hovel*)[9]
17 April 1944 (Mission 304): 14 of 15 B-24s bomb the V-weapon site at Wizernes, France without loss; escort is provided by 33 P-47s.[8]
25 April 1944 (Mission 317): 27 of 28 B-24s bomb V-weapons sites at Wizerenes, France without loss. Escort is provided by 40 P-47s.[8]
3 May 1944 (Mission 336): 47 of 51 B-24s bomb the V-weapon site at Wizernes, France; 33 are damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 48 P-47s and 53 P-51s without loss.[8]
20 June 1944: 17 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 617 Squadron attempted to attack a large, concrete covered V-weapon site in a quarry at Wizernes, but the target was cloud-covered and no bombs were dropped.[10]
22 June 1944: 234 aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 102 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5 and 8 Groups to special V-weapon sites and stores. The sites at Mimoyecques and Siracourt were accurately bombed by 1 and No 4 Group forces with Pathfinder marking but the No 617 Squadron force attacking Wizernes failed to find its target because of cloud and returned without dropping its bombs.[10]
24 June 1944: 16 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No. 617 Squadron RAF bombed the Wizernes site and scored several hits with their Tallboy bombs. 1 Lancaster was shot down by flak, the first loss by the squadron for exactly 2 months.[10] Three Tallboy bomb exploded in the tunnels, one burst under the edge of the dome, and one hit in the mouth of V2 launch rail tunnel. The entire hillside collapsed, effectively destroying the facility although the dome remained intact.[citation needed] The whole area around the site was churned up so that it was unapproachable, and the bunker was jeopardised from underneath,[3] with landslides making further work impossible.[6]
27 June 1944: No.433 Squadron, including F/O Edward Richard Knox-Leet on his third mission, bombs Wizernes[1]
28 June 1944: 103 Halifaxes of No 4 Group with 5 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of the Pathfinders attacked the V-weapon site at Wizernes without loss. No report of the bombing results was filed.[10][2]
17 July 1944: 16 Lancasters, 1 Mosquito and a brand new never before flown P-51 Mustang took off for the fourth[citation needed] bombing raid on Wizernes, after markers had been placed three Lancasters managed to drop Tallboy bombs within an area to cause some damage. One tallboy caused the dome to shift out of alignment, the two others had the affect of causing a roof collapse and blocking the entrance.[3]
20 July 1944: 369 aircraft - 174 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes, 30 Mosquitos - attacked 6 flying-bomb launching sites and the V-weapon site at Wizemes. All raids were successful except the small raid by 20 aircraft on the Forêt de Croc site.[10]
20/21 July 1944: 87 aircraft - 54 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked flying bomb sites at Ardouval and Wizernes without loss but only 23 aircraft bombed at Ardouval and none at Wizernes.[10] The planned Wizernes attack on the base was called off due to bad weather.[4]
4 August 1944 (Mission 515): On approach to the target, the Operation Aphrodite mothership loses B-17 42-3461 from view in low cloud[9] and the drone overshoots its target by 2,000 feet.[11]

[edit] References & Footnotes

  1. ^ Henshall, Philip (1985). Hitler’s Rocket Sites. New York: St Martin's Press, p75. 
  2. ^ a b History and Remembrance Centre, LA COUPOLE. Retrieved on 2007-05-24.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co, p142,169,223,247,309. 
  4. ^ Ordway, Frederick I, III; Sharpe, Mitchell R. The Rocket Team, Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, p31. 
  5. ^ a b c “The V-Weapons”, After The Battle: p14,24, <http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html#index> 
  6. ^ a b Dornberger, Walter (1952 -- US translation V-2 Viking Press:New York, 1954). V2--Der Schuss ins Weltall. Esslingan: Bechtle Verlag, p176,179. 
  7. ^ Wizernes V-2 Bunker - France. A4/V2 Resource Site. Brothers Designs. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  8. ^ a b c d e 8th Air Force 1944 Chronicles. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 1944:March, April, May, August
  9. ^ a b USAAF Serial Numbers. Encyclopedia of American Aircraft. Joseph F. Baugher. Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 41-24340 to 41-30847, 42-001 to 42-30031, 42-30032 to 42-39757, 42-39758 to 42-50026, 42-57213 to 42-70685
  10. ^ a b c d e f Campaign Diary. Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. 1944: June, July
  11. ^ JFK's Brother Flew Drone. Orwell Today. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Languages