Le Blockhaus

which reduced evaporation losses during transport. Instead of a separate liquid oxygen plant planned for Stennay, fiveFact|date=September 2007 4-storey high Heylandt compressors were intended to be installed to make the liquid oxygen and the rockets were to be assembled in the northern part of the site and moved on trollies to be launched in the southern part.

In early April 1943, an Allied agent had mentioned 'enormous trenches' being excavated at Watten, and on May 17, 1943, Allied photographic interpreters reported unidentified activity at Watten. At the end of May, the British Chiefs of Staff enjoined Eisenhower to arrange attacks on the Mimoyecques, Siracourt, Watten, and Wizernes bunkers, which would soon be complete.

On July 8, 1943, Hitler viewed a colour V-2 rocket film and scale models of the Watten bunker and mobile launching-troop vehicles. Instead of the "shoot-and-run" mobile launching Walter Dornberger advocated (and eventually used), Hitler reaffirmed that there should be more than one fixed bunker.

By September 1943, construction at Watten (as well as at Wizernes, and the 'special' V-2 site at Sottevast) was on schedule, despite Allied bombings.

cite book |last=Henshall|first=Phillip|title=Hitler’s Rocket Sites|year=1985|location=New York |publisher=St Martin's Press|pages=p57,64,81,93,94,111]

The south section of the building was constructed by initially constructing a 5 meter (~16 feet) thick concrete plane weighing 37,000 tons, which was incrementally raised by hydraulic jacks and then supported by walls to become the roof.Fact|date=September 2007

Mission change and capture

On July 3, 1944, the Oberkommando West gave permission to stop construction at the heavily damaged Watten and Wizernes sites.

cite book |last=Ordway |first= Frederick I, III|authorlink= |coauthors=Sharpe, Mitchell R|title=The Rocket Team|series=Apogee Books Space Series 36|year= |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell|location=New York|pages=p118,121,218] Finally, on July 18, 1944, Hitler ruled that plans for launching V-2s from bunkers need no longer be pursued.

cite book |last=Irving|first=David|authorlink=David Irving|title=The Mare's Nest|year=1964|publisher=William Kimber and Co|location=London|pages=p28,43,53,68,133,220,246,275,300,309,310] Nevertheless, a few days after July 18, 1944, Walter Dornberger's staff decided to continue minor construction at Watten (wryly code named Concrete Lump) "for deception purposes", and the liquid-oxygen generators and machinery were transferred to the Mittelwerk V-2 factory.

On September 4, 1944, Canadian forces captured the Watten site, the most easterly of the fixed V-2 rocket launch sites, and on September 10, the French atomic scientist Frédéric Joliot-Curie (accompanied by Duncan Sandys) inspected the Watten site.

References and Notes

External links

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