Siracourt

French commune
name= Siracourt
region=
departement=
arrondissement=Arras
canton= Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
insee=62797
cp=62130
maire=Freddy Bloquet
mandat=2008-2014
intercomm=Communauté de communes du Saint-Polois
longitude=2.27166666667
latitude=50.3733333333
alt mini=124 m
alt maxi=154 m
hectares=314
km²=3,14
sans=228
date-sans=1999
dens=72|

Infobox Military Structure
name = Siracourt
partof = Nazi Germany
location = France
coordinates = coord|50|22|N|2|16|E|region:FR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki


caption = Remains of Siracourt WWII V-1 storage depot
type = bunker
code=
built = 1943
builder = Organisation Todt
materials = concrete
height =
used = captured before being used
demolished=
condition=
ownership=
open_to_public =
controlledby=
garrison =
current_commander=
commanders=
occupants=
battles=Operation Crossbow, Operation Aphrodite
events=

Siracourt is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais "département" in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

A farming village, some convert|27|mi|km|1 west of Arras and convert|3|mi|km|1 west of St.Pol, near the junction of the D100 and N39 roads.

Population

Places of interest

* The modern church of St.Germain, rebuilt, along with the entire village after World War II.
* The World War II sites.

Bombing of Siracourt in World War II

To supply World War II V-1 flying bombs to launch sites in the Calais region, Germany began construction on several V-1 storage depots, including a large bunker at Siracourt, between Calais and the river Somme.

cite book |last=Ordway |first= Frederick I, III|coauthors=Sharpe, Mitchell R|title=The Rocket Team|series= Apogee Books Space Series 36|month= |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell|location=New York|isbn=|pages=p118] The Siracourt and Équeurdreville sites were completed as V-1 bunkers (Siracourt was to also have a launch ramp), but a V-1 bunker at Lottinghen never progressed beyond site clearance.cite book |last=Henshall|first=|title=Hitler’s Rocket Sites|year=1985|publisher=St Martin's Press|location=|pages=p147] A No. 542 Squadron RAF photo on October 3, 1943, depicted the Siracourt V-1 site, and the British Chiefs of Staff enjoined Eisenhower to attack Siracourt as an Operation Crossbow target.cite book |last=Irving|first=David|authorlink=David Irving|title=The Mare's Nest|year=1964|publisher=William Kimber and Co|location=London|pages=p168,220,246,309] [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Investigations of the "Heavy Crossbow" installations in Northern France.
work = The Papers of Lord Duncan-Sandys
publisher = Churchill Archives Centre
date = February 1945
url = http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FDSND%202%2F3
format = html
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-09 ] Siracourt was captured by the Allies in late 1944.

See also

Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

External links

* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=27282&req=Siracourt Siracourt on the Quid website] fr

References & Notes

*"This article is based on the original and the equivalent article from the French Wikipedia, consulted on July 4th 2008."