Eperleques Eperleques is a small village in northern France, north of St Omer. The blockhouse in the nearby woods is a vast concrete structure built by the Nazis during the Second World War for the V-2 rocket. It is the largest bunker in northern France and was originally intended as a factory and launch facility for the V2. This function was transferred to the nearby site of La Coupole before Eperleques was completed and the bunker was instead used in producing the liquid oxygen necessary for the rockets' fuel. Exterior of the blockhouse. 120,000 cubic metres of concrete were employed in the construction which was undertaken during summer 1943 using largely slave labour working for the Todt Organisation. A complex system of railway lines brought the workers and concrete on site from Calais and St Omer. Eperleques was designed to be able to launch 36 rockets per day and also make sufficient liquid oxygen to fuel them, around 65 tons of it in total. By combining the fuelling and launching at the same heavily fortified site, the Nazis were able to avoid the risks of transporting the volatile liquid oxygen. The site was given the codename Kraftwerk Nord West (KNW). Four 4-storey high Heyland 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. On 27th August 1943, the USAF bombed the site and were able to damage the north of the structure sufficiently to make the Nazis rethink their construction plans. They decided to cast a 5m thick concrete shell and lift it up with hydraulic jacks. The final structure built using this method was 28m high with matching vertical walls which were added incrementally as the roof was raised. This technique permitted construction to continue in spite of repeated allied bombings using munitions of up to 1 ton. Even so, the Nazi command instructed the engineers at Eperleques to concentrate on liquid oxygen production for their new underground launch site at La Coupole, using three Heyland compressors. Eperleques' name was changed to KNW ALT (KNW Old) to reflect this. It seems to have maintained the capability for launch however and some historians believe the engineers at the site still worked on this part of the site as a standby option, with or without official permission. By 1944 the allies had developed larger bombs and in June of that year a 6 ton RAF Tallboy bomb hit the northern part of the site. The damage was repaired but the D-Day landings and subsequent liberation of northern France ended production at Eperleques and La Coupole before either could launch a rocket. The Nazis switched to mobile launch vehicles in order to fire the V2s. Eperleques is protected under French law as a historic building and is open to the public. Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eperleques