




Calais and
its space
age past



JUST minutes from the centre of Calais is Hitler's ultimate weapon which he boasted would win the war.
At Eperlecques he ordered the construction of the first V2 rocket base and from there planned to launch wave after wave of attacks on the cities of Southern England.
This historic site now consists of a giant concrete bunker 100ft thick and the biggest built by the Germans in France, from where they intended to launch V2s and also to produce the liquid oxygen needed for rocket fuel.
British Intelligence learned of Hitler's masterplan and, in a daring raid, RAF bombers inflicted massive damage on the bunker. Now a national monument, you can visit the blockhaus of Eperlecques, hidden away in a forest a short way off the A26 autoroute from Calais to St Omer.
There, using film and photos, the history of the base is narrated and visitors discover how during peacetime the Nazis' V2 launched the modern age of space exploration.
EPERLECQUES
Open March1-November 30,
2.15-6pm. Entrance: €6.25
adults, €5.12 child (aged
5-16). Located 10km from
St Omer in Rue du Fort
Vesques, Eperlecques.
Tel: (0033) 321 88 44 22
One of the V2 launching ramps at Eperleques and replica of a V2 on display