We said goodbye to Albert this morning, and quite honestly, neither one of us was very sad to leave. It's not a great town to hang out in, but it was close to The Somme sights and much less expensive than the larger city of Amiens nearby. So off we headed to Ieper, Belgium. Along the way we stopped at Le Blockhaus d'Eperlecques, a V2 rocket bunker/production & launch site. I know the pictures aren't going to show you the massive size of this cement bunker, but it's better than nothing. Most of the info. below is quoted from http://www.v2rocket.com/start/deployment/watten.html. This website also has more info. and a lot of pics for any of you who are intrigued by this story. (The first two pics are from this website and the others are ones I took. So we got to see everything that you see in the pictures.)
"On December 22, 1942, Hitler ordered the construction of giant bunkers for the launching of V-2's, the first one to be started in Pas de Calais as a matter of urgency. This enormous concrete bunker was to accommodate V-2 reception and storage, preparation of rockets for launch in a sheltered and controlled manner, on-site production of liquid oxygen, and launch control with two firing pads. The project was code-named Kraftwerk Nord West (KNW)."
"120,000 cubic metres of concrete would be required, and the bunker would have to be built in only four months. Inside the bunker the Germans intended to build a factory to produce liquid oxygen. . . to launch a maximum of 36 rockets a day." (The picture to the left shows Tammy standing in front of the bunker. She looks so tiny compared to the massive concrete bunker behind her.)
"In late March, thousands of laborers and earth moving equipment took over the site. This construction site required an enormous labor force. It consisted of 35,000, mostly Frenchmen liable for obligatory work service (S.T.O.); also Belgian, Dutch and Russian prisoners (after the August 27, 1943 bombardments). (At the site they had a few replicas of the type of train cars that would've been used to ship in the slave labor. These are very much like the ones we've seen on display at some of the concentration camp sites in Germany and Poland.) The local population believes the structure is to be an electric power station. The rate of progress was amazing due to advanced mechanization that included excavators, concrete plants and pumps, etc. Laborers worked night and day during 12-hour shifts.
"When construction on the Blockhaus started, the locals were more than certain that it was an electric power station that was being built. As for the authorities in London, as the war archives show, the British did not know for a long time for what real purpose of the construction was. Even the Resistance does not seem to have known the real aim of this construction. It was deemed to be a high priority target however, since the Germans were obviously building it for a 'special purpose'." So they started bombing it.
The picture to the right shows a replica of the V2 rocket that Hitler wanted to manufacture and launch from here. The picture really doesn't show how huge it is. I'm guessing it was close to 50 feet high. This V2 and the earlier version V1 were launched on London during the Blitz.
The picture to the left shows a replica of a V1 rocket in the background on the left. It had two fins (wings) and was fired from the launch track it's sitting on. It was launched in the same position you see in the picture, unlike the V2 which was launched straight up (like the direction in the picture above).
"The Allies had lost a technological battle to the 5-meter thick roof. The 2,000-pound bombs were having no effect on the building. The British had designed much heavier bombs such as the “Tallboy,” or earthquake-bombs, each weighing 12,000 pounds. The RAF launched two attacks on the bunker at Eperlecques using the monstrous bombs. (The pic to the right shows a Tallboy.)
"The huge bombs, though never piercing the bunker, would cause violent mini-earthquakes each time they exploded. This prompted the German engineers to remove the liquid oxygen compressors for fear that they might explode under such conditions. On July 18, 1944, Hitler ordered the abandonment of the bunker."
These two pics show some of the damage that was caused by the "mini-earthquakes" (bomb damage).
This really was so fascinating to see even though the bunker was never actually able to launch the weapons, thankfully. I just can't believe the kind of damage those huge rockets inflicted on London (and would have inflicted even more if this had been successful).
After the really interesting stop at the bunker we headed directly to Ieper. As we got closer and closer to the Belgian border, we started to notice subtle differences in the landscape and the towns. There were still farms and fields as far as the eye could see, but there seemed to be more homes and buildings closer together. Also, the towns looked a little different - still a lot of brick homes, but they weren't all red brick like we'd seen in Albert. They were often gray or a yellowy brown.
When we arrived in Ieper, it was much more like the typical European cities we've seen in other countries. Lots of brightly colored old buildings surrounding a big many square in the center of town. The only difference being that this beautiful old square was a parking lot instead of being filled with open air market stalls, restaurant tables, or wandering musicians. So that detracted from the ambiance a bit, but it is still a beautiful town square!
Once we found a parking place, which was a bit tricky, we headed across the busy square to visit the In Flanders Field Museum. This museum happens to be located in the Cloth Hall which is the main landmark in Ieper. It "was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry."
"The original structure, erected mainly in the 13th century and completed 1304, lay in ruins after artillery fire devastated Ypres in World War I (see picture to right)).. Between 1933 and 1967, the hall was meticulously reconstructed to its prewar condition. . . At 125 metres in breadth, with a 70-metre-high belfry tower, the Cloth Hall recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city." (Cloth Hall, Ypres)
The In Flanders Field Museum is located on the first floor of this beautiful building, and this museum is one of the absolute best that we have ever been to! It reminded us a lot of some of the newer Holocaust museums we've seen in Poland and Germany.
It used a wide variety of displays, colors, video footage, audio clips, and other interactive elements. In fact, at check-in we were each given a wristband with a bright orange rubber poppy on it. The poppy could be waved over sensors scattered throughout the museum and the computer screens would give you extra information besides what was posted on the exhibit boards.
The exhibits were very powerful because they incorporated historical information, emotional images, as well as poetry! Now Tammy and I happen to love poetry, although our students don't always feel the same! :-) I use WWI poetry in my history class because it helps the students see the war from a different perspective. We use the poems to talk about pacifism, nationalism, patriotism, etc.
So seeing some of these favorite poems and discovering new ones posted on huge exhibit boards was very emotional for me. I've included some of my favorites in the pictures below.
I know the pictures I'm posting of the exhibits won't really show how amazing they were, but I hope you can see a little bit of what impressed us so much.
This cross section of an oak tree from one of the Flanders' battlefields near Ieper was so fascinating. The placquard explained that the black smudges are from bullet and grenade explosions during the war. There was a ruler that dated the year of each tree ring, and the black smudges are all from the years of the war. The tree died and was cut down in 1994, so you can see that the outer rings are back to its natural color after the damage from the war.
This one choked me up quite a bit because it made me think of my mom, my sisters, and my niece who love Celtic Thunder and Ireland so much!!
And lastly, the most famous WWI poem of all, "In Flanders Fields." My favorite and just one of many that made me cry as I walked through these beautiful exhibits.
After the museum we grabbed a yummy dinner of steak frites (steak and french fries) at a local brasserie, and then we headed down the street to the Menin Gate to watch the The Last Post ceremony. It's a nightly ritual to honor the dead and missing of WWI. It's an extremely emotional tradition, one that's been going on every night since 1929, with the exception of the four years during WWII. It was so crowded we couldn't get any good pictures, but you have to check out this website so you can read about the ceremony and watch a video of it. But make sure you have kleenex; I get choked up just reading about it, and being there in person was unbelievable! http://www.greatwar.co.uk/events/menin-gate-last-post-ceremony.htm
More WWI sites tomorrow. Stay tuned....
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