V3 Base Mimoyecques

...panels containing descriptions of the V3 and how this installation would have functioned. There are also memorials: to Joe Kennedy and his co-pilots, and to those killed in the tallboy blast. Side tunnels lead off this main tunnel, many ending in heaps of rubble or barriers preventing access. Happily for the visitor, part of one of the gun shafts survives, and barrels have been laid to show how it would have looked and where it was aimed - south ...
...too little too late, the V3 was more a case of never really got going at all. Nothing was ever fired from Mimoyecques and a similar gun was only used to a small extent in the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler's ballistic experts were against the development of the V3 and thought they should be concentrating their efforts on the development of an atomic capability. Just dwell on that for a moment.

Although I am fascinated by the V weapons, ... more

Most of you will have heard of the V1s and V2s used by Germany at the end of World War 2, if only because you read my recent review of La Coupole, a V2 site! But how many of you have heard of the V3? Thought not. Nor me, until I visited this site near the village of Mimoyecques, between Calais and Boulogne.

The V weapons, Vergeltungswaffen or revenge weapons, were Hitler's last attempt to turn the tide of the war back in his favour. Targeted at the civilian population, they were intended to terrorise London to force an end to the war. This was "shock and awe", 1940s style. Read accounts from people who experienced these attacks and you are left in no doubt of the potential morale-sapping power of such attacks. Survivors speak of the nerve-jangling whine of the V1s, then the even worse silence as the engine cut out and it began its fateful dive to the ground. Or the sudden whoosh of the pressure wave as a V2 appeared out of nowhere, undetected. The war cabinet was under no illusion either about the impact of a second blitz on London. They couldn't deny the fact of the V1s as they were clearly visible, and audible, but the first V2 blasts were explained away as gas main explosions. So we had flying bombs, ballistic missiles - what was needed to complete a triumvirate of terror was a gun, capable of shelling London from the other side of the Channel 200 miles away. Step forward the V3.

Ever since guns were invented, man (and I mean that literally) has tried to make them bigger, longer and more powerful. Let's move swiftly on from the Freudian double-entendres. Artillery reached its peak in the static western front in World War 1 before armies were truly mobile and planes were in their infancy; Big Bertha lobbed shells at Paris from a distance of 75 miles. But the attraction of a supergun capable of firing shells huge distances has not gone away. Those of you over a certain age may remember Gerald Bull and the Iraqi supergun of 1990. Parts for this gun were seized by Customs and would have constructed a gun 130 feet long capable of firing projectiles 600 miles. Bull was eventually assassinated by Israeli agents (it is believed) who were clearly taking no chances with this potential WMD. Powerful men like big guns, and Hitler was no exception.

This site at Mimoyecques was selected being near the coast and with a small hill suitable for installing and protecting the weapon, or rather weapons - the intention was to have 25. The enormous task of excavating the hill fell as usual to Eastern European slave labourers whose life expectancy was a couple of weeks. And like all Third Reich construction works it was massive. Gallery upon gallery descending far below ground level to house not only the shafts for the 400 feet long barrels but all the support works to go with it. Needless to say all this didn't go unnoticed and resistance groups fed back reports to London of a massive gun installation. The problem was how to destroy it. Conventional bombing raids merely re-arranged the surface of the mound.

A plan was devised to pack a bomber full of high explosive. This was to be piloted close to the site, the pilot would then lock the plane on to the target and bail out. It was risky and daring - and failed. An electrical fault caused the bombs to explode while they were still over England. You may be surprised to know the identity of the pilot: Joe Kennedy, JFK's older brother and the one their father, Joe Senior, was grooming for president.

In the end the Allies were lucky. You need luck in war, as Napoleon said. A tallboy bomb fell right down one of the gun shafts and exploded inside with such devastating force that it disturbed the water table in the rock and those not killed in the blast were drowned. After the war it was impossible to remove the bodies and the French government concreted over the lower levels.

Inevitably what you can see today is a small fraction of the installation. It is a site, not a museum, and given that there is also a mass grave under your feet, it will probably remain that way. The entrance is near the top of what is left of the mound, and would have been one of the upper galleries. You walk along a huge tunnel, dead straight stretching into the distance far beyond where visitors are allowed to go. Along the walls are panels containing descriptions of the V3 and how this installation would have functioned. There are also memorials: to Joe Kennedy and his co-pilots, and to those killed in the tallboy blast. Side tunnels lead off this main tunnel, many ending in heaps of rubble or barriers preventing access. Happily for the visitor, part of one of the gun shafts survives, and barrels have been laid to show how it would have looked and where it was aimed - south west London.

It is a very quite, almost contemplative place, not much visited, which is a pity but does help to maintain the air of peace. There is none of the usual paraphernalia of shop, displays, exhibits. There is a small café outside, with a few tables and chairs, selling drinks and booklets. Take a sweater and jacket as it's cold inside the tunnels. I found it a pleasure to emerge into the sunshine, and not just because of the cold. As we were walking out along the tunnel towards the semi-circle of light at the end two visitors started to walk in. Silhouetted in black against the daylight, and appearing unnaturally large, they were walking briskly, in step, and their footsteps were echoing off the tunnel walls …..

How much of a threat was the V3? Although construction was well under way at Mimoyecques, there were huge problems in propelling shells along such a long barrel across such a distance with any accuracy and these were never really resolved in test-firing. The propellant had to be powerful enough to fire the shell but not so powerful that it blew up the gun! One solution was to place small charges along the length of the barrel which were set off as the shell passed, and gave it further acceleration. These can be seen in the gun shaft at the site, and in the picture below. But unlike the V1 and V2, which were too little too late, the V3 was more a case of never really got going at all. Nothing was ever fired from Mimoyecques and a similar gun was only used to a small extent in the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler's ballistic experts were against the development of the V3 and thought they should be concentrating their efforts on the development of an atomic capability. Just dwell on that for a moment.

Although I am fascinated by the V weapons, I have only given this site three stars. There is not really enough left to see to justify a trip on its own and what makes it memorable is knowledge of the history. It can, however, form part of a good day trip if done on the same day as La Coupole or Le Blockhaus d'Eperlecques, both V2 sites, and quite different in layout and extent. We did just that - Eperlecques and Mimoyecques on the same day, with a break for a nice lunch and finished up with a walk on the cliffs at Cap Gris Nez, gazing out on the Channel and being thankful, not for the first time, that it was there.

How and when to get there:

Go south from Calais on the A16 towards Boulogne. Come off at exit 7 then take the D231 to Landrethun. From there follow the signs to Mimoyecques and the V3 site. It's only about 30kms from Calais. Opening hours are 11am - 6pm April to October and 10am to 7pm in July and August. I honestly can't remember what the entrance fee was: I remember going into the café and buying a booklet but not whether that included entry. I have checked on the web and can find no fees listed. If anything, it will be quite nominal. 

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