Wednesday, 11th April
We woke early, and although we’d put the silver screens on the front, the van was very chilly, so we put the oil-filled radiator on. I think this evening might need the Carver heater. We used the site showers, Annie’s scoring an incredible nine out of ten, and mine around eight.
The fresh bread lady didn’t turn up (a later report said that the boulangerie was closed today, which would explain it – even bakers need a day off sometimes, I suppose), but we were all prepared with the bread and stuff we bought yesterday.
After our breakfast, we cycled to the Blokhaus. This is an enormous concrete monolith, built into the hills of Eperleques, and was to be a site for the creation and launching of the V2 rocket. The tour was an entertaining stroll around the grounds, with audio presentations at various points. It described the layout of the area, why the Germans chose it, and how it was constructed. Halfway through building it, the Allies didn’t like the look of it, and bombed it, the main damage being caused by US “Tallboy” bombs.
The Germans rethought their strategy, and began building again, this time using the “tortoise” principle, which meant that the 16 feet thick concrete roof slab was cast first, and then walls were erected underneath it. When the walls were set and could be load-bearing, the whole construction was lifted a few feet into the air, and the walls were extended downward. Despite heavy air raids, only superficial damage was done to the roof structure, and the building rose to around 100 feet in the air.
At this point, Hitler abandoned his plans for the V2, and the area was evacuated. The French kept the building, and have created a museum around it to “show man’s folly”. It’s a shame we don’t pay attention. As Goethe said “If we do not show the young the mistakes of the previous generation, they will make those same mistakes again.” Or something like that.
On our return from the Blokhaus, we just sat around. Annie read, and I spent some time with Stew, playing with Photoshop. Annie eventually sought me out, and we shared an amiable bottle of wine that Stew had bought from Netto.
Tea was some toasted muffins, and we joined Mike and Viv (BognorMike) and Bob and Ann (Asgard), and talked until it started to get chilly. Stew joined us, at which point, Ann invited us back to their Burstner (was this a subtle sales pitch perhaps?), and we enjoyed the warmth and leather of the Burstner, with Shona and Jessica joining us later.
