Most of the major Crossbow heavy sites remain today, and three of them have become museums that are worth a visit. The Wizernes Bunker, popularly known in France as “La Coupole” because of its domed bunker, has been converted into an excellent museum with many interesting displays including a V-1 and V-2 missile. The neighboring Watten Bunker does not have as many displays, but the ruined half of the building has been left in its bombed condition and several of the large bomb craters are still in place, giving some idea of the intensity of the air campaign against these sites. British engineers demolished the Mimoyecques Bunker for the V-3 supergun in 1945, destroying the upper gun plate. After the war, the tunnels were gradually cleaned out and the site used for a time for mushroom production. In recent years, the site has been converted to a museum and is very impressive if only for the sheer length of its tunnels. All three of these sites are in the Pas-de-Calais area and can be visited in a single day. Other sites are still in existence but unrestored or inaccessible. The Brécourt Wasserwerk No. 2 launcher remains, but is on a French naval base and requires permission from the Cherbourg Naval Command for a visit. The Wasserwerk at Siracourt is on private land though still visible from the road, and other sites such as Sottevast are not readily accessible.
A number of V-2 missiles are preserved in museums around the world, but only a few include the launch equipment. This is the restored V-2 at the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio painted in wartime camouflage colors. (USAF Museum)
V-1 missiles can be widely found at aviation museums around the world, but the launch equipment is more difficult to find. The most thorough collection is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, but other museum, such as the Watten Bunker at Eperlecques, France, have partial Walter catapults like this one. (Author’s collection)
The numerous V-1 sites through France and Germany have left behind a remarkable number of small structures, especially the initial “old-pattern” sites. These sites are most often on private land, and in many cases the buildings are so nondescript that a detailed guide is essential. Several of the books listed overleaf provide a guide to these sites in several regions. There are a handful of preserved sites, the best known of which is the former FSt No. 685 at Le Val-Ygot near Dieppe which is now enclosed in a wooded area at the edge of the Forêt d’Eu. The site was heavily bombed but many of the major structures associated with an “old-pattern” site remain. There are other preserved sites at Bois-des-Huit Rues, Yvrench-Bois-Carré and Bachimont, the latter of which is one of the few preserved “modified” sites.
Several sites in Germany with a connection to the V-weapons have museums. The Dora slave labor camp at Nordhausen has been a memorial since 1964, but since German re-unification the site has expanded and some of the tunnels of the Mittelwerke cleared out for visiting; the accent in these exhibits focuses more on the hellish conditions of the Dora camp than on the missile program. The Peenemünde test site has had a more elaborate museum created in recent years, and the site still has some of the structures from the proving ground though the V-2 missile on display is a replica. There are some remains of the V-1 launch sites in western Germany, but few of these have been systematically preserved and they are very difficult to find.
V-weapon artifacts have been widely preserved, and many V-1 and V-2 missiles remain in major aerospace museums in Germany, France, the US and Britain. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford has an exceptional exhibit on the V-1 that contains the most complete set of launch equipment including a Walter catapult ramp, as well as the associated steam generator and electrical launch apparatus. A few restored V-2 missiles on their Meillerwagen transporter-erector remain, including one at the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Battle of the Bulge Museum in Diekirch, Luxembourg, has a preserved example of a Tausenfüßler projectile and there is another at the US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. RAF Museum Cosford has a rare example of the V-4 Rheinbote rocket.