Sottevast V2 Facility Page 2
Other constructional details of the short leg are steel reinforcing bars
which protrude above the rocket entrance shaft, indicating that an extension or
cover was meant to be added over the entrance, and on the opposite side there
are eight vertical V shaped recesses 18 in wide and 24 in deep, arranged at
regular intervals, 5 ft 8 in apart. These also disappear into the soil.
The recesses were probably intended for beams which would have supported a
lightweight structure attached to this outer wall, providing a weatherproof
cover over this opening.
The long section of the leg is 600 ft x 29 ft. Its height above ground varies
from 4 ft to 6 ft, and the last 196 ft of the leg slightly slope downwards
(100). Its purpose is unknown.
However, at Couville, too, there is a slight slope to the last 100 ft of the two
walls.
The concrete for this longer leg also disappears into the ground but it appears
that the roof, supported by the ground, was constructed first and that the
supporting walls were to be added later, and there is a 6 ft-wide recess on one
side where this wall would be added. On the roof of this section are several
scrap pieces of the site's narrow gauge railway.
On the inside of the 'L' is a large irregular concrete parking area, which
overall measures 263 ft x 91 ft.
Just outside the area enclosed by the 'L' is another smaller structure, parallel
to the short leg.
This concrete building, which is partially buried, is 100 ft x 31.3 ft and its
height varies from 3.5 ft to 6.9 ft above the ground.
The entrance, 30 ft wide, is at the south end and it is now blocked with soil.
On the roof are more pieces of the site narrow gauge railway.
This building appears to have been the site garage and locomotive shed.
Sottevast, like Couville, was intended to provide a secure storage and servicing
facility for the modified V2 and its larger developments.
Some buildings that I found only in 2005 on the hill close to the site could
well have been the intended fire control facility for launcing the V2.
