Foret de L’Hermitage
N001 34.835 Q001 32.593 Map 1210E
A real mystery site, not mentioned in any books or American Regimental histories. This transport site would appear to have built around 1943 from the style of the later V1 sites. Because of its situation is usage is most likely linked to the V1, although handily placed for the coastal batteries a little to the north. Another possibility could be that the site was linked to the proposed mobile V2 launches. The two railhead reception sites are also near by, at Valognes and Bricquebec, which would have received the V1 flying bombs. The garages, built in single, twin, and triple blocks are about the same dimensions as the garages on the light launch sites. Some of the garages have inspection pits, again pointing to it being a service depot. There is a bunker a little further up the road in the direction of Valognes, which could have been used as command centre for the facility. The garages and the bunker show signs of large scale bombing or shelling and also smaller calibre fire. The most important find in a single garage on the site is a painted sign in English which says "For the use of mechanics and authorized personnel only" This must mean that the Americans, because of the "Z" in the spelling. Once they had liberated the area used the site for vehicle servicing and repair.
