Former V-2 Launch Site Haagse Bos

This forest was used for the storage of V2's rockets during the Second World War. An attempt to disable the complex resulted in the Allied bombardment of Bezuidenhout. Incidentally, the stored V-2s were already removed two or three days before the bombing.

These V-2s were fired from a mobile platform, the so-called Meilerwagen. The advantage of this is that the installation could be moved quickly. A bombing as planned against a Meilerwagen made little sense.

The launch pitch was the only place in the forest where the trees were not felled to disguise the (mobile) launch installation.
The hole in the canopy, the tree stump and the widening of the road are the only remaining landmarks.
It was this installation that was the target of the bombardment on March 3, 1945, where it was not the installation but the adjacent residential area of Bezuidenhout that was hit.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: Willem Marchée & Kaj Metz + Eric Dullaart
• Photos: Eric Dullaart