Blockhaus d'Éperlecques

Blockhaus d'Éperlecques Kraftwerk Nord West
Forest of Éperlecques, near Watten (France)
View of the south side of the Blockhaus d'Éperlecques
Blockhaus d'Éperlecques Kraftwerk Nord West
Coordinates	50°49′43.24″N 2°11′1.22″E / 50.8286778°N 2.1836722°E / 50.8286778; 2.1836722
Type	Bunker
Height	28 m (92 ft)
Site information
Owner	Privately owned
Open to the public	yes (protected by law)
Condition	heavily damaged
Website	www.leblockhaus.com
Site history
Built	March–September 1943 (major work completed)
Built by	Organisation Todt
In use	never completed, captured September 1944
Materials	120,000 cubic metres ferrous concrete (planned)
Battles/wars	Operation Crossbow
Events	captured 4 September 1944

The Blockhaus d'Éperlecques (English: Bunker of Éperlecques, also referred to as "the Watten bunker" or simply "Watten") is a Second World War bunker, now part of a museum, near Saint-Omer in the northern Pas-de-Calais département of France, and only some 14.4 kilometers (8.9 miles) north-northwest from the more developed La Coupole V-2 launch facility, in the same general area. The bunker, built by Nazi Germany under the codename Kraftwerk Nord West (Powerplant Northwest) between March 1943 and July 1944, was originally intended to be a launching facility for the V-2 (A-4) ballistic missile. It was designed to accommodate over 100 missiles at a time and to launch up to 36 daily. The facility would have incorporated a liquid oxygen factory and a bomb-proof train station to allow missiles and supplies to be delivered from production facilities in Germany. It was constructed using the labour of thousands of prisoners of war and forcibly conscripted workers used as slave labourers.

The bunker was never completed as a result of the repeated bombing by the British and United States air forces as part of Operation Crossbow against the German V-weapons programme. The attacks caused substantial damage and rendered the bunker unusable for its original purpose. Part of the bunker was subsequently completed for use as a liquid oxygen factory. It was captured by Allied forces at the start of September 1944, though its true purpose was not discovered by the Allies until after the war. V-2s were instead launched from Meillerwagen-based mobile batteries which were far less vulnerable to aerial attacks. Today, the bunker is preserved as part of a privately owned museum that presents the history of the site and the German V-weapons programme. It has been protected by the French state as a monument historique since 1986.