George's Trip to Europe 2008 - Part 7

On this, our final day, Mike and I headed for home but we had a number of stops planned along the way.  

First on our list was a place near to St Omer in Northern France called La Coupole.  La Coupole is a massive underground complex, which was designed to launch V2 rockets at the UK from France.  It was never used for that purpose as the RAF did a bit of damage to it when it was close to completion.  As a result of the damage, mobile launch units were used instead.

The underground complex at La Coupole was largely dug out by hand by the people kept in concentration camps during World War 2.  It was disturbing to see the individual chisel marks in some of the tunnels.  I found it particularly upsetting, having been to Bergen Belsen earlier in the trip.  Aware of the pain and suffering people were subjected to, it was horrible to see actual physical evidence of the types of tasks those people were given.

An interesting aspect of La Coupole was seeing their many displays about the development of rocket technology.  Here, I am standing next to an example of an early rocket.  Very cool.  I was quite surprised to learn that, after the war, many of the German scientists involved in the development of rocket technology ended up in the USA working on the Space Race. 

George, having made it this far.  Not bad!

After La Coupole, our final stop off before our ferry back to Blighty was Hondschoote Military Cemetery.  Hondschoote is a village just outside of Dunkirk, which was the location of the final stand of many British soldiers whilst the famous evacuation took place.  My relative Jack Dodds and his brother William were both serving in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment at that time.  This was rather unusual, as the army tended not to put relatives together, following the tragedy of entire generations of families being wiped out in World War 1.  The story of the Dodds brothers is a tragedy which echoes this.  Jack and William were both working to hold the line to protect the troops who were being evacuated.  

On the 31st May 1940, both men were on the beach when William was shot in the head in full view of his brother.  He is now buried in Hondschoote Military Cemetery. 

The cemtery itself is located at the back of the civilian cemtery.  The troops had so little time to evacuate that they had to rely on the local people to bury the British dead and, as you can see, they did a grand job.  This is a beautiful little cemetery which is very well maintained.

William Dodds' grave

 

After that, we took the ferry home.  The view was beautiful on the crossing so I took a couple of photos.





All in all, this was a fascinating and emotional trip, which taught me a lot and changed me forever.  If you are thinking about looking into your family history and the World Wars, do it.  It is so worthwhile.  Even better, go on a field trip!  It's easier than you might think.

And ... just for the record, George made it home in one piece!  

Miles that day:  251

Total miles for entire trip: 1695