Saint-Leu-d'Esserent () is a
commune in the
Oise
Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...
department in northern France.
Saint Leu is notable for of mushroom quarries under the
Thiverny plateau.
History
During World War II, the quarries were one of three major underground
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...
storage depots. In addition to the quarries, the facility included
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
s,
bunkers
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
,
flak
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
emplacements and railway links. Allied intelligence firmly identified late in June 1944 that Saint-Leu-d'Esserent and
Nucourt were
V-1 storage depots.
[
] On 27 June 1944, Saint-Leu-d'Esserent was initially bombed by the US
Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
,
then on 4/5 July 1944 by two RAF forces (the first unsuccessfully used
Tallboy bomb
Tallboy or Bomb, Medium Capacity, 12,000 lb was an earthquake bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis and used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War."Medium capacity" refers to the ratio of bomb ...
s in an attempt to collapse the limestone roof of the quarries).
Population
See also
* Communes of the Oise department
The following is a list of the 680 Communes of France, communes of the Oise Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2025):
* V-1 flying bomb (facilities)
To carry out the planned V-1 "flying bomb" attacks on the United Kingdom, Germany built a number of military installations including launching sites and depots. Some of the installations were huge concrete fortifications.
The Allies became aware ...
References
Communes of Oise
Quarries in France
V-weapon subterranea
World War II strategic bombing
World War II sites in France
Landforms of Hauts-de-France
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