Site Records

Site Name: Rochonvillers (Maginot Line Gros Ouvrage and later nuclear command bunker)

RSG site visit 5th May 2003

Back in the main corridor, the next turning on the left leads to the old magazines, these have been completely rebuilt as the operational hub of the bunker with numerous offices, a briefing room/lecture theatre with raked seats and a projector screen and various maps and situation boards still in place on the walls. One of these refers to an exercise undertaken by the French Army and its allies; Britain does not feature in this exercise. There is even a bar with two large murals on the walls, one of New York and the other of British red phone box! Most of the rooms in this area are completely empty.

Back in the main corridor there is a door on the right which originally led to an emergency exit but plans on the wall show that a number of rooms have been excavated a short distance along the corridor. On floor plans located at regular intervals around the bunker this area is designated 'Grand LOH'. Unfortunately the door to this corridor was locked and we were unable to gain access. Beyond this corridor the tunnel swings sharply to the left into the domestic area (Caserne) with the kitchen on the left and the dormitories to the right. The tiled kitchen area consisting of four rooms, have been stripped of all equipment although two rooms still have extractor hoods.

On the right are the dormitories and toilets. The original toilets and wash rooms have been modernised and all the original bunks have been removed and replaced with newer double and triple bunks of a similar design, many of these still remain in place. The tiled infirmary is also located here but this has also been completely stripped. Beyond the caserne there is a junction with the other main gallery back to the munitions entrance.

Turning right towards the fighting blocks, one of the old stations, 'Gare D', is soon reached. Here the tunnel widens to accommodate a passing loop on the railway and a number of trucks are still parked on the track at this point. As there is no locomotive it's unclear if the tramway was actually used after the modernisation.

Beyond the station, just before the junction to Block 9, a wall has been built across the gallery. Although there is a door this has been welded shut and our guide explained that there was bad air beyond and the gallery and fighting blocks have been sealed off as they didn't form a part of the nuclear bunker. Returning to the men's entrance we noticed an original machine gun in one of the alcoves south of Gare D.

Back on the surface we walked up into the woods behind the two entrance blocks, here there is a large 'T' shaped WW2 building that was used as accommodation for the security guards. There are dog kennels and an exercise area in the woods nearby. The building has shuttered windows along all sides, a main entrance at the front and a larger door for heavy machinery and plant at one end.

New toilets and washrooms have been added but the building appears to have been unfinished; in one large room the walls are still bare concrete.

The building was built by the Germans for the Luftwaffe after 1940 but it is also recorded that it was a 'Fuehrer Bunker' for Hitler and is known as 'Anlage Brunhilde'. It seems unlikely, however, that Hitler ever used the bunker although it may have been there for him to use if required. Even that seems unlikely as the building can hardly be described as a bunker. Although it is built of reinforced concrete it has numerous windows. Perhaps it was intended to excavate an entrance into the old Maginot Line fort from the building.

Sub Brit members discovered an identical building at the Osowka complex at Gory Sowie (Owl Mountain) during a visit to Poland in 2002. This too is unfinished and its use is unknown.

Those taking part in the visit were Nick Catford, Mark Bennett, Jason Blackiston, Dan McKenzie, Robin Ware , Richard Challis, Jason Green, Pete Walker, Bob Lawson, Clayton Donnell, John Burgess, Andy Coutanche, Roy Smith, Tony Page and Tony Kemp who organised the visit.

For more photographs click here

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