#Landmark
Archem: Fierce Hunt for V2 Rockets
In 1945, parts of V2 rockets were delivered via the railway station in Ommen. They were then assembled in the forest near Archem. After assembly, they were transported by special vehicles to Hellendoorn and later also to Dalfsen, where they were launched.
The actual V2 assembly site on the Archem estate near Lemele was never discovered and remained untouched. It was the place where, in November 1944, several homes were evacuated by the German occupiers for a special purpose: the installation of explosive charges on Von Braun’s V2 rockets—Hitler’s secret weapon.
A large part of Archem was declared a ‘Sperrgebiet’ (restricted area) from 14 November 1944 to 12 February 1945—no outsiders were welcome. Six families had to leave their farms or houses within a few days to make room for German soldiers involved in building, transporting, and guarding the rockets. Even Freule Van der Wyck had to vacate Huis Archem, finding shelter at Landgoed Beerze, where her sister lived with Baron Bentinck.
Assembling the V2 Rockets
In the so-called ‘Slingerbos’ on Archem, V2 rockets were assembled using parts brought in—among other places—via Ommen station. To block the view from Allied aircraft, German troops tied tree tops together, forming a continuous canopy of leaves.
Once assembled, the rockets were moved at night on camouflaged trailers to the Eelerberg near Hellendoorn, where they were launched from mobile installations. This site was used, among others, for launching V2 rockets at the port of Antwerp.
Operation Big Ben
The Allies mounted a fierce campaign to locate and destroy the V2 rockets in the region. On 14 January 1945, Typhoon fighter-bombers carried out air raids on the railway near Ommen, the station, the bridge over the Regge River at Nieuwebrug, and Camp Erika. These attacks were part of Operation Big Ben, a campaign running from October 1944 to April 1945 aimed at mobile V2 launch sites and supply routes for rocket parts and fuel.
“At that time, the Allies didn’t recognize Camp Erika on the Besthmenerberg near Ommen as an infamous penal camp,” explains Gerrit Grefelman, one of the editors of the book ‘Lemele, Archem en Dalmsholte in oorlogstijd’. “They thought it was a place where V2s were assembled.”
During the bombardments, three prisoners were killed and fourteen injured. The railway crossing leading to the camp was also hit directly, creating a bomb crater, as reported by Pieter Postma, commander of the Air Raid Protection Service of Ommen, in his official report.