What Was Ecausseville Airship Hangar Used For?

Hi All,

I recently found a map which seems to be marked up as a situation document following the Normandy landings. One section caught my eye when I noticed a symbol for an aircraft indicating the position of the WWI airship hangar near Ecausseville:

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The hangar's history is well documented - apart from the period during the German occupation. The only reference I have found so far which I suspect may be referring to the location during this period is taken from page 18 of 'Sainte-Mère-Église' by Alexandre Renaud:

Is the latter referring to the airship hangar I wonder? The Germans did remove a pair of enormous doors from one end but that may have been due to the huge effort necessary to open and close the doors using a team of six men.

The Allies do not seem to have been too worried about the site, even though other nearby sites were hammered as part of Operation 'Crossbow'. I had a look for air cover of the site and found that one frame from NCAP_ACIU_US30_4079_1062 flown on the 6th June does indeed cover the hangar area. The extract below is from this frame 1062:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk​

There does not appear to be any signs of recent bombing but I do notice a change in the grass tone in the form of an 'L' shape - could this be a grass strip?
Below is the Google Earth finder charge for the reconnaissance extract:

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Anyone any thoughts or know more of what went on at this site during the occupation?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Thanks Stephen,

I have seen the link before, but apart from removing the doors, it does not say what the Germans used the site for between 1940 and 1944.

Regards,

Pat