Air warfare

Important exhibits that had been stored away for 22 years, ever since the museum moved out of Tour Henri VIII, are once again on show to visitors: giant 38-cm shells from the First World War, as well as German bombs weighing 50 kg and 500 kg and 500-lb and 1,000-lb US bombs that fell on Tournai in 1944.

Also on display once again are two German anti-aircraft guns: one 20-mm gun abandoned in Tournai during the retreat of the German army in August and September 1944 and one 40-mm Bofors gun, modified and armoured for use on a tracked vehicle, which was also discovered within the city’s walls.

And perhaps the most exceptional exhibit: the combustion chamber of a V2 rocket that fell in Wasmes-Audemez-Briffoeil on 25 September 1944. The only surviving example of these early ballistic missiles, around fifty of which were fired by the German army over Lille, Roubaix and Tournai, and donated to the museum in September 2020.
At a time when we are sadly seeing missiles inspired by this V2 rocket being fired at Ukraine, this relic appears particularly significant today.