Cap de la Hague WN 308

At the furthest north west corner of the CherbourgPeninsula, the Germans built a searchlight bunker, perchedright on the edge of the sea.It is quite a rare Special Construction (SK) and three othershave been found in the area.The 60 cm searchlight was used to illuminate incomingAllied aircraft and could even be angled down to pick outships at sea.The searchlight was undoubtedly used to help the two gunemplacements at Auderville spot attacking aircraft.The bunker was in reality a garage where the giant lamp could beparked during daylight hours. At night the searchlight was wheeled out of its garage and pushedup the ramp to its operational position on top of the bunker.You can still see where the cable cut into the concrete at the top ofthe ramp when the lamp was winched up to its operational position.The wince would seem to have been portable and it was stationedin front of the bunker.There is a pile of metal some meters to the west of the bunker. This was originally the German radioantenna which enabled them tocommunicate with the ChannelIslands.The bunker was also equipped with acrew room with a separate entrance,there is also a generator room, as wellas an emplacement for an anti aircraftgun nearby.

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Castel Vendon Tunnels and Shafts

In 1924 the French Authorities ordered twin turreted naval guns whichwould be land based to protect many of their ports. The guns were made by the French company Schnieder. The guns fired a shell of 340 mm and would have had arange on nearly thirty kilometres. The guns arrived in Cherbourg, and the work started atCastle Vendon, but due to financial restraints due to thedepression they were put in storage in Cherbourg.The fate of these guns remains a mystery, had they falleninto German hands they surely would have been used. One explanation is that they were scrapped before thewar, but as Schnieder guns of first world war vintagewere still in use by the French it would not seem likely.Although two underground bukers were planned to housethe guns only one of the westerly of the two undergroundshafts was completed by the occupation. The tunnel leading to it may well be an old mine working.The Germans installed four Skoda 150mm cannons herehoused in M272 casemates, and called the site “Gruchyafter the nearby village) .The Germans also intended to house ships cannon hereand according to German records two were started. Themost easterly being built first.It is thought that they intended to use doubled barrelledguns from their pocket battleships Gneisenau or

Scharnhorstwhich had bescheduled toreceivebigger guns of 380mm and their old guns of280mm being installed here. The two ships were cornered in the Polish portof Gotenhafen (Gdynia). There are two shaftshere but are they French or German? If theFrench did almost complete their shafts whywould the Germans start from scratch. Mytheory is that as the German guns were not asbig as the French the Germans simply lined theeasterly shaft with concrete to enable them to fittheir guns in the same shafts.

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Castel Vendon

Castle Vendon is one of the most intriguing sites in Normandy and opento many theorys.The Germans installed four Skoda 150mm cannons herehoused in M272 casemates, and called the site “Gruchy afterthe nearby village) . Because of its important position, commanding the westernapproaches to the port of Cherbourg, Castle Vendon was tohave three fire control posts. The first was on the same site as the guns and this was amarine type M162a, built on two levels, but this bunker wasnever started.This was because of a shortage of manpower, materials andtransport.To the west at Hameau Gruchy was a smaller fire control postwhich was protected by a anti aircraft emplacement and aTobruk. This fire control looks to be of the type 697.The site is perched high on the cliffs and is well hidden byunchecked vegetation.To the east at Landemer is another fire control post which isnot a standard design and gives a view of the bay of around240O .Most of this complex has been sealed by you can get accessto a machine gun post which has the inscription 01-10-43. The complex is faced with stone to help it blend into thecliff face.

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Urville Nacqueville

Lying on the beach like discarded children's toys, lie two type H667Casemates and a Tobruk.The erosion caused by the sea has left theseCasemates stranded.

It is useful to be able to see just how muchconcrete went into the construction of the smallerstructures.

The Casemates would have housed either 75mmor the dreaded 88mm field guns.

The rear entrance to both Casemates has beenmodified to allow a chicane entrance, affordinggreater protection to the Gun crew.

In the field behind the site are two other bunkers, one a personnel bunker whilst the otherserved as an ammunition bunker.

Two hundred meters to the east are a further two Casemates which between them would havecovered the entire beach area.

Examples of larger Casemates stranded by erosion by the sea can be found on the Girondeestuary north of Royan.

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Urville Nacqueville

The French originally built a fort here in 1817, afterthe English landed on this spot in 1758 to raidCherbourg.The batterie that exists today was built in the early19th century and was originally equipped with fourmuzzle loading cannon mounted in the open. The four casemates that survive today are from the1890’s.The Germans utilised the two tier fire control postthat existed in the French fort, and added a casematefor enflide fire along the beach. There are also the remains of a German anti aircraftgun within the walls of the fort.The fort was finally demilitarised in 1980 and is nowa centre for water sports.

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La Rue d’Ozouville

Early in the occupation of Normandy the Germans placedfour captured Skoda 100 mm cannon of Czech originbuilt in 1916.These guns were originally horse drawn and even in 1940were possibly still horses as motive power.The guns when new had a range of 10 kms and placedhere 3 kms from the sea their range and usefulness wouldbe limited. It was probable that they were placed here justafter the occupations as a stop gap until bigger and betterguns could be installed at Castel Vendon to the west andat Amfreville (York) to the east.There were four guns installed here, manned by the 2ndregiment of the AR/1709.Two of the cannon were placed under H669 casemates,one of the most common types in Normandy. The other two being kept in the open. The embrasure in the casemates limit the guns range atraverse of 600 , but if necessary the guns could bewithdrawn from the casemate to be used in the open, asthe entrance was wide enough.There was also a small storage area either side of theentrance to store the shells. The rear entrance could be closed off from the elementsonce the gun was in situ by means of wood andtarpaulins, the holes to support this structure are visiblein the rear wall either side of the entrance.There are no signs of the usual perimeter defenses to

the site, but they may wellhave been lost in theintervening years.

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Tonneville

During the occupation the Germans put in place a ring of anti aircraftbatteries around Cherbourg.

Tolleville was the second most westerly of theseeleven sites.

All the guns utilised in this defensive ring were of thefamous 88 mm type.

The sites were equipped with either four or six gunsto each site, and here at Tolleville six gunswere employed.

The site sits on the high ground near theHameau Langlois.

The site must have taken several hits duringthe liberation of Cherbourg as the site showsconsiderable damage.

Don’t be fooloed into thinking the tallbuilding might be a Flak tower. It is in fact aElectricty distrubution tower.

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Amfreville (York)

The Kriegsmarine gun batterie just to the west of Cherbourg wasequipped with four 170 mm cannon of German origin. They were manufactured by Schiffs and were of theSKL40 type. They were housed in M271 casemates and were placedhere to protect the western approach to the port.The site is unusual in as much as the casemates werealigned in slightly different directions. This would have made the task of direction findingeven more difficult than usual.The spotting of targets and the calculations were donein the Fire Control Post and four small observatoriesplaced around the site.The site was ringed with mine fields and severalmachine gun posts, mortars, and two PaK 75mmcannons, protecting the rear of the site.The batterie had its own hospital, kitchens, workshopsand command post. These were in fact part of the oldFrench Fort that the Germans acquired on their arrival.The batterie first came under fire on June 25th, duringthe final stages of the liberation of Cherbourg.The battery was shelled by the British cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise, both firing 6 inchshells (160 mm).The batterie returned fire and the Glasgow wasdamaged, York claimed the hit, but evidence points toa smaller shell hitting the Glasgow, possibly from Fortde Couplets ?.The batterie was then engaged by the USS Texas andthese two continued to fire without much success untilthe batterie was final silenced by the infantry whooverran the batterie.

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Les Couplets (Cherbourg)

Situated on high ground to the west of Cherbourg,the old French fort of Les Couplets together withFort Roule was the eyes for the fortress city ofCherbourg. The fort had been build two hundred year beforeby the French for exactly the same reason that theGermans found it so useful in 1940. Keeping watch for any British attack.The fort also had an annex further down the hilland it was there the Germans installed theircaptured guns.Att one time they had eight 155mm French builtguns, made by St Chamond in 1916 installedthere. Four were originally housed in H679 Casemates.Two of these were later placed on open platformsas the traverse of the gun was restricted by theCasemate.The site was also well equipped with anti aircraftguns as well as Tobruks for the defence of the site.At Les Couplets there are several Fire ControlPosts which undoubtedly gave instructions to therailway guns which were sited below on the coast,and also to the gun emplacements immediately onthe coast.The site today is surrounded by housing, but muchof the site remains in tact although landscapped.Les Couplets was taken on June 25th by the 47thInfantry without much resistance. This was possibly due to the fact that in theprevious two days they had been attacked by P-47swhich dive bombed the site and also being shelledby artillery just a few miles to the south.

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Les Couplets (Cherbourg) cont.2

The main site on the top on the hill is used as a sports complex, althoughone Casemate is retained by the National Marines, but does not look as ifit has been used for many years. Unusually most of the metal doors are in situ as are some of the metal fittings.

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Batterie D’Equeurdreville

Attached to the batterie “Les Couplets” thiswas a formidable set of guns in its own right.Four railway mounted guns of 240 mm werestationed here.The four guns had a range of over 30kms.The Germans utilised the extensive railwaysystem that already existed to serve the navalport, and Bastion 3, part of the port helpedhide the guns from prying Allied eyes.Also on the same site were 6 anti aircraftguns 75 mm and four 37 mm flak guns.The guns were given their firing positionsfrom the Fire Control Post at Les Couplets.Only the emplacements for the anti aircraftpositions remain today, the site of the railwayguns now a car park.

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Batterie Ste Anne

The Batterie Ste Anne was an old French fort built in 1853, and wasoriginally equipped with muzzle loading cannon to protect the westernapproach to Cherbourg.The German adapted the site to their own needs as they did with so many of the Frenchinstallations.Where the old cannon once stood the installed a large 150 cm searchlight together with a typeH502 personnel bunker which were very common in Normandy, but this one has cupolamounted on top for observation purposes.There was also an ammunition bunker type 607 alongside to service the four guns installedalongside. They were 2 x 20 mm Flak plus a 50 mm KwK and a Renault tank turret.The site is no private property and the old headquarters used as a private dwelling. All of theGerman works lie beneath a good layer of brambles.

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Fort les Forches

The old French fort that occupied this site aboveEqueurdreville to the west of Cherbourg has long sincedisappeared.In the sixties new housing was needed for the growingcity and the old fort was demolished, with the exceptionof some of the housing which now sits uneasily amongthe apartment blocks and the college named after afamous local painter (Millet).The Germans took over the fort very soon after theirarrival in the city and placed here four 170 mm Germanguns made by the famous Krupp factory. They were of the K18 type and were mounted in theopen, but I have yet to find any trace of concrete that theymight have be mounted on.What does remain is the fire control post, which sits inthe grounds of a school and is partially hidden by bushes,and is of course sealed.I think the position was manned by the AR/1709, and Ialways thought that the guns had been moved by the timeof the liberation, but as a relatively late build FCP is hereon the site, more research is needed

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The Arsenal (Cherbourg Naval Port)

The port of Cherbourg was designated a Fortress by the Germans andwas protected by batteries on the hills to either sideand also the Fort Roule to the rear.The Naval port of Cherbourg is still used for themanufacture and servicing of nuclear submarinesand because of that is still a very secretive place,visitors are simply NOT ALLOWED.The port has always been important to the Frenchwho from earliest times have built fortifications tokeep the English out.When the Germans arrived in mid 1940, they simplytook over many of the existing French fortificationsand augmented them with some of their own.They also found on their arrival much of themanufacturing facility sabotaged by the French as alast act of defiance.The Germans’ main use for the port was as a basefor their “S” boats, fast patrol boats that carriedtorpedoes.There were two flotillas based here and the same atL'Havre. They were fast and caused many problems for theAllies. Their main weakness was that they carriedno radar sets and could only rely on visual sightings.To protect the “S” boats the Kriegsmarine built alarge concrete covered base in the port for them. It still exists to this day.It was “S” boats from Cherbourg that caused somuch loss of life at Slapton sands in Devon, whenAmerican troops practicing for the D-day landings atUtah, were ambushed by these craft.The main armament around the Arsenal wasconcentrated at Bastion II and comprised 4 x 105mmcannons designed and built by the German firm ofKrupp and were of the UbtsK. SKC/36 type.

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The Arsenal (Cherbourg Naval Port) cont.2

They were housed in casemates of the H671 & M176 designs and had aFire Control Post of the M162A type. Although astandard design, some were strangely double storythe M176 built on top of a H622 casemate..The regiment stationed here was the 4/MAA 260Just outside the old walls of the port, near Bastion IIthe Germans installed four large railway guns onturntables. The site is now partly covered by the dualcarrigeway that has been built in recent years. The Railway Guns were of 240mm caliber and wereof French manufacture built by St Chamond andwere of the K558 type. They had a range of 35kms. They were protected by a large anti aircraft position,the bases of which can still be seen at the westernend of the Arsenal.Along the outer walls of the harbour, the Germansinstalled many anti aircraft posts and flak positions.Many of the additions to the old French works canstill be seen. They also built Fire Control Posts on the outer wall.The old French 100 mm guns dating from 1889 werealso kept and used. One can still be seen on theEastern Fort from the vantage point of a ferryarriving or leaving Cherbourg.This fort was one of the last to surrender to theAmericans and the damage that you can see todaywas caused by both shelling from the troops inCherbourg and also from Allied ships giving supportfrom the seaward side.

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Gare Maritime (Cherbourg)

The Gare Maritime was built in the 1930's and was host before the warto the transatlantic liners that plied betweenSouthampton and New Youk.Not only the well healed sailed from this elegantbuilding, but also most of the immigrants from allover Europe. Cherbourg had 19 strong points numbered fromStp 202 to Stp 224, this was Stp 213.The Germans installed gun emplacements at theseaward end of the station. The main armament was two Schnieder 105 mmcannons with a quoted range of 15 kms. That figure was for guns in good condition andvery few of the captured French pieces were ingood condition.The guns were housed in a H671 and H669casemates, sadly only one now remains, used asviewing platform for the submarine Redoubtable,now a museum piece. In front of the GareMaritime under the shrubbery is a H506, that usedto house a 47 mm Skoda anti tank gun.You can also find emplacements for 20 mm Flakguns around the site.The station building was used as a warehouse andremained in tact until the Germans wrecked theport before the liberation in June 1944.The Gare Maritime was rebuiltafter the war, but was notcompleted until the mid 1950'sand by then the transatlantictrade was almost finished.

The Queen Elizabeth still callsand the new Queen Mary isplanned to visit the port on aregular basis.The building itself has beenconverted into a visitorattraction called City of theSea.

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Fort Roule StP 272

The Fort du Roule, a classic "French" star fort built in thenineteenth century, sits atop a rock spur which dominatesCherbourg from the south. In 1944 the Germans had turned the fort into a formidablestrong point. Coastal artillery, facing the harbour, wasmounted in the lower level under the cliff edge. The upper ramparts were studded with concrete machine-gunand mortar emplacements and protected by an antitank ditch. Below this upper level were a series of galleries andunderground passages linking the four Casemates whichhoused 105mm guns.The guns were unusual in as much as they came fromS-Boates. Cherbourg was a S-Boate base and the guns were soontransfered from the German Army to the GermanNavy. The Casemates were of the type 671 and this is theonly site that had this combination of guns andbunkers. The FCP is a non standard design, although one otherwas built at Garde de Guerin near St Malo..The tunnels were not completed by D-day, but on thetop of Fort Roule the German’s constructed orplanned type L411a, L434, 501 & 607 type bunkers. This upper part of the site is still owned by themilitary and is out of bounds. The tunnels however are now open, although thecasemates are blocked off.

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The Taking of Fort Roule

The task of reducing the fort fell to the 1st and 2d battalions of the 314thInfantry, 79th Division. Following earlier bombing attacks, their assault began in the morning of 25 June with anineffective P-47 attack and an artillery barrage. The advance temporarily halted in a draw some sevenhundred yards from the fort before resuming undercovering fire. At this juncture Corporal John D. Kelly of E Companymanaged to take out a key pillbox with a pole charge andhand grenades, thereby allowing his platoon to penetratethe outer defences. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Carlos C. Ogden of K Company,although twice wounded, used his rifle and hand grenadesto knock out an 88mm gun and two machine guns blockinghis company's advance. Both men were awarded the Congressional Medal ofHonor. By noon, the 314th held the upper works of the fort. The German defenders continued to fire from the lowerlevel until the next day, when fire from the town,demolition charges, and an infantry assault along the cliffside smoked them out.Today the Fort houses a Museum explaining the Battle Of Cherbourg, and the occupation. There is also a great panoramic view from the Fort of the town and harbour.

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La Vaquerie (WN455)

Because the Germans had designated Cherbourg as a fortress it had to bedefended from all sides. This had to include provision for an attack from theland ward side to the south.

Most of these strong points have disappeared underthe urban sprawl as Cherbourg has grown over theyears.

The main defensive position was at La Glacerie. All of the gun emplacements have disappearedunder the Auchan car park, with the exception ofone R630, and this will be demolished by summer2003.

The position at La Vaquerie is supposed to compriseof four gun emplacements in casemates of the R630type.

To date I have only traced two, together with a gungarage, which is a modified type 629, and nowseems to be used by the local youth as a drinkingden.About one Kilometre behind the lines there is apersonnel bunker thought to be a type 622. The bunker is half buried and the field in which itsits, is always flooded.

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Les Monts

Les Monts is one of a ring of German anti aircraft emplacements thatringed the port of Cherbourg.Les Monts is situated near the village of Sideville tothe south of Cherbourg. These sites at the rear of the port were place here todefend the many V1 sites in the area from aerialbombardment.It is also very difficult to find the original usage ofthe site, it was obviously an old French Military sitebefore the occupation.It would seem that the Germans used the originalbuildings and then installed six anti aircraft guns of88 mm, Flak 18, and possibly a radar on the hill.The installation would have offered protection to themany V1 sites and radar sites in the area to the westof CherbourgThere are three anti aircraft emplacements visible,but the three others could have disappeared as thearea has been used for tipping. There is a fourth emplacement (with the horse in thepicture) that could have been a Freya type radar,which sometimes was housed in a square enclosure.The main gate is a typically French Military entranceand in the small yard there are bunkers with fortifieddoors that date from the 1930’s. It would seem reasonable to assume that the Germansused these bunkers to store ammunition and no otherstorage is today visible on the site.Just across the road from the site are French concreteanti tank obstacles, possibly in their original position.The German version are called “Dragons Teeth”The site was overrun by the 39th Regiment of the 9thDivision on June 22nd.There were similar sites at Flottemanville,Nouaineville, Octeville, Maupertus, Belleview,Tonneville,

La Glacerie, La CroixFresville,Equeurdreville and auxMilles. The latter were placedin the open at LesFlamands.

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Les Caplains (Stp 245)

The German defences on this old French Fort include four 150mm rapid fire guns. They were German built guns made by RheinmetalBorsig, based on a Krupp design.They could fire eight rounds a minute and had a range of18kms.The Germans in effect just took over the fort after thefall of France. The Germans gave the site the name of“Brommy”.The Casemates were, unusually, of several types,including one M272 and two M176 and one type M195. There is no reason why the Germans employed threedifferent casemates to house the same type of guns, thereason may have been the type of gun mounts available..There were two Fire Control Posts, one built by theGermans and the other they adapted from the originalFrench design.The Batterie fell to the advancing Americans on 25thJune after it had been subjected to both air attack andbombardment from the sea.The gun crews, before their demise, had fought asinfantry, as had many of the technical staff and Todt Orgpersonnel before the fall of Cherbourg.Most of the fort, which included a medical bunker at therear of the site, still exists. Access is restricted as the site is in a restricted zone usedby the French Navy, although now abandoned.

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Digosville

Just outside the village of Digosville near La Croix Perrinot are four forgotten casemates ofthe H669 type.

They were built to house captured French guns builtalmost a generation before the start of W.W.II. They were quite large for field guns having a caliberof 155 mm and a range of 20 kms.

The casemates are unique in as much as they havenot found an agricultural use even though they are infields. One is just behind the goal posts of a football field.

They do not seem to have played a significant partin the battle of Cherbourg, many of the troops basedhere would have possible abandoned thesite and fought alongside their comradesat Les Caplains.

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Ainse du Poulet

When the Germans first occupied Normandy in June 1940 they were unprepared to defend the coastlineand were fearful that the British and Free French might tryto attack the port of Cherbourg to gain a foothold again inFrance.Unable to build defenses quickly the brought in a batterieof four railway guns.This set of guns called Gneisenau were of the type SKl45and had a bore of 150 mm.They were positioned on this portion of railway line, nowused as a road since the late 1940’s (D116), because of thedouble curve in the track. Railway guns have no traverseunless they are positioned on a curve in the track or on aturntable.

There still exists a short tunnel with the remains of a concretestructure inside, this was constructed by the Germans as a safestorage for the ammunition. There is also an underground passage to the bunker, which isblocked off possibly when the road was constructed.Later a small Casemate of the H667 type was built below theline to give enflide fire along the beach towards Cherbourg. Interestingly the rear entrance wall of the bunker is built up oflocal stone rather than concrete.This position was known as Wn203 and was equipped with a50 mm gun.

In his book Der Atlantik Wall, Heinze Zimmermannclaims that the tunnels are part of a strong point thatwas not finished, and would have included many moretunnels.The is evidence of construction of other tunnels beingstarted, and plans exist that shjow two Skoda anti tankguns in cassemates at each end of the tunnell.The main entrance would have been fromnear the50mm cassemate.Locals also tell on train loads of cement traveling thisrailway line on their way to the German constructionsites further to the east of Cherbourg. That fact that the line was worn out at the end of theoccupation possibly helped cause its early closure.

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The German Installations at Fermanville

There were three German Gun Batteries sitting high on the cliffsdefending the eastern approaches to the port ofCherbourg, together with an important radar station.

Seealder (Sea Eagle) This was in an old French fort, built at the turn on thecentury, to protect Cherbourg from the English. The French called it Le Fort la Batterie Brulay.The Germans simply took it over and used the 94 mmguns already installed in open casemates.The site remained in use throughout the occupation,even after the two other sites with much more fire powerwere installed to the east.Emplacement No 1 still has the gantry which lifted theshells from the transport into the ammunition storagebunkers. The shells were then manhandled onto the gunplatform.In front of the old French batterie the Germans also tookover a very imposing fire control post, that looks like animport from Easter island. The fire control post was four stories high and wouldhave been equipped with telemeters on three levels. Such was the importance given to the defense ofCherbourg, when batteries like Azeville had to maketheir own improvised model.A Telemeter is a very accurate device for discoveringthe distance of a ship out to sea. It looks like a pair of binoculars mounted on a tripodbut with the lens several meters apart. When focused on the approaching ship it gave thedistance from the observation post. The distance then had to be calculated manually foreach of the gun emplacements, because their positionswere usually further back from the observation tower.According to books written during the 1960’s, therewere quite a number of paintings on the walls of theammunition bunkers dating from the occupation. These have no been replaced by art of a more modernkind.

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The German Installations at Fermanville cont.2

Hamburg

Half a mile to the east, was the last battery to bebuilt and operational before D-day. The Germans intended to house the cannons incasemates, but the work was by no meanscompleted by D-day and the guns remained in theopen, protected by steel turrets. The four casemates were of the SK type and arehuge compared with any others in Normandy. The guns installed here were of 240 mm and had arange of over 25 kms. Two of the casemates has been used as houses sincethe liberation and the gun installed there was takenback to the USA and is now on display atBaltimore.The site was also protected by six 75 mm antiaircraft guns as well as numerous light flak guns. Just before the liberation the defense of the areawas strengthened by 50 mm and 75 mm anti tankguns.There is a theory that there should have been fourguns installed here together with a Fire Control Postin the village, but to date no evidence has beenfound, although a plan has be published on theInternet..The Commander of Hamburg Oberluetnant RudiMax Gelbhaar was decorated with the Croix deChevalier for his action against the Allied fleet onJune 25th.The site also has a control post built in the laterlighter style. These were introduced after the Gestapo had takenover much of the responsibility of defence of theThird Reich, late in 1943.This control post is to the rear of the site andunderground, there is a similar structure at WN63 onOmaha Beach.Locals tell of the command post being used as ahospital during the attack by the Americans duringthe capture of Cherbourg

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The German Installations at Fermanville cont.3

La Judee was a more conventional battery and came under the commandof the army.

This emplacement was equipped with four105mm guns, Canon de Courtmle, thesewere by Atlantic Wall standards modernguns being built in 1935.They had a range of 20 kms, althoughaccording to some sources 155 mm gunsfrom the same maker were installed on thissite.

The guns were housed in type H679Casemates, as so many of the German gunsites in Normandy were.

These casemates could house either of thetwo guns 105 mm or 155 mm, and as theguns were removed for scrap just after thewar we may never know.

The site was equipped with anti tank gunsof 47 mm and 50 mm as well as 20 mm antiaircraft cannons of 75mm.

Not much now remains of the lighterconcrete works, the land being returned toits former use, although some of the site hasnow been built on.The site is very peaceful now and one of thecasemates are used for rearing chickens.

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The German Installations at Fermanville cont.4

Osteck

The radar station code named (Osteck) was the eyes and ears for thedefense of Cherbourg. It was well equipped with twoFreya, one Wassermann, and two Wurzburg radar's.The site was ringed with machine gun emplacementsand several flak positions, no doubt controlled by radar.There were also two giant spotlights with a diameter of150mm to illuminate incoming aircraft, as well as shipsat sea..The are also bunkers for ammunition as well as livingquarters for personnel manning the guns.These emplacements show signs of damage from bothland, sea and air attacks.This site is a paradise for “Bunker Hunters” there arepossibly more type hidden here than in any other smallarea in France. They include command and personnelbunkers. Bunkers for the control and operation of fourmain radar installations, together with emplacements forsearchlights, anti aircraft, and machinery bunkers.Most are in good condition although thoseon the motorcycle track are in many cases “High and Dry” and very difficult to enter,others are impossible because of thevegetation which is slowly encroachingand hiding them.

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The Taking of Fermanville

This site was known as Hill 158 by the Americans and was bombedbefore the attack from the east, on June 22nd.The Batterie was attacked by Mustangs and rocketfiring Typhoons, this followed bombing by 562bombers of the Ninth Air Force..The battle to overwhelm the German forcesentrenched here took three days and the site waspounded by Allied ships out to sea.The Batterie of Hamburg hit the USS DestroyersBarton and Laffrey, both shells failed to explode.Just after midday the Batterie scored a hit on the USSO'Brien, hitting the bridge and killing thirteen on theship. The Allied fleet withdrew to a safer distance.The ground attack was led by the 22nd US Infantry onJune 26th, and again was heavily bombed during thenight.Many German troops sought sanctuary in the base asthey had been cut off by the advancing Americans.At midnight on June 27th both the Naval and Armytroops which were surrounded here, surrendered. Just under a thousand were taken into captivity.At Hamburg there is evidence of the Germansdestroying the partly built casemate in order to be ableto swing the gun round to defend the Cherbourg fromthe Americans attacking from the east and south.

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Cap Levi

To the east of Cherbourg on a tip of land stretching outinto the sea the Germans placed a large anti aircraftbattery, equipped with 20 mm Flak 30 guns.Not only did it protect the approaches to the port itself, it also gave early protection to the three gun batteriesperched high on the hill inland. These were Hamburg, Judee and Seelander. The third one being an old French fort that the Germansused during the occupation.There was also a naval radar site placed alongside in aV206 bunker.The anti aircraft installation on Cap Levi comprised of twocasemates, one of each of type L409, L410A ..These provided accommodation and ammunition storagefor the four anti aircraft emplacements.The site has two interesting features, the first being a guardpost equipped with a machine gun on the approach to thesite, which is made almost entirely of red brick. The second is the standard small beach obstacles to whichthe Germans welded a rectangular plate. They were used to place lanterns on, during the hours ofdarkness so that vehicles and personnel could find their

way in the blackout.

There is an old French Forton the site of the semaphore,which dates from the 1880’s.

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Rethoville

Situated just to the west of the picturesque gun emplacement at Neville Blankensee is a late and curious group ofbunkers.The site was principally used as an anti aircraftbattery and only two of the four or possible six openemplacements remain. The others havingsuccumbed to sixty years of erosion and tides.The site would have protected the easternapproaches to the port of Cherbourg and also theErika radio guidance station at St Pierre Eglise.There is also a non standard searchlight bunkerwhich is of a non standard design.To the rear of the bunker are obvious cable ties toenable the searchlight to be moved up and down theramp. Most searchlight bunkers have a garage beneathwhere the lamp could be serviced and garaged duringthe day, but at Rethoville no trace of a garage can befound. The site has many ammunition bunkers and severalnon standard personnel bunkers. There is also a mostdelightful non standard Fire Control Post, which isabout to be taken by the sea.This suggests that it was constructed in late 1943 orearly 1944.The main curiosity of the site is the stone built hutnear to the old French Fort a little to the east.The building was used to house a wind generator,this supplied power to the site..

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Néville sur Mer (Blankensee)

The Kriegsmarine batterie situated right on the Point deNéville, was as close to the sea as possible in the traditionof all German Naval Batteries.The eight guns placed here came from two differentsources. Firstly British guns made by Vickers (M39) and having a94mm bore, were placed in casemates right on the watersedge. Three were housed in M158 casemates and thefourth (casemate No 1) was housed in a type M271casemate. The possible reason for this is that the fourthgun had a different carriage to the others and requiredmore space. The M158 casemated have ventilation shafts whichenabled the gasses emitted when the gun fired, fitted to theexterior of the casemate. These guns had be captured on the Channel Islands in1940 and installed here, they had a range of 12 kms.The other guns installed here and mounted in the openwere of French origin made by St Chamond and had arange of 20 kms.The site have over thirty different bunkers and althoughvery open to the elements most can still be found.Néville also has a complete system of concretepassageways linking all the major parts of the defensesystem, from the three fire control posts to the casematedguns and on to the Tobruks and personnel bunkers.Judging by the amount of damage caused by Alliedshelling this batterie must have upset the Allied fleetduring the battle for Cherbourg. Over theyears the sea isdestroying many of the concrete structurs.

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Néville sur Mer (Blankensee) cont.2

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Gatteville

This batterie sits on the Pointe de Barfleur near the village of La Houguette. The four 155 mm guns were brought here andwere of French origin and were installed in type679 casemates.The guns here were equipped with shields thatmoved with the guns, giving more protectionthan was normally the case with an open frontto the casemate.The site also had a Fire Control Post type H502.There were also several anti aircraft gunemplacements two of which can still be found.There is also a personel bunker whichunfortunately is always flooded.The third casemate has been turned into asummer home complete with patio doors anddouble glazing. Rommel would not be amused.

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Havre De Houlvi

Just to the north of Barfleur there is a very different Strong Point. Apart from the gun emplacement at Neville sur Mer it is the only placethe Germans installed concrete trenches.The strong point has no large weapons, limited tomachine guns and mortars, some built into the sametobruks..The trenches of which only the western portion stillremains intact. The eastern end has been swallowed up by a fish farmwho also use some trenches as waste water outlets.The trenches that run along the beach and even havefiring positions built into them.The underground bunkers are quite interesting, beinga real mixture, roof beams of the wrong length, andpartly made of corrugated iron.

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Barfleur

The port of Barfleur situated on the north east tip of the Cherbourgpeninsular has no beaches around it. Therefore the Germansdid not fortify the coast line to any great extent. They built ananti tank wall around the port just in case of a landing. To thesouth they built a strong point that consisted of a gunemplacement a twin tobruk type 69 ?, and what looks like ananti aircraft position.There are several ammunition bunkers in the surroundinggardens.A little further south at Ainse de Landemer is a lonelycasemate (W119a) several hundred meters inland from thelittle cove. It is of a construction that I have not come across inNormandy. The sides are very flat and from a distance it looksjust like a house. The other variation is that there is a tobrukon the left hand side. The two guns casemates are I think amodified type 612.

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