FBG News - fortsandbunkersgroup.files.wordpress.com · KwK, a 3.7 cm in a Renault tank turret and 2 x 2 cm Flak 28 or 30. The commander of the battery was Oberleutnant Somdam

FBG News Forts & Bunkers Group

Edition 1 of 2017 Composed by Frank PHILIPPART

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THE ATLANTIKWALL

The unknown batteries of D-Day When you visit the landing beaches of D-Day in Normandy, you’ll probably visit the Merville battery, the battery of Longues, the Pointe-du-Hoc, Grisbecque and Azeville. But, do you know that there were a lot of others? Do you also know that some of them still exist? And that you can visit them? Let’s talk about the battery of the Mont Canisy, the two batteries of Ver sur Mer, the two batteries of Grandcamp-Maisy and the battery of Crasville.

1. The battery of the Mont Canisy (Vill 013) The battery is situated on a 112 m high hill dominating the Bénerville village.

The French installed here a battery with 4 x 13,8 cm Mlle 10 guns in 1939. The Germans took over the position during the war and installed an army coastal battery with 6 x 15.5 cm K 420 (f) guns in 1941. This kind of gun had a range of 20 Km. The battery was the 2

nd of 1255 HKAA

(Heeres Küstenartillerie Abteiling). Its secondary armament was a 7.62 cm FK 39 (r), a 5 cm KwK, a 3.7 cm in a Renault tank turret and 2 x 2 cm Flak 28 or 30. The commander of the battery was Oberleutnant Somdam. The strongpoint was named “Vill 013” and the battery fell under the command of the 711. Infantry Division of the 81. Armee Korps.



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You can find the battery rather easy because there’s a road sign with “Mont Canisy” on a crossroad with the D513 and the Rue de Lietout. Follow the latter to the roundabout. You drive here in the Rue de Touques and there’s possibility to leave the car. In the same street there’s a steep road leading up the hill to the battery area. The summit of the hill is exactly like it was in 1944 although it’s now covered with trees and bushes. On top of it you see the Renault tank turret that dominates the village and the beach. On the same spot you can visit the old French observation bunker with a dual observation room. Still on the same spot you can choose which way to go. A path leads

around the summit with nice views of the coast and you see a few Tobruks. The path leads to the other side also, but then you’re leaving the battery, although you see here a Regelbau 668 crew bunker, the other French observation post and a flanking 612 casemate. The third road leads straight to the gun casemates. On your way to them there are two 668’s on your left side and there must be a third one on the right side. The battery was initially installed on open emplacements, but later on, they started the

This is the best plan of the site at this moment. Source : “Le Mur de l’Atlantique en Normandie” Alain Chazette, 39-45 Magazine of Historica.

Two of the three 679 casemates for 15.5 cm K 420 (f) cm guns.



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construction of casemates for the guns, a Regelbau 679. However, only three were finished. You see that the open emplacements lie behind the casemates. There’s one particular thing that makes the battery very interesting, it’s an underground network that was constructed at a depth 12 m and it was 220 m long. It connected ammunition and supply stores, crew rooms and a

cistern. There were exits at each open emplacement and the underground had two entrances in the Chemin des Enclos. They were protected by a 5 cm KwK. (This street is the other one you see at the roundabout). Behind the casemates and the open emplacements, you see a Tobruk on top a a Regelbau 501 bunker which served as command post. The underground can be visited on

Mondays during the months of July and August and also on a few Mondays in April, May and October. See the site of the organisation for more details. http://www.mont-canisy.org/

1944.

The bombardments on the battery started in March 1944. At the moment of the landing on June the 6

th, each German battery was

targeted by its own individual naval ship. For the Canisy battery, it was the HMS Ramillies, a battleship with 8 x15” guns (38.1 cm) and 14 x 6” guns (15.2 cm). The battery fired 40 shots on the ships and the remaining guns in the casemates fired on Sword Beach. It was so disturbing that the Allies had to move out to another beach on June 9

th. The battery remained active until the end of July. During the night of

August 22, the Germans left the battery and the men of the Belgian Brigade Piron could take the battery without a fight.

The open emplacements lie behind the casemates.

The three small crew bunkers, Regelbau 668, have a Tobruk.

Plan of the gun casemate, Regelbau 679.



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2. The battery of the Mont the Mont Fleury in Ver-sur-Mer (WN 35a)

The battery of the Mont Fleury dominated Gold Beach from a low hill opposite the sea. The allies called it Mont Fleury, but the battery had also the name Batterie du Château. It’s also an army coastal battery armed with 4 x 12.2 cm K 390/1 (r) guns and the secondary armament were 2 x 2 cm FlaK 30. The battery was the 3

th

of 1260. HKAA (before December 1943 it was HKAA 832) and the strongpoint was

named WN 35a.

The battleship HMS Ramillies on June 6th 1944 during the bombardment of

the battery.



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The battery fell under the command of the 716. Infantry Division of the 84. Armee Korps. The Division had three artillery battalions with in total 10 batteries.

You reach this battery when you leave Ver-sur-Mer in the direction of Arromanches on the D514. Just outside the village you turn to the left, up the hill. This is the Avenue Franklin Roose-velt. Next, take the second road on the right and you see the bunkers immediately. Initially the guns stood on open positions, but the Germans started the construction of casemates for them. They were

special constructions and indicated as Sonder Konstruktion. Two of them were finished and the two other were under construction. It’s nevertheless interesting to see the construction method

which are two rows of Formsteine and in the middle they had to pour concrete. A light construction (Vf) observation post lay in front of the casemates. It was linked with trench to a shelter. One of the casemates has been converted into a second residence and since the autumn of 2016 it was for sale for € 213000!!! Bargain? 1944.

The battery was bombed on May 12 1944 and in June. She didn’t fire on

the fleet because there was no equipment to aim on it (no telemeter and no goniometrical binoculars), but she intervened on the King sector

on Gold Beach. Although another source says that the remaining Russian gun fired only three shots. The cruisers HMS Orion and HMS Belfast bombarded the battery whereby the entire crew was almost eliminated. The Orion and the Belfast are light cruisers with an armament of 12 x 6”

This is the best preserved casemate of

the battery.

Plan of the Sonder konstruktion casemate.

Source : Dirk Peeters



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guns (15.2 cm) and 12 x 4” guns (10.2 cm) for the Belfast and 8 x 6” guns and 4 x 4” guns for the Orion. Gold Beach was divided into several sectors and the one in front of Ver-sur-Mer was King. The first wave of the 69

th Brigade (of the 50

th Northumbrian Infantry Division) with the 5

th East

Yorkshires and the 6th Green Howards landed at 7:25 am. The 6

th Green Howards landed at King

opposite a small Widerstandsnest WN 35 at Hable de Heurtot. They were supported by a few Flail-Shermans of the Westminster Dragoons, DD-Shermans of the 4/7

th Dragoon Guards and

AVRE’s of the 81st Squadron. (Various sources are mixing up the tank units involved here. Some

speak about the Westminster Dragoon, others about the 4/7th Dragoon Guards) Three AVRE

Churchills attacked the position and the Russian volunteers surrendered quickly. D Company took the only street through the marshy area and headed straight to the battery, avoiding the anti-tank ditch. The crew of the battery was still confused by the bombardment by the HMS Orion which placed 12 direct hits on it and They were quickly overpowered. The only remaining gun had only fired three shots, the other guns were destroyed. Several sources tell that was here that platoon leader CSM Stanley Hollis won the famous Victoria Cross. He walked with the the company commander to investigate two German pill-boxes which had been by-passed as the company moved inland from the beaches. Hollis instantly rushed straight at the pillbox, firing his Sten gun into the first pill-box, He jumped on top of the pillbox, re-charged his magazine, threw a grenade in through the door and fired his Sten gun into it, killing two Germans and taking the remainder prisoners. Then he dealt with the second, taking 26 prisoners. He next cleared a neighbouring trench. Later that day he covered a few of his men while they could fall back safely.

3. The battery of La Marefontaine in Ver-sur-Mer (WN 32) The second battery of Ver-sur-Mer lies in the hamlet La Marefontaine. This time it’s a battery of divisional artillery, equipped with 4 x 10 cm lFH 14/19 (t) with a range of 9970 m. It was the 6

th battery of the

1716. AR of the 716th

Infantry Division. The strongpoint was named WN 32. To reach the battery, you start in the centre of Ver-sur-Mer from the self-propelled gun, a Sexton, and you follow the Rue du 6 Juin (D112). It goes over in the Rue de la Libération. At a cross-road you

chose for the Rue Marefontaine. You’re leaving the village and you notice the casemates on your left in the fields. The four casemates, Regelbau 669, stands along a dirt road in a cattle field. They are directed to Juno Beach. With a little effort you can visit the bunkers.

Plan of a Regelbau 669, casemate for a filed

gun. Source : Dirk Peeters



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The site was chosen on 18 Dec 1943 in the framework of a reorganisation of the artillery and it was going to be the location for battery 6/1716. The guns could stroke a zone from Le Paistry Vert to La Patine. It was connected with a command post in the Bois de Maronne at the height of Meuvaines.

1944.

250 shells were fired on the battery in less than 2 hours! The second wave with the 7

th Green Howards with the A Squadron of the Dragoon Guards

landed at 08:20 am. They passed a deserted Ver-sur-Mer and they reached the battery at La Marefontaine. Now, the sources are different. One source tells that the demoralised crew surrendered and another source tells that the crew surrendered after an assault with flame thrower tanks of Troop 13 of the 141

st Royal Armoured Corps of the 79

th Armoured Division.

The Green Howards found 87 empty shell cases next to the guns!

4. The battery Les Perruques in Grandcamp-Maisy (WN 83) The battery is easily found. When you drive to Grandcamp-Maisy on the D514, you’ll see a road sign with “Batteries de Maisy” pointing to the left. This road calls Les Perruques. The battery lies to the left on this road. It was equipped with 4 x 15.5 cm sFH 414 (f) heavy howitzers and the secondary armament was 25 Pdr gun (an other source speaks about a 7.62 FK 36 (r)), 2 x 5 cm KwK, 2 x Renault tank turret and 1 2 cm FlaK. It was the 9

th battery of the 1716. AR of the 716

th

Infantry Division and the strongpoint was named WN 83. Its task was the protection of the coast in front of Grandcamp. The battery is situated on the reverse slope of the fields and could not fire directly on the sea. The battery had a fire direction post which was a Vf 6a bunker at the coast north-west of the battery.

Plan of a Regelbau 669, casemate for a field gun.

Three of the four

casemates.



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On the battery site, you find 2 x 622 crew bunkers, 2 x 7b ammunition bunkers, 1 x 502 crew bunker which served as command post, 5 x open emplacements and various smaller constructions. These ammunition bunkers, 7b, are interesting because they have an extra room on the other site of the corridor. They are Vf bunkers with walls of 2 m instead of 1.5 m. (otherwise it was a 7a)

1944.

The battery was also bombarded by the RAF in the months preceding the landing. On the 6

th of

June it was bombarded by the destroyer USS Hawkins (6 x 5” guns (12.7 cm)). The battery had fired for three days at Omaha Beach until it was conquered on June 9 by the 2

nd and 5

th Rangers,

116th Infantry Regiment

of the 29th Infantry

division and the 83rd

Chemical Weapons Battalion (mortars). 18 men of the 2

nd Rangers

were killed by this attack.

Author’s Note : Almost nothing is found about this interesting battery. All the sources speak about the landing, the tank battles where under Operation Goodwood, Falaise and the clearing of the pockets of Cherbourg and Le Havre, but none of them mentions the liberation of this small part of the coast. Anyway, the battery disappeared literally from the face of the earth because during the post war years it got completely covered with earth by the local farmers. The British military historian Gary Sterne rediscovered Maisy Battery in January 2004 based on a map which accompanied a US Army veteran's uniform he had bought. Sterne travelled to Normandy to inspect the site and he was able to locate a bunker entrance amongst the undergrowth.

Gary Sterne then investigated

Actually, Russian 15.2 cm guns stand on the open

emplacements.

One of the two crew bunkers for two groups, Regelbau

622.



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further to find additional fortified buildings, gun platforms, and a hospital. Finally the entire battery was uncovered and it opened for the public in 2006. Actually, you walk through the trenches and the bunkers and it gives you a very high “been there” feeling. The owner has also put 15.2 cm guns on the open emplacements. Mind that it are Russian guns and not the old French guns. The battery can be visited from May to October. Check out their site for more details : http://www.maisybattery.com/

5. The battery La Martinière in Grandcamp-Maisy (WN 84) The other battery of Grandcamp-Maisy lies a bit further on the same road, but on the right. The battery was equipped with 4 x 10 cm lFH 14/19 (t) howitzers. It was the 8

th battery of the 1716.

AR of the 716th Infantry Division.

The strongpoint was named WN 84. Its task was the defence of the Vire estuary. The range of the guns was the area from Le Grand Vey to La Madeleine. At the site you see three 669 gun casemates and more to the west there are two tobruks. Depending of the season, the bunkers are surrounded by crops. The observation post of the battery was a Vf 6a at WN88 that can be reached via the D113a.



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6. The Crasville battery This battery lies on the hills above Morsalines and it dominates that part of the bay. To reach it, you start on the coastal road D14 to Quettehou. In the hamlet Morsalines you pass the church (here’s a very nice gun casemate 680) and turn to the left, this is the D216. You climb and after a turn of the road, you take the first road on the right. This is Hameau les Masses. Follow this one until a T-crossroads. Here you go right and then the first to the left. After a few minutes, you see the casemates on either side of the road.

The battery was equipped with 4 x 10.5 cm K 331 (f) guns. The anti aircraft defence was 3.7 cm FlaK 36 and a 2 cm FlaK 30. It was installed here during the summer of 1943 and it was known as battery 8/745 HKAA. But from December 1943, the Germans reorganised their artillery and it was named battery 5/1261 KHAA. The strongpoint was called Stp 142 and HKB Crasville. Its commander was Oblt Frantz Kerber in 1944. The battery fell under the command of the 709. Infantry Division which was one of the 84. Armee Korps. Initially the guns stood open emplacements, but from the moment the casemates were built, a special carriage was constructed for the guns because in casemates only guns on a fixed carriage could be placed. Two 650 and two 671 casemates were built here. Next to these, a Vf 2a with an observation pit on top was built and various other



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constructions, a garage and a cistern.

1944.

The battery was bombed on May 10th

1944 and on June 5

th. On June 6

th

several shells were fired from the HMS Black Prince and from the USS Tuscaloosa. The HMS Black Prince was a light cruiser 8 x 5.25” (13.3 cm) guns and the USS Tuscaloose was a cruiser with 9 x 8” (20.3 cm) and 8 x 5” (13 cm) guns. The battery could not respond because the fleet was outside its range. On June 9

th,

the Germans installed two tubes back on their original carriages to assist the battery at St Marcouf, but they were quickly discovered by allied bombers and destroyed. The two remaining guns were retreated to Cherbourg. The battery fell in allied hands after June 18

th.

Actually the two 671’s are hidden in the undergrowth and the two 650’s are visible. The northern 650 can be visited when you pass under the fence. It’s the exercise worth because this kind of Regelbau is really big (the same as Azeville).

Plan of the casemate, Regelbau 650. 1. Gun emplacement. 2. Crew room. 3. Shell storage. 4. Cartridge storage. Source : Dirk Peeters

One of the two 650 Regelbauten for a 10.5 cm gun.



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Thanks to Yvonne Mayo for the spell check. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The impressive back of the other 650 casemate. Left, the entrance of the Tobruk.

The gun room of the 650 casemate.

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FBG News - fortsandbunkersgroup.files.wordpress.com · KwK, a 3.7 cm in a Renault tank turret and 2 x 2 cm Flak 28 or 30. The commander of the battery was Oberleutnant Somdam