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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Reville (Pointe de Saire) WN115

Originally the site of an old French Fort thatprotected the northern entrance to the small port ofSt Vaast la Hougue it was adapted by the Germansfor much the same use.The major addition by the Germans was the buildingof three bunkers for enflide fire along the beach,both to the north and south.The site is remarkable for the adaptation of one ofthe gun bunkers in to a tea room. There is another at Quineville in similar use but tohave your snack where the gun used to be is surreal.

There are quite a number ofammunition bunkers on thesite and also a concreteplinth. This might have been thesupport for a smalltelemeter, although thesewere in short supplythroughout Normandy andmay just have been abinocular support.

The old French Fort hasbeen adapted to be used for a small lighthouse, toform a navigation reference for fishing boats andsailing boats entering the port of St Vaast laHougue.

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Saint Vaast la Hougue Stp 29

The French constructed a fort here two hundred yearsbefore the Germans arrived with the same intention, tokeep the English from invading.When the Germans arrived in 1940 they took overmany of the French fortifications and adapted them totheir own use.Here at Saint Vaast la Hougue they installed mainlyanti aircraft guns and a large searchlight, at 120 cm itwas one of the larger of the searchlights installed in thearea.They also put machine gun posts into the sea wall,normally these stand out like a sore thumb, but herethey seem strangely at home.Fortunately the German construction did not alter thecharacter of the French Fort.The fort is still used by the French Navy and it is notpossible to enter thefort, but a good viewcan be obtained bywalking round thewalls.

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Saint Vaast la Hougue cont.2

The entrance to the port was also fortified with a bunker placed justalongside the Fisherman’s Chapel. This has beencunningly adapted to form a interesting view point forvisitors.Even better hidden is the control post just in front ofthe same chapel. The first world war monument hasbeen placed on top and this must surely be the onlyexample of a first world war monument sitting on topof a second world war bunker.Just across the bay is the island of Tatihou, and at lowtide it is possible to walk across the sand to the island.Vauban placed a similar fortification, but on a smallerscale to the one just to the south of the town.There was also a second fort placed on rocks close tothe island at a later date and called Fort de i’Iiet. The Germans adapted all of the earlier French worksand you can still see the concrete placed on top of theearlier structures.

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La Pernelle

The village of La Pernelle boasted two gun batteries a radarstation and was supposed to have two V1 launch sites of the“Modified type”, although now evidence of anyconstruction can be found.The second batterie (Pernelle 2) was equipped with three170 mm German guns mounted in the open. They were supposed to have H679 type casemates but thesehad not been started by D-day.The other batterie (Pernelle 1) called by the Germans “La Pinoterie”was further advanced and its six 105 mmSchnieder guns of 1916 vintage. The guns were housed in two different types of casemates,types H650 and H671. It is claimed that these guns were again mounted oncarriages after D-day and moved inland.There was also a command bunker of the H608 type.At the time of the occupation the quarry in which theguns are placed were not in use. Today it is a different story and many of the casematesand associated bunkers have been destroyed. The Fire Control Post sits on top of the workings andlooks as if every moment will be its last.The Pernelle I batterie could have no effective rollagainst the Allied fleet landing on Utah beach, becauseits guns faced out to sea and because of being incasemates and could not be rotated enough to be of anyuse.The Pernelle 2 batterie known to theGermans as Essen was a more seriousthreat on D-day. The batterie had never been equippedwith a range finder and so its fire uponthe fleet was not accurate.In an earlier bombing raid one of the170 mm guns was damaged and takento Cherbourg for repairs, it had notreturned by June 6th.After further raids the two remainingguns were moved further inland andbefore the Germans retreated, the gunswere spiked to prevent them being ofany use to the Americans.The Russian guns from Carteret were brought close to here after D-day to help slow theAmericans advance.

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Morsalines

The German gun site here has almost disappeared. . It was intended that the captured French gun be housed in typeH679 Casemates but at the time of D-day they were still housedin the open. Very little of the site for the cannons remain, as thefarmer has tried to reclaim the field. The Fire Control Post for Crasville was also situated on this site,together with one for this gun emplacement and neither were of astandard design.The most interesting feature of the site is the Anti Aircraftbunker, still sitting high on the hill overlooking the sea above StVaast. It started life as a searchlight bunker but was latermodified.The bunker is a standard design (L402) of which eleven werebuilt in Normandy. The bunker would have been equipped with a 20 mm gun.The building at the side of the bunker seems to have taken adirect hit and is badly damaged.The bunker itself seems to have suffered an explosion on theinternal wall between the crew quarters and the ammunitionstore.The site was also supplemented by a type H680 near the mainroad and also WN109 on the coast. This site has the only 677 bunker built in the area, together with

type 688 which are more common.Rommel visited the site twice, the first time in January 1944 andcomplained about the lack of camouflage. He was here again on May the 10th to inspect the damage causedby an attack by the R.A.F.

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Morsalines Type 680 WN109

This well preserved little bunker sits on the edgeof the village just alongside the church.It was built to house a 75 mm anti tank gun, tohelp repel any landings south of Cap de laHague.It is one of the rare adaptations that has groovesfor the wheels of the gun carriage, and groves cutinto the concrete so that the gun can be elevatedon its carriage.The ventilation fan is still in place and is one ofthe few to be found in the smaller bunkers.Only the top half of the bunker has beencamouflaged.

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Crasville

Crasville like many of the gun positions on the Atlantic Wall in Normandy was equipped with Schneider105mm field cannon.Over four hundred of these guns were used by theGermans, after the defeat of France.. They were employed all along the Atlantic Wallfrom Norway to the south of France.Introduced in 1913 these guns were usually veryworn and were none too accurate andammunition was scarce. It was for these reasons that they were employedon the Atlantic Wall.The wheeled versions were difficult to aim and

fire in a casemate andmany were mounted onold German navalmounts which allowedthem to be bolted to thefloor of the casemate.The site is interesting astwo types of casemateare employed here. There are two type 671and two 650, which isunusual as the 671 type is normally associated with a fire controlpost. It can only be assumed that the firing trajectories for the gunsin the 671 casemates were calculated in the 650 casemates. This would also be true when it came to the storage ofammunition, it could be assumed that the 650 would be used tofeed shells to the 671 casemate.There is also an anti aircraft position on a mound within the site,

together with many underground bunkersbunkers.

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Batterie de Saint Marcouf (Crisbecq)

Work on these batteries was begun by the Todt organisation in 1941, but was not completedby D-day.The Batterie was a formidable concrete fortresssurrounded by mine fields and barbed wire, andwas to have been the second largest in Normandyafter the batterie at Hamburg, near Cherbourg. The main guns were four 210 mm and one 155 mm, although only three of the main guns wereworking on D-day, two housed in type 683Casemates, and the other was in the open.In addition to the two H683 Casemates constructedhere, there were have to been two others of theH683 type but these had barely been started byD-day. The guns being housed in openemplacements, which can still be found.The site also retained one of the original 155 mmguns, and the other three were moved when the 210 mm guns became available.The 155 mm gun was to be housed in a M272Casemate, but this too was not completed by D-day.The Skoda 210 mm "type K39/K41" guns had arange of twenty miles, and the 150 mm gun abouteleven miles. The front of the Casemates should have beenprotected by metal embrasures, but they had notbeen fitted, either due to non delivery or morelikely, the shortage of metal in Germany.The Batterie had its own fire control post type"H637FCP" with a anti flak gun mounted on thetop, together with an machine gun post. To the right there was a separate Fire Control Postfor Azeville.The Batterie was also equipped with six 75mm antiaircraft and seventeen machine gun nests. .All coastal defenses were manned by the GermanNavy (Kriegsmarine) and some 300 men werestationed here. They came under the command of the ArmyRegiment 3/HKAR 1261 The commander of thisBatterie was 1st Class Ensign Walter Ohmsen, andhe and his troops were billeted in St Marcouf. He was a very strict man who ensured that thenightly curfew was adhered too. After D-day one ofthe guns was moved to the north to Fronteny.

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Batterie d’Azeville

The German PerspectiveThe Batterie at Azeville was the first part of theAtlantic wall to be built on the Cotentin Peninsula. It was a “Blind” site, having no view of the sea. It always had to rely on signals from a spotter on thebeach or signals from Crisbecq just down the road.Crisbecq had an excellent view of the sea.The gun site at Crisbecq was a later addition, but afire Control Post was established there to serve thisBatterie. The telephone cable was not laid in accordance toinstructions but laid across the fields in a series of"S" bend. This was to ensure that the cable would not be brokenexcept by a direct hit.Once the position of a target was received atAzeville from Crisbecq, the coordinates would have tobe recalculated in each of the Casemates to allow forthe position of the fire control post relative to each ofthe guns.This was done in the room to the right in eachcasemate.In later German Batteries the working of thecoordinates was undertaken in the Fire Control Post.When first built in 1942, it had two Casemates, andunder Rommel, this was increased to four. The two square Casemates type 650, areinteresting as there are only four only examples oftheir type in Normandy and only sixteen otherswere built on the West Wall. They were painted to resemble the stonework oflocal buildings.The rounded Casemates across the road from themain site are also type 650 Casemates, but a laterversion with rounded corners.. The internal layout of the two types of casemateare identical. The camouflage of the rounded 650 was just earthpiled over the construction. This not onlycamouflaged it but the earth gave increasedprotection against incoming shells or bombs.The Casemates are relatively unique in as much asthey are not totally open at the front but have aconcrete wall about a meter high in front of thegun.

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Batterie d’Azeville cont.2

The other special feature of this site is the tunnels linking the Casemates.Originally there were over 500 meters, but only 250 meters of tunnelsare still in existence. The guns were 105 mm naval guns and were mannedby the Navy. If fact they were captured French FirstWorld War (1914) Schneider ships guns, having arange of eleven miles. The site was also well protected by two anti aircraftflak guns of 37 mm, mounted on the first and fourthCasemates. Before the first Casemate was finished, theFlak 37 was mounted in a position just left of thisbunker.There was also an extensive mine field and machinegun emplacements protecting the site.During the building of the third and fourth Casematesthe Commander of the Garrison(Lt Kattnig) ordered that the Calvary near the car parkshould not be damaged in any way. In fact he had very good relations with the localpeople, inviting them to use the bar and canteen. OnD-day he advised the villagers to hide in the woods,although no shells or bombs fell on the village.There would have been around 200 men stationedhere, billeted in the village and when on duty they rested in the underground bunker.Although under the command of the Army, "2/HKAR 1261 Regiment" this was a navalestablishment and the crew on duty slept in hammocks as they would have done on a ship. The bunker was also equipped with a periscope and a speaking tube to communicate with thegun positions, just like the equipment used at sea. The Germans feared the possibility of a gas attack and each bunker and Casemate had apersonnel shower at the entrance to many of the bunkers which would have reduced the effectof the gas. Most of the bunkers and personnel bunkers also had a forced air system that keptthe air inside the bunker at a slightly higher pressure than the outside. This stopped gasentering the rooms essential to therunning of the gun Batterie.The four Casemates were linked bytunnels and ammunition was storedunderground with diesel generatorsproviding the power, not for lightingbut to power the extractors that ventedthe poisonous gasses from the gunpositions.

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The Taking Of The Batterie d’Azeville

Just after dawn on June 6th 1944, after an eventful night, shells started dropping in the area. Crisbecq had quickly sunk adestroyer. Azeville, whilst not sinking a ship, damaged severalships during the first few hours.The main landing on Utah was carried out of range ofthese guns by the tide which pulls to the right in theSeine Bay.The guns here could reach the beach area but becausethe construction of the casemate only allowed 1200 oftraverse, the barrel would be touching the wall of thecasemate.The Americans landing on Utah had the taking of thisbatterie as one of their D-day objectives. The bad weather and strong wind combined with thesea currents brought the Utah task force 2 km furthersouth than had been planned, and therefore furtheraway from the batteries at Crisbecq and Azeville. The range of the 105 mm cannons at Azeville wasaround 11 kms and the Madeleine beach is 10 km tothe south east. This distance did not prevent the batterie fromreaching the Utah landing area, where they caused alot of damage, but at the limit of their range and angleof fire, lacked precision. The lack of ammunition made the Germans at Azeville monitor their stocks very closely.Although Captain Kattnig ordered regular firing onto the beach, the firing was not as intenseas he would have liked.The American troops of the 4th Infantry Division who disembarked at Utah had the objectiveof controlling both Crisbecq and Azeville batteries by the afternoon of D-day.The German resistance was more intense than had been anticipated. By the evening of D-day, the Americans had not been able to move against either batterie,and despite the best efforts of the navy force at sea, the batteries and most of their defenceswere still in tact.The first American assault on Crisbecq was a disaster and the Americans withdrew.On the morning of June 7th the Americans launched their first attack on Azeville. Infantry, supported by Sherman 75 mm tanks approached casemates 3 & 4 from the southeast.The first tanks got to within 80 metres of the casemates, and both the Americans andGermans opened fire at the same time. A Sherman is no match for a 105 mm cannon and although the cannon in No 2 bunker wasdamaged it was able to be repaired quickly.The first assault amounted to nothing but there were many dead on both sides.This was the first of many assaults and between each assault the USS Nevada shelled bothbatteries together with Quineville a little further to the north.

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The Taking Of The Batterie d’Azeville cont 2

During the night of June 7th - 8th, the Americans tried to surround bothbatteries for another assault. The commander of Crisbecq “Commander Ohmsen” phoned Azeville to ask that them toshell his batterie to try and dislodge the Americans. The fire was very accurate and at this point the Americans were on the roof of the fireControl Post and about to place explosives into the bunker.The Americans, not believing that the Germans would fire ontheir own position thought it was their own ships that wereresponsible for the firing.The Americans withdrew and the firing stopped but notbefore 90 American prisoners had been taken at Crisbecq.Shortly after, another attack was launched on Azeville, butthis time the Americans attacked from several differentdirections.Here at Azeville the only cannons able to fire through 3600

were the anti aircraft guns mounted on the top of casematesNo’s 1 & 4. These fired on the tanks approaching from the west. The flak gun on casemate No 4 had been damaged in anearlier attack but was operational again at this time. There were also three machine gun nests all able to fire on theapproaching Americans.Some days before D-day the batterie had received a stock of anti tank mines and some ofthese had already been buried. This attack failed because the Americans could not get close enough to the batterieDuring the night of June 8th - 9th the USS Nevada damaged casemate No 1 with two 356 mm shells (14 inch). The first caused the damage visible on the exterior wall and the second came in through thegun window. This shell did not explode, but killed the gun crew of five before entering the plotting roomand also killed the crew in here. The shell then continued through the metal machine gun portal, hitting the exterior wall intwo places.All the men in this casemate were killedeither by concrete shards or by the violentair movement caused by the shell.The shell was found in 1994 just outside thedoorway but was in a dangerous conditionand had to be exploded.This attack by the USS Nevada shocked theGermans and Captain Kattnig was not afanatic and did not wish to loose any moremen needlessly

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The Taking Of The Batterie d’Azeville cont 3

During the morning of June 9th, the Americans bombarded the area andencountered weak resistance. The anti aircraft gun on casemateNo 4 attacked an approachingSherman, which had infiltrated thearea without too much difficulty.The Captain walked out of casemateNo 4 with an American parachutistwho had been taken prisoner earlier,waving a white flag. For the troopsat Azeville the war was over.Of the German force of around 250at the start of the battles 169 weretaken prisoner.It was a different story at Crisbecqwhere around 400 Germans hadbeen since D-day. When the Americans finally took the batterie without resistance later the same day, theyfound only 78 Germans. The rest who were able to had fled north to the batteries at Pennell and Quineville beforearriving at Cherbourg on June 13th. They had fled during the night, led by CommanderOhmsen who himself had been injured on June 6th. He was something of a fanatic believinghis men should fight on for the cause.The Azeville batterie had troops of veryyoung and inexperienced men, and theCaptain Kattnig was like a father to them.He also treated the villagers well andwarned of the attacks, telling the villagersto flee from the battle zone.He attended church on Sundays and whencasemates No 3 & 4 were beingconstructed he ordered that the cross stillstanding in the car park should not bedamaged.Down at Crisbecq life was very harsh, withmany of the population being punished forminor infringements of the curfew. Just a few kilometres made a lot ofdifference to life under the Germans.

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The Taking Of The Batterie d’Azeville cont 4

The American AccountOn June 9, the 3d Battalion, 22nd Infantry, assemble about 1,000 yardssouth-east of Azeville, and at 1100 crossedto the draw south-west of the village. Company L moved farther west in a widearc in order to enter the village the west andcapture any reserves the enemy might haveto the rear of the fort. Company I, organisedinto five assault sections, moved northinside the arc of Company F and advancedup the draw and through the fields toapproach the fort from its’ right rear. The 44th Field Artillery fired 1,500 roundsin preparation for the attack. The company started out with the supportof tanks, but mines held up all them accept one of them. At noon, Company I came in sight of the first outlying pillbox. The men did not attempt. to lift the mines, but, after cutting the wire, they picked their waythrough the fields and orchards. They buttoned up pill .boxes with rifle fire and then blewthem. Enemy return fire was not heavy. The Germans had neglected to clear good fields of fire and to cover the approach from thesouth-westCompany L concentrated on fire nearest blockhouse. First bazookas and the lone tankopened fire from behind hedgerow, but accomplished little more than to chip the concrete. An assault team was then sent in to blow the rear entrance, which was recessed in the blockhouse and out of direct fire.The team worked its way to its objective emptied its flame-thrower, and set off a packcharge. But this had no effect, nor did a second attempt, nor a third with a still heavier satchelcharge. In a last effort, Captain Joseph T Samuel's commanding Company L, sent Private RalphC. Riley to the blockhouse to ‘give it a few more squirts’.With the flame-thrower on his hack, Private Riley ran 75 yards under fire and dropped into ashell-hole for cover.The flame-thrower would not work, and he tried to think of the proper ‘immediate action’. Heopened the valve, held a lighted match to the nozzle, and trained the stream of fireon the base of the door. At just this time, enemy artillery fire from Crisbecq began to come inand Captain Samuel's thought the attack had failed. Suddenly, Private Riley heard a popping sound, different from the sound of the rifle firearound him. It was soon followed by explosions within the blockhouse. The enemy’s ammunition had been fired by those few more squirts’ of the flame-thrower. Soon a white flag was raised and, after the firing had ceased, the rear door of the blockhouseswung open to let out an American parachute officer followed by two Germans. The German commander surrendered all four forts with theirgarrison of 169 men. TAKEN FROM UTAH BEACH TO CHERBOURG, 1947Post Script: There is no evidence of any explosions near the doors on any of the casemates.

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WN14

WN14 is one of the most interesting and complete German positions onUtah Beach.Its centre of attraction is the “special construction” gunbunker and garage, which is the only one of its type on theD-day beaches. The bunker was designed to house two cannon, a 47 mmgun pointing to the north and a 50 mm cannon to the south.The two guns were kept in a garage, placed just to the landward side of the bunker.There were also two mortars housed in Tobruks, one ofwhich still has the German firing positions marked aroundthe centre of the bunker.There are several small bunkers to house the munitions andone of the Tobruks had a Renault tank turret mounted on itand the mounting plate is still there, which is very rare.Just to the south is an old French fort, which traces can stillbe found, and which does not seem to have been used at allby the Germans.

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Ravenoville (Chalet) StP12

Nearly half the fortifications constructed by the Todt Organisation wereof a non standard design.Here at Ravenoville just at the northern end of Utahbeach is a very rare and bizarre variation of a H667Casemate.This Casemate protected what would have been thenorthern end of Utah beach. The Americans landed some three mile off course to thesouth.This was because of the sea currents pulling to the south,and also because the pilot boat was lost during theapproach to the beach.Because of this this Casemate was somewhat sidelinedon D-day and was not taken for several days.The Casemate was built into the anti tank wall and is averitable fortress in its own right.On the upper level was an 50 mm canon, and below amachine gun post. The pot marks on the Casemate are evidence of Shermantanks advancing up the coastal road.Across the road is a R634 Casemate, thirty six were builtin Normandy. It would have had a six embrasure turret on the roof.The casemate shows signs of a considerable explosioninside, although much of the damage may well havebeen caused by contractors removing the cupola after thewar.The bunker would have housed a cupola with sixwindows to enable both lookouts and machine gun fire.Just to the north was another H667 Casemate which wasequipped with a searchlight.The Casemate has been destroyed, but the foundationsremain.

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Varaville WN10

Situated to the north of Utah beach, just north of the Leclerc monument.This emplacement was numbered WN10 and WN101 in the Germanlistings.The new numbering system had just been introduced by D-day andGerman efficiency ensured that there were two emplacementsnumbered WN101 on Utah beach.This beach defense remains one of the most complete on the AtlanticWall in Normandy.It comprises of a type H612 Casemate housing the dreaded 88 mm PaK 43/41 gun, this gave fire cover over the northern sector of thebeach. To the south are two VF casemates one with a command post housingSkoda 47 mm guns.The gun at position WN103 covered the south flank of the beach.These guns could take out any Allied tank unlucky enoughto get into their sights at a range of nearly 3 miles, and alsoinflict damage to landing craft out to sea.They were supported by a M19 mortar mounted in a H633Casemate. Several Renault tank turrets mounted on Tobruksplus an array of 50 mm machine guns.Other bunkers include H134 and H502 used for ammunitionstorage and for personnel.

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Utah Beach StP9

Just to the north of WN8 is another German Strong point, called StP9.This had two enflame gun positions facing to the north,and would have housed 88 mm guns in type H667casemates.

Unusually on this section of beach a bunker for a 150 cmsearchlight, This would have been used to search for bothincoming aircraft and ships at sea.The bunker now sits drunkenly on the edge of the sanddunes and its days, before tumbling onto the beach arenumbered.The Tobruk that sat alongside it on the dunes has alreadysuccumbed.A section of the tank wall can still be found, but much ofthis has now been eroded by the sea.

Behind the site in the sandunes there is a type R633mortar bunker, manned by as group of fourteen, half ofthem being used to man the mortar. These bunkers are relatively rare, only fourteen beingbuilt in NormandyThe cupola as most in Normandy was taken for scrap afterthe war.

There is also a personnel bunker type 621 and a moreunusual gun bunker, together with a well preserved set oftrenches.

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Utah Beach WN8

The Germans had renumbered the strong pointsalong this section of the Atlantic Wall twice duringthe occupation. This leads to a lot of confusion when looking at oldmaps and reading papers on the defences of Utah.There are many sites that even share the samenumber.

The main armament employed in this section was a75mm field gun, and this was supplemented by 47 mm cannon and two 50 mm antiaircraft guns. Six machine gun emplacements housed inTobruks were also installed, two on theroofs of the personnel bunkers.There was also a larger Tobruk whichhoused a mortar.

The troops stationed here were billited ina type 622 and 501 bunkers. These can still be seen at the side of theroad today and are in quite goodcondition.

The site was surrounded by minefieldsand anti tank ditches and much of the areainland was flooded.

About sixty troops would be needed to serve astrong point like this, and many of them wereveterans from the Russian front, enjoying abreak from fighting there.

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WN5 La Madeleine

The area around this southern end of the landing beach at Utah, remainsmuch the same as it would have appeared to the troops landing here onthe morning of June 6th 1944.The Roosevelt cafe and the bunker alongside it wasused by the Todt. Org during the building of thedefences in the area.The museum sits on the site of a Tobruk that houseda Renault tank turret of 37 mm, which has beenincorporated into the museum.The monument to the American engineers whocleared the beach of obstacles during the morning ofD-day is mounted on top of a type H702 bunker. This bunker was used by both the Germans andAmericans as a communication bunker. There are five of these bunkers in this area.The bunker is unique as it has a double gas lock, theGermans being very afraid of an attack by gas.This could have had something to do with the factthat Hitler was gassed in the first would war.The largest guns installed here were 50 mm and 47 mm, the former housed in type 667 Casemates.Several different types of Tobruk housed Frenchtank turrets and machine guns.The area was flooded to the west and surrounded bybarbed wire and mine fields. Because of the floodingthe Americans where forced to use the narrow roadswhich lead off the beach inland.

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Le Grand Vey (WN1)

Le Grand Vey is the most southerly of the Utah Beach defences andlooked out across the Bay of Carentan.The land here mergers from the sands to swamp andwould not really been suitable for a landing.The Germans equipped this zone with an 47 mm Skodacannon in a casemate and two 50 mm ant aircraft gunsmounted in the open. There was also a Tobruk with a Renault tank turretmounted on top. Machine gun posts and ammunition bunkers made up therest of the defensive positions. There was also a command post which incorparted aTobruk. Several hundred meters of anti tank wall were alsoinstalled along this stretch of coast.The position was also used to police the traffic on thecanal leading to Carentan, and by D-day all traffic hadbeen banned. The German troopsstationed here on D-day were fromthe 709th Infantry Divisioncomposing of the 919th GrenadierRegiment.

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St Martin de Varreville

This German Gun site remains a bit of a mystery, at some point in 1941four captured French Schnieder 105 mm guns were stationed in this area.

These guns had a range of 13 kms and had been builtduring the first world war. In 1935 all of the 500 or socannons were refurbished, but in many cases this onlymeant fitting rubber wheels and changing the towing barfrom horse drawn to motorised traction.The guns were not in prepared fortifications but placed inthe open.In 1943 four Russian 122 mm captured guns built in 1931were transferred here. They were operated by the 1/HKAA 1261 under thecommand of Lieutenant Erben and had a range of 20 kms.The guns were later placed in large open emplacementsand there were plans to house the guns in type H669Cassemates. The foundations were started, but I have never found anytrace of these works.In all eleven concrete structures were built here and manytraces can be still found.On the night of 28th - 29th of May 1944 the R.A.F.mounted a raid by 64 Lancasters.It is after this point that the history of this gun battery getsa little clouded.There was damage to some of the guns and theundamaged guns were withdrawn some distance back to anew position.The diary of H.M.S. Hawkins claims to have fired on thisposition early on D-day in response to the batterie firingonto Utah beach (2 kms).The batterie was taken on the morning of D-day bymembers of the 101st and if you look at the number ofGerman’s killed or taken prisoner by the Americans. It would seem that they were all accounted for in theirbillets just to the west at Les Mezieres.So what became of these guns? Three were moved to Cibrantot to the south of Azeville,where possibly another gun was destroyed by Allied action. Another set of Russian guns in the are were at Carteret on the west coast. We know that two of these guns were also moved to Lestre around June 9th to help bolsterthe “Iron Triangle” which was still holding out against the Americans. After the liberation of the area, many German Generals when debriefed did not know wherethe artillery they commanded was actually positioned, due to the disrupted communications.

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Objective WXYZ at Mesieres

''Objective WXYZ,'' was a group of farmhouses and outbuildings thatwas the scene of a memorable D Day fire fight. In 1944, the farm buildings and Manoir at Mesieres hadbeen pressed into service as a barracks complex forGerman artillery men, manning the St Martin guns. On American maps they were simply given the designation"WXYZ." Today, there is nothing along this bucolic country road torecall for the traveler the events of 6 June. Yet here, Staff Sergeant Harrison Summers, 1st Battalion,502nd Parachute Infantry, fought almost single-handedlyto capture the barracks. Summers had been given fifteen men to accomplish hismission, one that really called for a battalion effort. Strangers to Summers and coming from different units,these men had little stomach for the fire fight the sergeantwas about to begin. Trusting that his example would inspire his men, Summersraced over to the first building, kicked in the door, andsprayed the room with his Thompson submachine gun. The handful of survivors burst out of the rear of the building, looking for cover further downthe road. Summers, now covered by Private William Burt with a light machine gun, brokeinto a second house and shot its six defenders, and so it went from house to house. Two officers who joined him were taken out by German fire almost immediately. Private John Camien, carrying an M-1 carbine, pitched in later. The rest of Summers's squad provided some covering fire from the ditch paralleling the road.But it was largely Summers's fight. Building after building fell to the intrepid sergeant. The finale came after five hours of fighting, when Summers and Burt set the last barracksbuilding on fire with bazooka rounds and tracers, flushing the eighty or so German defendersinto an open field where fifty were killed. When asked how he felt, Summers, dragging on a cigarette, replied that he didn't feel "verygood. It was all kind of crazy."

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