The Atlantic Wall In Normandy

The Atlantic wall was more myth than reality, even though many casemates and bunkers were builtduring the Germans occupation.To fortify the entire coastline from Norway to theSpanish border, nearly 3,000 miles was just notpossible.In the first two years of the occupation the Germansdid not really take the threat of an Allied attempt tooccupy mainland France seriously, although theybelieved that the British would try and take back theChannel Islands. In the early days of the occupationthe Germans only placed big guns facing across thechannel between Calais and Dover. The Germans wanted to dominate the shippingchannel at its narrowest point. After 1942 when theBritish started bombing the gun emplacements closeto the sea, the Germans started building casemates tohouse and protect their guns. After the failed British and Canadian raid on Dieppein 1942, Hitler's view that if the Allies were to get afoothold in France, they would need to capture a port,was reinforced. He therefore instructed that all themajor ports along the coast would be fortified. The notion of an Atlantic Wall was not really eventhought of as an entity even by the Germans at thispoint.After Hitler’s directive “40” in 1942 the idea of afortified defense of the coast was given credence. When it was first mentioned it was more a dream thanreality and was used for propaganda purposes toconvince the German high command that FortressEurope was just that. It served a second purpose, toconvince the Allies that mounting an attack onmainland Europe would not be a simple matter.The Allies thought it would be impossible to mount anattack via the shortest route through Calais orDunkirk, because of the impregnable defensesmounted by the Germans. They chose the western endof France to invade because they thought the AtlanticWall was at its weakest, and they were right. The wall was never complete and in many places noteven started.One of the main problems was the lack of cooperationbetween the four elements that built and defended theAtlantic Wall

Hand Maid Tours

The Atlantic Wall In Normandy cont.2

The Heer (army) Kriegsmarine (navy) and Luftwaffe (air force) hadrivalries that dated back ten years. It was not until 1942 that Hitlerdemanded that the forces cooperate The fourth element in all this was the Todt. Org. Afterthe death of Fritz Todt in an air crash in February 1942,Albert Speer was appointed armaments minister. In thisposition he was responsible for the Todt. Org. The day to day running of the Todt, was left to XaverDorsch, who was a party man and often served toconfuse Speers efforts.After 1942 the Todt responsible for the building of theAtlantic Wall as well as road building, factory and in thelater stages clearing bomb damage and rebuildingbombed German towns. The Todt was, as a civilian organisation free fromGestapo or party meddling, although this positionchanged towards the end of the war when the Gestapotook charge of the German war machine. The Todt in many cases built what they wanted wherethey wanted and it was often totally inadequate for theneeds of the group that were to use them. Often you find a local adaptation on the original site. At the gun site called Petit Thot facing the ChannelIslands, no fire control post was built by the Todt. The local commander built his own with what he hadavailable and to no standard plan. The Todt also had offices in most major towns requitingworkers to work on the construction sites although mostof the workers came from Eastern Europe and weretreated little better than slaves. The design of thebunkers, casemates and other concrete works weresupposed to be built to a set of standard plans, whichwas to keep costs and materials to a minimum. Over half of the buildings built did not conform to theseplans and in many cases the builders were not given thelatest plans.Only in 1942 was the construction of a defense systemgiven any impetus, and emplacements in Normandy hadnot been started. Most of the gun emplacements in Normandy had noteven been started by D-day. Most of the large guns that faced the Allies on D-daydated from the first world war, and in some cases from1890.

Hand Maid Tours

The Atlantic Wall In Normandy cont.3

They were almost all captured guns and were arranged along the coastbecause there were no spare parts for them and verylittle ammunition, and in many cases they had wornbarrels. This not only reduced their accuracy, but alsotheir effective range.It was thought that these old guns could successfullydefend the Atlantic Wall because the enemy would soonbe dissuaded in its efforts. The Atlantic Wall tookbetween two and four years to be built and fell to theliberating forces in many cases after a few hours. Some batteries did cause the Allies problems for longer,in a few cases several days.It may seem strange for a nation that had taken Europeby using tactics that relied on speed and surprise thatthey should fall into the trap of putting faith in staticdefenses.Today Normandy is a large open air museum of Germanbunkers. After nearly sixty years most are in reasonablecondition despite the damage done by bombing and theweather.Some remain almost as the Germans left them, somehave been adapted by farmers to house animals. Others have been used for industrial purposes and someare retained by the military.Several have been adapted for the French coast guard. In the areas with larger populations the bunkers have notfared as well. Around Calais some have disappeared withthe construction of the new port and also the ChannelTunnel has caused several to be buried.At Dunkirk most of the bigger works can no longer befound.In Germany many have been pulled down as townsexpand and many closed as they house rare bats. Nearer the Channel Ports many are now being sealed sothat illegal immigrants trying to get to England cannothide in them. In some of the bunkers original Germanwall paintings and graffiti can be found, but sadly aftersixty years they are fading or being sprayed over bymodern graffiti artists.Nearly 23,000 concrete buildings were completed in France, from pill boxes to giantcasemates designed to house the largest of artillery pieces. In retrospect the valuable steelused in the building of these works consumed 6% of the annual German output, and it couldbe argued that this steel would have been better used in the manufacture of guns and tanks.The Atlantic Wall was in reality a Glorious Failure.

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Bunker Types

The German bunkers used in the construction of theAtlantic Wall had evolved over many years. Boththe German and the French had built bunkers alongtheir frontiers since the Franco - Prussian war of the1860’sAs the damage inflicted by bigger and better shellsand also due to the fact that bombs could be droppedfrom aircraft, the bunker evolved.In 1930 a new standard was drawn up by theGermans and given the title 100 series. These bunkers had a protective concrete wall androof either (A) 2 or (B) 3.5 meters.There were over one hundred bunkers in the newrange and for the first time bunkers were designedfor a specific purpose.This included bunkers for machine guns, personnel,observation, munitions, toilets, command posts, andgun enclosures.At the end of 1939 a new range of bunkers wasadded (500 series), thirty-three in total all built tospecification (B)When the construction of the Atlantic Wall gatheredpace in 1942 a new series of bunkers was introduced(600 series), most of these (108) used theconstruction specification (B) although specification(A) was used on 13 bunkers.The new range was extensively used in Normandyand most of the casemates housing the gunsprotecting the Atlantic Wall came from this series.At the beginning of 1944 another new series wasintroduced, but time was short and very fewexamples of this series were built by the time of theliberation.To confuse the situation, many bunkers were builtthat did not conform to these blueprint specification,sometimes because they did not fit the need, butsometimes ignorance by the Todt builders resulted ina bunker being built almost the same as a standardplan bunker.

Hand Maid Tours

Bunker Types cont.2

There was also the VF range of bunkers, these were built to a muchlighter specification. At first they were built away from what was thoughtto be places where an attack was though unlikely. Later when materials were in short supply theybecame the norm.The Luftwaffe also designed their own bunkers, andthese bunkers (400 series) included flak positions aswell as bunkers that were often duplicated in thestandard Army series.The Kriegsmarine also designed their own series,firstly the FI (1200 & 1300 series) covered all theoperations undertaken by the navy.The M series (M100 & M200) were used by theCoastal Artillery.The next series designated (S) were used by theheavy gun sites and included gun emplacements, firecontrol posts and ammunition bunkers.The V series (V100 & V200) were mostly technicalbunkers including radar, communication posts andcommand posts.Most of these bunkers employed constructiontechnique similar to the 600 series.There was also a range of bunkers called the SK,these were special constructions usually large andunique. They included communication, and commandbunkers for regional control.Finally there were bunkers built for local conditions,often the Todt would complete a site and when thesite was brought into operation the commander feltthat some other element was required. This seemed to happen on the western side of theCotentin, several home made fire control posts andobservation posts can still be found.

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The Atlantic Wall in England

Strange but true, there is a portion of Hitler’s Atlantic wall in England,miles away from the sea and hidden in woodland.Before the D-day landings, British raiding parties weresent across the channel to examine the real AtlanticWall, and bring back samples of the concrete andmeasurements.In several places in England sections of wall and beachobstacles were created to give the troops a morerealistic training. These sections of wall also gave the planners a realwall on which to learn the best way of breaching it.There is still a 100 meter section of wall in Surrey inthe centre of Hanky Common near Elstead.In the nearby woods you can still find the remains ofGerman beach obstacles faithfully reproduced. Many Canadian troops were stationed in this area. The area is still in the hands of the military and is nowknown as the Longmoor military training area.There is another similar section in Scotland near thebattlefield of Sheriff Muir used in an earlier conflict in1715.According to the Tank Museum at Bovington, theirwere at least four such walls built in remote parts ofEngland, and two are possibly still out there hidden inwoodland.The walls were also used to try out some of the weirdand wonderful designs of Maj. Percy Hobart, several ofwhich were used on the D-day beach assault.One design called the Onion or Double Onion wasknown to have been tried on this dummy wall, but wassuperseded on D-day by the Petard.

The Onion was based on theChurchill tank and wascapable on putting anexplosive charge on the wallor beach defense and thenbacking away to a safedistance and remotelydetonation the charge.

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Captured Guns Used By The Germans

Hand Maid Tours

Captured Guns Used By The Germans cont 2

Hand Maid Tours

Captured Guns Used By The Germans cont 3

Hand Maid Tours

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420

20km

sH

669

1/H

KA

A 1

260

3 x

155m

mK

420

20km

sO

pen

(H67

9)1/

HK

AA

126

0M

ervi

lle4

x 10

0mm

Skod

a FH

14/

1919

1610

km

sH66

1 &

H66

91/

AR

171

6H

oulg

ate

4 x

155m

mFr

ench

GPF

418

21km

s2

x H

679

2 O

pen

3/H

KA

A 1

255

Mon

t Cai

nsy

4 x

155m

mFr

ench

GPF

418

21km

s3

x H

679

1 O

pen

2/H

KA

A 1

255

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

5

Key

Use

dB

lue

for N

avy

(Krie

gsm

arin

e)

Red

for R

ailw

ay G

uns

Gre

en fo

r Site

with

no

trace

s lef

t, in

som

e ca

ses t

his w

as n

ot a

per

man

ent s

iteC

asem

ate

in b

rack

ets i

e: (

H67

9) p

lann

ed b

ut n

ot c

ompl

eted

by

D-d

ay

Ger

man

Uni

tsM

AA

Mar

ine

Arti

llerie

Reg

imen

tH

KA

AH

erre

s Hun

sten

Arti

llerie

Abt

eilu

ngH

KA

RH

erre

s Hun

sten

Arti

llerie

Reg

imen

tA

RA

rtille

rie R

egim

ent

In g

ener

al 1

05m

m &

155

mm

Gun

s are

Fre

nch

150m

m &

170

mm

are

of G

erm

an o

rigin

100m

m a

re u

sual

ly C

zech

and

122

mm

& 1

52m

m a

re R

ussi

an

Long

ues S

ur M

er

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

6

The

prob

lem

s enc

ount

ered

by

the

Ger

man

s wer

e m

any

and

varie

d in

com

plex

ity.

Firs

tly th

e To

dt O

rg w

ere

in to

tal c

harg

e of

the

build

ing

prog

ram

afte

r 194

2, a

nd it

was

they

who

dec

ided

wha

t and

whe

re it

shou

ld b

e bu

ilt.

The

desi

gns o

f the

Cas

emat

es w

ere

man

y an

d no

stan

dard

des

ign

ever

cam

e to

frui

tion.

Ove

r 20,

000

stru

ctur

es w

ere

built

or p

lann

ed a

t the

tim

eof

D-d

ay a

nd n

early

hal

f of t

hese

wer

e no

n st

anda

rd d

esig

ns.

This

stem

med

from

the

thre

e se

rvic

es h

avin

g th

eir o

wn

idea

s on

wha

t the

y w

ante

d an

d al

so th

e To

dt O

rg in

put.

Ther

e w

as a

lso

a de

mar

catio

n is

sue,

it w

as tr

aditi

on in

Ger

man

y th

at th

e K

riegs

mar

ine

(Nav

y) d

efen

ded

the

coas

tline

and

the

Arm

y (H

eir)

defe

nded

the

shor

elin

e.

This

led

to a

ll th

e na

vy si

tes b

eing

pla

ced

near

the

wat

er's

edge

. O

nce

the

enem

y ha

d la

nded

, the

Nav

al g

uns w

ere

of n

o us

e as

they

in m

ost c

ases

cou

ld n

ot fi

re o

n th

e sh

orel

ine.

All

the

gun

empl

acem

ents

in N

orm

andy

cam

e un

der t

he c

omm

and

of th

e Se

vent

h A

rmy

Gro

up, e

ven

the

Nav

al b

atte

ries w

hich

are

mar

ked

in b

lue.

At t

he N

aval

site

s usu

ally

the

big

guns

cam

e un

der N

aval

con

trol,

whi

lst t

he d

efen

se o

f the

site

cam

e un

der A

rmy

com

man

d.Th

e G

uns m

ount

ed o

n ra

ilway

bog

ies a

re m

arke

d in

red,

it is

thou

ght t

hat t

he tw

o ra

ilway

gun

sat

Aud

ervi

lle (L

aye)

serv

ed a

t Car

tere

t dur

ing

the

early

day

s of t

he o

ccup

atio

n an

d al

so a

tC

alai

s. B

eing

mor

e m

obile

the

railw

ay g

uns t

ende

d to

be

mov

ed m

ore

ofte

n an

d it

is k

now

nth

at 2

80m

m K

urze

Bru

no (L

ittle

Bru

no) w

as st

atio

ned

at C

herb

ourg

dur

ing

the

early

day

s of

the

occu

patio

n.

Aze

ville

Cas

emat

e N

o 1

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

7

Alm

ost a

ll th

e gu

ns e

mpl

oyed

on

the

Atla

ntic

Wal

l wer

e ca

ptur

ed p

iece

s. In

man

y ca

se d

atin

g ba

ck to

WW

1.

Man

y w

ere

nava

l gun

s but

mos

t wer

e ar

tille

ry g

uns m

ount

ed o

n ol

d fir

st w

ould

war

Ger

man

ped

esta

ls, t

hat e

nabl

ed th

em to

be a

imed

mor

e ea

sily

and

with

gre

ater

pre

cisi

on in

the

conf

ined

spac

e of

a C

asse

tte.

The

prob

lem

with

mou

ntin

g gu

ns in

Cas

emat

es w

as th

e lim

ited

amou

nt o

f tra

vers

e th

at c

ould

be

achi

eved

with

out w

eake

ning

the

Cas

emat

e,of

ten

as li

ttle

600 a

nd a

t the

mos

t 120

0 . In

man

y C

asem

ates

you

can

see

mod

ifica

tions

whe

re th

e si

de w

all h

as b

een

cut t

o en

able

a la

rger

trav

erse

.

Stan

dard

Fre

nch

gun

size

s wer

e 15

5mm

and

105

mm

and

it c

an b

e as

sum

ed th

at m

ost o

f the

gun

s ins

talle

d in

La

Man

che

for w

hich

the

orig

inca

nnot

be

trace

d ar

e m

ost l

ikel

y to

be

guns

mad

e by

eith

er S

chni

eder

or S

t Cha

mon

d. T

he S

chni

eder

gun

s had

bee

n re

cond

ition

ed in

193

5, b

ut in

man

y ca

ses t

his j

ust m

ent r

elac

ing

the

woo

den

whe

els w

ith w

heel

s with

tyre

s and

cha

ngin

g fr

om h

orse

dra

wn

to v

ehic

le d

raw

n to

win

geq

uipm

ent..

The

only

kno

wn

Ger

man

gun

s ins

talle

d by

D-d

ay w

ere

thos

e at

Lon

gues

sur M

er, a

lthou

gh m

ost o

f the

railw

ay g

uns i

n us

e w

ere

of G

erm

anm

anuf

actu

re.

Man

y of

the

guns

ove

r 150

mm

wer

e m

anuf

actu

red

by S

koda

, alth

ough

a K

rupp

gun

of 1

70m

m w

as a

lso

man

ufac

ture

d.Th

e 10

0mm

Sko

da g

uns w

ere

in fa

ct h

orse

dra

wn

artil

lary

pie

ces d

atin

g fr

om 1

895.

Ther

e w

ere

also

pla

ns fo

r a 3

80m

m g

un to

be

depl

oyed

at C

astle

Ven

don,

The

se g

uns c

ould

hav

e po

ssib

ly b

een

Fren

ch g

uns t

hat w

ere

know

n to

be in

Che

rbou

rg a

t the

star

t of t

he w

ar, o

r fro

m a

Ger

man

war

ship

.M

any

of th

e la

rger

gun

em

plac

emen

ts w

ere

supp

osed

to h

ave

stee

l shu

tters

fitte

d to

pro

tect

the

gun

and

crew

in c

ase

of a

ttack

.

Nev

ille

Bla

nken

see

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

8

Bec

ause

of t

he st

eel s

horta

ge v

ery

few

of t

hese

wer

e fit

ted.

In so

me

case

s a c

urta

in o

f cha

in w

as h

ung

in fr

ont o

f the

Cas

emat

e in

the

hope

of

expl

odin

g in

com

ing

shel

ls o

utsi

de o

n th

e w

orki

ng a

rea.

The

mai

n de

sign

diff

eren

ce b

etw

een

Cas

emat

es m

ade

for t

he A

rmy

and

Nav

y w

as th

at th

e N

avy

desi

gns s

at o

n a

larg

e co

ncre

te ra

ft w

hich

stop

ped

them

from

turn

ing

over

if a

shel

l im

pact

ed c

lose

by.

Late

r des

igns

of C

asem

ates

had

roun

ded

corn

ers,

this

avo

ided

900 c

orne

rs w

hich

wea

kene

d th

e st

ruct

ure.

Exa

mpl

es o

f bot

h ty

pes o

f the

sam

eC

asem

ate

can

be se

en a

t Aze

ville

Th

e ro

unde

d C

asem

ates

wer

e co

vere

d w

ith e

arth

, and

gra

ss g

row

n ov

er th

em.

This

was

bot

h to

dis

guis

e th

em a

nd th

e ea

rth a

lso

help

ed a

bsor

b in

com

ing

shel

ls.

Mos

t und

ergr

ound

em

plac

emen

ts a

nd b

unke

rs w

ere

fitte

d w

ith a

n es

cape

hat

ch, s

o th

at th

e cr

ew c

ould

get

out

in c

ase

of d

amag

e or

atta

ck.

Mos

t bun

kers

wer

e al

so fi

tted

with

show

ers i

n ca

se o

f gas

atta

ck, s

how

erin

g co

uld

redu

ce th

e ef

fect

s of s

uch

an a

ttack

. A

noth

er p

reca

utio

n w

as h

avin

g a

form

of a

ir co

nditi

onin

g w

hich

kep

t the

air

pres

sure

insi

de th

e bu

nker

slig

htly

hig

her t

han

the

outs

ide

air p

ress

ure.

N

early

all

the

larg

er g

un e

mpl

acem

ents

had

a h

ood

over

the

gun

bree

ch to

ext

ract

the

pois

onou

s fum

esfr

om th

e gu

n, a

nd th

ese

bunk

ers a

re p

art o

f the

stan

dard

des

igns

(Reg

elba

uten

). M

any

smal

ler f

ield

bunk

ers w

ere

also

con

stru

cted

and

thes

e w

ere

know

n as

VF

(Fie

ld B

unke

rs) t

hey

wer

e of

ligh

ter

cons

truct

ion

and

had

no a

ir ex

tract

ion.

The

third

type

on

cons

truct

ion

was

the

Bea

ufor

m (B

F). T

hese

inth

e m

ain

wer

e op

en g

un o

r sem

i ope

n pl

atfo

rms.

The

final

type

of c

onst

ruct

ion

was

the

SK o

r spe

cial

cons

truct

ion,

thes

e w

ere

one

off d

esig

ns to

fulfi

ll a

loca

l or o

ne o

ff d

esig

n. H

and

Mai

d To

urs

The Atlantic Wall On The Cotentin Peninsula

The Germans took the threat of an attack on their western flank veryseriously. They thought that the British might at some point try and liberate the Channel Islands, whichalthough British, had been occupied by the Germans since June 1940.Their fortifications were built by the TODT Organisation using STO (French Forced Labour)who were paid and were Prisoners of war from the Eastern Front. They treated the Russians very badly and many died during the construction of the AtlanticWall, both in the Channel Islands and on the Cotentin Peninsula.The bunkers and Casemates were mainly of a standard design, built with a wooden mouldinto which concrete was poured. The retaining wall can still be seen today.The guns employed in Normandy were as usual anything but standard. Many were WW1 guns and captured pieces at that. The ammunition needed was of manydifferent calibres and guns spent long periods out of service awaiting spare parts. Most of the spare parts had to be machined especially for the gun.The gun emplacements numbered on the map were equipped with the following guns.

1) Paimpol in Brittany: 2 new guns of 203mm which could reach a distance of 35kms2) Mirus Guernsey : 4 guns of 305mm with a range of 35kms3) Auderville Laye : 2 new guns of 203mm which could reach a distance of 35kms4) Roon Jersey : 4 guns of 220mm, built in 1917 by Schneider, range 20kms5) Moltke Jersey: 4 guns of 155mm built in WW1 by Puteaux, range 17kms6) Mackensen Jersey: 3 guns of 210mm with a range of 17kms7) Auderville Roche: 4 guns of 155mm built in 1917 by St-Chamond range 17kms8) Flamanville: 3 guns of 170mm with a range of 27kms9) Granville: 3 guns of 155mm built in 1917 by Schneider, range 17kms10) Biville: 4 guns of 105mm built in 1913 by Schneider, range 13kms11) Siouville: 4 guns of 105mm possibly the same type as 10 and positioned inland.12) Baubigny: 4 guns of 105mm possibly the same type as 10 and positioned inland13) Carteret: 4 guns of 122mm not installed by D-day14) Brauschitz Jersey: 4 guns of 100mm made by Skoda in 1919, range 10kms

These positions used both visual sightings and radar to patrol the coast. There was a large lookout post on Alderney which employed a “Telemeter” to judge thedistance of ships at sea. This would then have to be recalculated for each gun position and theco-ordinates would be sent by either radio or telephone to the gun emplacements with asufficient range to attack the ships.

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The Atlantic Wall On The Cotentin Peninsula cont.

The radar stations at Carteret and Diguellville would also follow thesame procedure and sendtheir sightings to a centralpoint, where again theco-ordinates for each gunemplacement would haveto be calculated by handvery quickly if theinformation was to be ofany use.Most of the batteries wereprotected against attackfrom the land by“tobruks” fitted withmachine guns or tankturrets taken usually fromcaptured Renault tanks.Also mine fields wereemployed to protect thebig guns.At Carteret two railwaymounted guns wereinstalled soon after theoccupation, it is thoughtthat they were 24 cm,which would have meant arange of only 10kms and itis difficult to see what usethey would have been. Itcould well be that theywere really guns from the“Hipper” class of cruisersbuilt in 1937 with acalibre of 203mm. These guns had the typenumber 20cmK(E), and this might have led to confusion. These guns had a range of 20kms and may well have given early protection to shippingbetween Carteret and the Channel Islands before the gun emplacements were built. It isthought that the railway mounted cannons spent some time in Calais during 1943, beforereturning to Carteret.The guns were fired on July 18th 1942 out to sea, the target if any is not known, but theyshattered all the windows at the church, some 100 meters behind the railway.These have been replaced after the war with modern stained glass.

Hand Maid Tours

The Atlantic Wall On The Cotentin Peninsula cont.

There is one curiosity at St. George de la Riviere - a Casemate, R669 which ison its own and may have been placed there to protectthe sand depot nearer the sea.The Todt Organisation had installed a railway sidingnearer the sea to remove sand from the dunes for theremany building projects.Unfortunately it was buried some years ago by thefarmer, anxious to use the land and nothing remainsabove ground.

Alderney, the most northerly of the Channel Island, isonly 15 kms to the west of France. This island is only 6 kms by 4 kms and is heavilyfortified. It even boasts a lookout station with fourlevels, similar to the observation tower atFermanville, just to the east of Cherbourg.The beach has an anti tank wall as well asmany other gun positions.

On Jersey the Germans built a hugeunderground hospital which is now amuseum, showing life during theoccupation.

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The Atlantic Wall On The Cotentin Peninsula cont

Thefortification atCarteret werenot finished by D-day, they wereintended to protect the approachesto Jersey and also to protect theradar stations nearby on the Capand at Sortosville en Beaumont.

Below is a plan of the Atlantic wallon the western side of the Cotentin.

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Gun Sizes

Gun Size in MM Gun Size In Inches5 mm 1.50 ins50 mm 3.00 ins75 mm 3.30 ins88 mm 3.50 ins105 mm 4.00 ins122 mm 5.00 ins152 mm 5.50 ins155 mm 5.75 ins170 mm 6.60 ins203 mm 7.75 ins210 mm 8.10 ins240 mm 9.50 ins305 mm 11.70 ins365 mm 14.00 ins415 mm 16.00 ins

Continental Gun Size British Gun Size

57 mm 6 LB76 mm 17 LB87 mm 3.45 ins

Hand Maid Tours

220 mm Schnieder Gun Specifications

1 round/minuteRate of fire

20kgCharge weight

22,800mRange :

766m/secM/velocity:

104.75kgweight:

22cm Gr. 535 (f)Ammunition 2

21,600mRange :

754m/secM/velocity:

104.05kgweight:

22cm Gr. 534 (f) Ammunition 1

0 to +37 degreesElevation

360 degreesTraverse

23,000kgWeight in action

(1 load): 25,880kg; (2 loads):30,120kgWeight travelling

Barrel – 9,280kg (with breechblock)Weights

JacketedBarrel construction

92 grooves, 7 degrees (to right)Twist of rifling

(L/26.80): 6,113.5mmLength of rifling

L/35 (L34.87): 7,672.5mmLength of barrel

220mmCalibre

Schneider et Cie., Le Creusot,FranceManufacturer:

Canon de 220 L Mle 1917 Schneider

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The Eighty Eight

Just as every German tank was a Tiger, for many Allied servicemenevery anti tank gun was an Eighty Eight,although many reported Eighty Eightswere in fact 75 mm guns. If you werefacing either of these guns the outcomewould invariably be the same.Although dedicated antitank versionsexisted, the Flak version was usedagainst tanks up to the end of the War.During the fighting in Spain, earlyEighty Eights were pressed into servicein the ground role. The Flak 18 proveddevastatingly effective against the lightarmoured vehicles of the period. As aresult, armour-piercing ammunition became a standard item in the inventory of all GermanFlak batteries.This was to prove useful in the early years of World War II, since the 88 mm anti-air-craft gun was the only weapon that could easily stop heavily armoured tanks like the BritishMatilda, the French Char B and the Soviet Ky1. The Flak 18 was followed into service by theimproved Flak 36, 37 and 41, the latter was largely a new design. Useful though theantiaircraft guns were, they were far from perfect in the antitank role since they were bulky,were difficult to camouflage, and were very slow to get into action. The Eighty Eight couldbe fired from its wheeled transport carriage in an emergency, but for maximum accuracy ithad to be lowered onto a firing platform, which was a time-consuming process. The first purely antitank version entered service late in 1943. The PaK 43/41 used the barreland breech of the FlaK 41, much modified for antitank work, and it fired an entirely newrange of ammunition. These antitank Eighty-Eights were mounted on the carriage of a 10.5cm light field howitzer with the wheels from a 15 cm medium/heavy howitzer. At nearly fivetons it was a brute to handle. Its crews called it the Scheunentor, or ‘Barn door’, but it had amuch lower profile than the Flak versions and it kept all of the power of the earlier guns. It was used on both the Eastern and Western fronts. The 8.8 cm PaK 43 which entered serviceat about the same time was less mobile than the PaK 43/41, being mounted on a modifiedversion of the Flak carriage, and it still needed to be dismounted from its wheels formaximum accuracy. However, once this had been done, the gun presented a very low profileand when dug in it was only 1.5 meters high. In combat it proved to be one of the bestanti-armour weapons of the war, capable of destroying any Allied tank at ranges of at least 2kilometres.

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Railway Guns

The Germans had tried railway guns during the first world war, withsome success. They had shelled Paris from their positions some seventy two miles away.After the treaty of Versailles, the Germans were not allowed to develop such weapons, but in1933 the research program was well under way.Several large and expensive guns were produced, including one monster that required a crewof 1,500 to assemble the gun and 500 to operate it.To transport it to its position required 25 trainloads of material, and crew.It was only used against the Russians, hurling seven ton rounds at Fort Molotov, using onlyseven rounds to destroy it.It was so large that it needed parallel railway tracks to operate on with, the gun sitting ontwin railway trucks bolted together.

The railway guns used on theCotentin Peninsula were moremodest affairs. They were first used at Carteret toguard the channel between Carteretand the Channel islands before morepermanent defences could beorganised.Later the two guns were transferredto Cherbourg to protect the port. The type of gun used in Normandywas the Kanone 5, which had a 22 meter long barrel firing a 255 mm shell almost 40 miles.Over twenty five of these guns were produced and were used all over Europe.They were often housed in railway tunnels being brought into the open only when required tofire. In some cases (Calais) specially built bunkers were made to house the guns, not only toprotect them from bombardment, but also to protect them from being spotted by RAFReconnaissance flights.

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155mm French Field Cannon Type 418 in Open Ring Bed

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The Schneider 105 mm The 105 mm field cannon was produced by the Schneiderfirm in 1913 and introduced into the French Army in the same year. In 1935 it was refurbished, but essentially it was still a first world war cannon.It too saw action on all fronts in World War I, and remained in service afterthe end of the war. The life story of this field cannon is much like that of its 75 mm counterpart.In 1940 the field cannon was also taken over by the Germans and designated105 mm Feldkanone 331 (f) France. Because of its age and the usually very worn condition of its barrels, the gunwas soon assigned to coastal defences.Here they were put to use by the Army and Navy, at first in field positions,later the standard bunkers 649, 650, 651,652, 669 and 670. In the bunkers thewheeled mounts, hard to aim, were often removed and the barrel mounted on aGerman naval gun pillar made around the turn of the century. The range of traverse of the 105 mm Field Cannon 331 (f) in the bunker wasreduced to 120 degrees, and the shield, which turned along with the gun,guaranteed protection to the gun crew.Despite their age, the 105 mm field cannons were used in goodly numbersalong the Atlantic Wall and proved themselves well during the invasion andthe subsequent combat.This cannon can still be found in the museums and bunkers of the AtlanticWall.The weight of the cannon with its wheeled mount, in firing position, was 3300kilograms, of which the barrel, with a length of 3820 mm, weighed 1105 kg.The geared aiming machinery allowed a barrel elevation from -10 to +18degrees. With a shot weight of 15.74 kg, the shot, with a muzzle velocity of550 m/sec, attained a maximum range of 12,000 meters. In practice, though,the used barrels often allowed only a range of 9000 meters.

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Tobruk

The defence of most of the German GunBatteries depended on a ring of machine gun andanti aircraft guns around the perimeter.The Tobruk named after the town in Africawhere it was first used were deployed in theirthousands in Normandy.They weighed around five tons and wereconstructed In the normal German fashion ofcasting concrete.Made initially in Berlin and later in Paris andother sites in Northern France they weretransported normally by rail and then on to thesite by lorry or even horse drawn transports.The Tobruk could house a variety of weapons from machine guns, mortars, anti aircraft. The most bizarre use was to house a captured French tank turret.After the fall of France the Germans captured many Renault and Somua tanks. The French tanks were light and fast, their weakness was that the only used one man in theturret. This man had to command the tank as well as load and fire the main gun.The Germans seeing thestrengths and weaknessof these tanks removedthe turret and mountedheavy machine guns intheir place. Tobruks were modifiedto take these turrets andused them for beachdefense as well as fordefending larger works.Many of the Tobruksstill in place inNormandy bear thetraces of being fittedwith French tankturrets, the bolts thatsecured them in placestill being visible.

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Types of Gun Emplacements in Normandy

There were seven main type of bunker built in Normandy to house andprotect the various guns used to defend the Atlantic Wall.They fell into two categories, the first was where the ammunition was stored at the rear of thebunker. The second type had no ammunition storage the ammunition being kept in undergroundstored some distance away. The one real anomaly was at Azeville where underground storage was supplied when theCasemate was a type 650 which included ammunition storage. One possibility was that the two underground bunkers where never intended or used forammunition, but was used as a command bunker, one certainly had the main telephone cablecoming into it.The other variation was whether the calculations for finding the range of the target wasworked out either in the fire control post or in a room within the Casemate. In Normandy thesecond method was only used at Azeville. This was because Azeville was a “blind” Batteriein as much as it had no view of the sea or its targets.AOK 7 was the name given by the Germans to the area from the Seine bay to the Brittanycoast.

Type Where Found No Built in AOK 7 158 Neville 11These Casemates were exclusively used for captured British Vickers 94 mm guns capturedwhen the Germans overran the Channel Islands.

176 & 195 Les Caplains Cherbourg 4 -- 1These were the only examples built in Normandy of these twotypes on Casemates, both of which are extremely rare.

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Types of Gun Emplacements in Normandy cont.2

Type Where Found No Built in AOK 7

272 Longues sur Mer, Castle Vendon, Les Caplains, Crisbecq 27

650 Azeville, Crasville, 12

One of the earliest designs of bunkers, initially it was built with square corners, but laterthese were rounded. Examples of both type can be found at Azeville.

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Types of Gun Emplacements in Normandy cont.3

Type Where Found No Built in AOK 7669 Merville, St. Martin de Varreville,

Carteret, Ver sur Mer, Ste CroixColleville, Riva Bella, Mer la Fontaine 281

671 Neville, Pointe du Hoc, Crasville, BivilleMont Coquerel, La Pernell Cherbourg Port 66

Types of Gun Emplacements in

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Normandy cont.4679 Gatteville, Morsalines,

Mont Fleury, Houlgate,Mont Cainsy, Auderville, Les Couplets 19

683 Crisbecq 2

Only two examples built in Normandy and only six built on the Atlantic Wall. The two atCrisbecq survived the battle but were late blown up by American Army Engineers.

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rie R

egim

ent

In g

ener

al 1

05m

m &

155

mm

Gun

s are

Fre

nch

150m

m &

170

mm

are

of G

erm

an o

rigin

100m

m a

re u

sual

ly C

zech

and

122

mm

& 1

52m

m a

re R

ussi

an

Long

ues S

ur M

er

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

6

The

prob

lem

s enc

ount

ered

by

the

Ger

man

s wer

e m

any

and

varie

d in

com

plex

ity.

Firs

tly th

e To

dt O

rg w

ere

in to

tal c

harg

e of

the

build

ing

prog

ram

afte

r 194

2, a

nd it

was

they

who

dec

ided

wha

t and

whe

re it

shou

ld b

e bu

ilt.

The

desi

gns o

f the

Cas

emat

es w

ere

man

y an

d no

stan

dard

des

ign

ever

cam

e to

frui

tion.

Ove

r 20,

000

stru

ctur

es w

ere

built

or p

lann

ed a

t the

tim

eof

D-d

ay a

nd n

early

hal

f of t

hese

wer

e no

n st

anda

rd d

esig

ns.

This

stem

med

from

the

thre

e se

rvic

es h

avin

g th

eir o

wn

idea

s on

wha

t the

y w

ante

d an

d al

so th

e To

dt O

rg in

put.

Ther

e w

as a

lso

a de

mar

catio

n is

sue,

it w

as tr

aditi

on in

Ger

man

y th

at th

e K

riegs

mar

ine

(Nav

y) d

efen

ded

the

coas

tline

and

the

Arm

y (H

eir)

defe

nded

the

shor

elin

e.

This

led

to a

ll th

e na

vy si

tes b

eing

pla

ced

near

the

wat

er's

edge

. O

nce

the

enem

y ha

d la

nded

, the

Nav

al g

uns w

ere

of n

o us

e as

they

in m

ost c

ases

cou

ld n

otfir

e on

the

shor

elin

e.A

ll th

e gu

n em

plac

emen

ts in

Nor

man

dy c

ame

unde

r the

com

man

d of

the

Seve

nth

Arm

yG

roup

, eve

n th

e N

aval

bat

terie

s whi

ch a

re m

arke

d in

blu

e.A

t the

Nav

al si

tes u

sual

ly th

e bi

g gu

ns c

ame

unde

r Nav

al c

ontro

l, w

hils

t the

def

ense

of t

he si

teca

me

unde

r Arm

y co

mm

and.

The

Gun

s mou

nted

on

railw

ay b

ogie

s are

mar

ked

in re

d, it

is th

ough

t tha

t the

two

railw

ay g

uns

at A

uder

ville

(Lay

e) se

rved

at C

arte

ret d

urin

g th

e ea

rly d

ays o

f the

occ

upat

ion

and

also

at

Cal

ais.

Bei

ng m

ore

mob

ile th

e ra

ilway

gun

s ten

ded

to b

e m

oved

mor

e of

ten

and

it is

kno

wn

that

280

mm

Kur

ze B

runo

(Litt

le B

runo

) was

stat

ione

dat

Che

rbou

rg d

urin

g th

e ea

rly d

ays o

f the

occ

upat

ion.

Aze

ville

Cas

emat

e N

o 1

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

7

Alm

ost a

ll th

e gu

ns e

mpl

oyed

on

the

Atla

ntic

Wal

l wer

e ca

ptur

ed p

iece

s. In

man

y ca

se d

atin

g ba

ck to

WW

1.

Man

y w

ere

nava

l gun

s but

mos

t wer

e ar

tille

ry g

uns m

ount

ed o

n ol

d fir

st w

ould

war

Ger

man

ped

esta

ls, t

hat e

nabl

ed th

em to

be a

imed

mor

e ea

sily

and

with

gre

ater

pre

cisi

on in

the

conf

ined

spac

e of

a C

asse

tte.

The

prob

lem

with

mou

ntin

g gu

ns in

Cas

emat

es w

as th

e lim

ited

amou

nt o

f tra

vers

e th

at c

ould

be

achi

eved

with

out w

eake

ning

the

Cas

emat

e,of

ten

as li

ttle

600 a

nd a

t the

mos

t 120

0 . In

man

y C

asem

ates

you

can

see

mod

ifica

tions

whe

re th

e si

de w

all h

as b

een

cut t

o en

able

a la

rger

trav

erse

.

Stan

dard

Fre

nch

gun

size

s wer

e 15

5mm

and

105

mm

and

it c

an b

e as

sum

ed th

at m

ost o

f the

gun

s ins

talle

d in

La

Man

che

for w

hich

the

orig

inca

nnot

be

trace

d ar

e m

ost l

ikel

y to

be

guns

mad

e by

eith

er S

chni

eder

or S

t Cha

mon

d. T

he S

chni

eder

gun

s had

bee

n re

cond

ition

ed in

193

5, b

ut in

man

y ca

ses t

his j

ust m

ent r

elac

ing

the

woo

den

whe

els w

ith w

heel

s with

tyre

s and

cha

ngin

g fr

om h

orse

dra

wn

to v

ehic

le d

raw

n to

win

geq

uipm

ent..

The

only

kno

wn

Ger

man

gun

s ins

talle

d by

D-d

ay w

ere

thos

e at

Lon

gues

sur M

er, a

lthou

gh m

ost o

f the

railw

ay g

uns i

n us

e w

ere

of G

erm

anm

anuf

actu

re.

Man

y of

the

guns

ove

r 150

mm

wer

e m

anuf

actu

red

by S

koda

, alth

ough

a K

rupp

gun

of 1

70m

m w

as a

lso

man

ufac

ture

d.Th

e 10

0mm

Sko

da g

uns w

ere

in fa

ct h

orse

dra

wn

artil

lary

pie

ces d

atin

g fr

om 1

895.

Ther

e w

ere

also

pla

ns fo

r a 3

80m

m g

un to

be

depl

oyed

at C

astle

Ven

don,

The

se g

uns c

ould

hav

e po

ssib

ly b

een

Fren

ch g

uns t

hat w

ere

know

n to

be in

Che

rbou

rg a

t the

star

t of t

he w

ar, o

r fro

m a

Ger

man

war

ship

.M

any

of th

e la

rger

gun

em

plac

emen

ts w

ere

supp

osed

to h

ave

stee

l shu

tters

fitte

d to

pro

tect

the

gun

and

crew

in c

ase

of a

ttack

.

Nev

ille

Bla

nken

see

H

and

Mai

d To

urs

Ger

man

Gun

Em

plac

emen

ts In

Bas

se N

orm

andy

cont

8

Bec

ause

of t

he st

eel s

horta

ge v

ery

few

of t

hese

wer

e fit

ted.

In so

me

case

s a c

urta

in o

f cha

in w

as h

ung

in fr

ont o

f the

Cas

emat

e in

the

hope

of

expl

odin

g in

com

ing

shel

ls o

utsi

de o

n th

e w

orki

ng a

rea.

The

mai

n de

sign

diff

eren

ce b

etw

een

Cas

emat

es m

ade

for t

he A

rmy

and

Nav

y w

as th

at th

e N

avy

desi

gns s

at o

n a

larg

e co

ncre

te ra

ft w

hich

stop

ped

them

from

turn

ing

over

if a

shel

l im

pact

ed c

lose

by.

Late

r des

igns

of C

asem

ates

had

roun

ded

corn

ers,

this

avo

ided

900 c

orne

rs w

hich

wea

kene

d th

e st

ruct

ure.

Exa

mpl

es o

f bot

h ty

pes o

f the

sam

eC

asem

ate

can

be se

en a

t Aze

ville

Th

e ro

unde

d C

asem

ates

wer

e co

vere

d w

ith e

arth

, and

gra

ss g

row

n ov

er th

em.

This

was

bot

h to

dis

guis

e th

em a

nd th

e ea

rth a

lso

help

ed a

bsor

b in

com

ing

shel

ls.

Mos

t und

ergr

ound

em

plac

emen

ts a

nd b

unke

rs w

ere

fitte

d w

ith a

n es

cape

hat

ch, s

o th

at th

e cr

ew c

ould

get

out

in c

ase

of d

amag

e or

atta

ck.

Mos

t bun

kers

wer

e al

so fi

tted

with

show

ers i

n ca

se o

f gas

atta

ck, s

how

erin

g co

uld

redu

ce th

e ef

fect

s of s

uch

an a

ttack

. A

noth

er p

reca

utio

n w

as h

avin

g a

form

of a

ir co

nditi

onin

g w

hich

kep

t the

air

pres

sure

insi

de th

e bu

nker

slig

htly

hig

her t

han

the

outs

ide

air p

ress

ure.

N

early

all

the

larg

er g

un e

mpl

acem

ents

had

a h

ood

over

the

gun

bree

ch to

ext

ract

the

pois

onou

s fum

esfr

om th

e gu

n, a

nd th

ese

bunk

ers a

re p

art o

f the

stan

dard

des

igns

(Reg

elba

uten

). M

any

smal

ler f

ield

bunk

ers w

ere

also

con

stru

cted

and

thes

e w

ere

know

n as

VF

(Fie

ld B

unke

rs) t

hey

wer

e of

ligh

ter

cons

truct

ion

and

had

no a

ir ex

tract

ion.

The

third

type

on

cons

truct

ion

was

the

Bea

ufor

m (B

F). T

hese

inth

e m

ain

wer

e op

en g

un o

r sem

i ope

n pl

atfo

rms.

The

final

type

of c

onst

ruct

ion

was

the

SK o

r spe

cial

cons

truct

ion,

thes

e w

ere

one

off d

esig

ns to

fulfi

ll a

loca

l or o

ne o

ff d

esig

n. H

and

Mai

d To

urs