Batterie Digosville
Situated on the edge of the village of Digosville now surrounded by a sports ground.
Batterie Digosville
The casemates cannot be seen on Google, but are to the left of 'Stade Municiple'.
Batterie Digosville
Plan
6/A.R.1709
4 x R699 casemates.
4 x 15.5cm s.F.H.114(f) captured French WW1 howitzer.
1 x 2cm Flak.
The site still has four R669 casemates and behind were eight (and their may still be some left?) either ammunition niches or crew quarters.
R669 casemate.
Under construction.
Batterie Digosville
Allied plan
Four 105mm. (4.14in.) field gun-howitzers. Range 13,000yda. Weight of shell 33lb.
Rate of fire 6-8r.p.m. Guns in casemates 35ft square, 63-70yds apart.
Position was constructed in 1944.
Accommodation: Small shelters
being built in hedge to rear of battery.
Secondary Armament: None yet installed in April, 1944.
Dummy: At 205210.
High level photo reconnaissance Spitfire.
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Schwere Holztur 620x760mm (Heavy Wooden Door). I thought these doors were pinched from local barns, but no they were a standard size German wooden door for a casemate.
These casemates had just been finished by June 1944. But the Americans came in behind these casemates and passed on to take StP235 Carneville Osteck Luftwaffe Station "Taussendfussler". The guns were first in open emplacements in the countryside, then these four casemates were constructed to protect the guns from Allied bombing. The guns were aimed to protect the east side of Cherbourg harbour. They may have been placed in the casemates but as the Americans came in from the rear, they may have been removed and turned on the American advance.
Plan: Schwere Holztur 620x760mm (Heavy Wooden Door).
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Turm 1 R669 casemate.
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Rear of a casemate here. This looks like the gun has been pulled out of the casemate.
details
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Turm 1 Gun room.
Cleaning rods,
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
In this bunker it actually had both rear doors fitted. The second picture is form Mo86c Batterie Versendoket 2/A.R.266 and that casemate has written on the wall details about opening the rear door when firing.
484P2 type doors.
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Another picture of the rear of a casemate, this shows the gun has been removed from the casemate and completely blown up. On the roof shows a 2cm Flak position.
Horse artillery.
Batterie Digosville
2cm Flak position
On the roof shows a 2cm Flak position. So the batterie had its own Flak with this gun disabled with its barrel removed, but boxes of ammunition stacked behind the gun.
2cm Flak 30.
Ammunition.
Barrels of 2cm Flak.
Batterie Digosville
R669 casemate
Turm 3.
Note the concrete camouflage, the indentations. When the cement was wet, empty bags of concrete screwed up and pushed into the concrete. When the concrete dried, the bags would be removed, leaving concave shapes in the smooth concrete.
Concrete sacks.
Construction.
Batterie Digosville
The four casemates.
Plan.
Batterie Digosville
15.5cm s.F.H.114(f)
4 x 15.5cm s.F.H.114(f) were here, they look as though they were not all placed in the casemates and this one was used outside and heavily camouflaged.
They were horse drawn artillery and their animals would have been kept quite close.
Horse artillery.
Batterie Digosville
15.5cm s.F.H.114(f)
This one looks as though the gun has been completely destroyed.
Batterie Digosville
It looks like after capture, the US Army built either a camp, a hospital or a POW camp.
US field hospital in France.
Army tent.
POW.
Batterie Digosville
© 2013 Richard Drew