Ra237 Cognees Festung St Malo
Several occupied ports were made into Festung's, fortress's and defended by extra troops and guns. A ring of casemates circled the inland side of St Malo and continued around to Dinard. Inside this there were many Flak batteries, this is one of them.
le.Flak.Abt.912.
1 x L403.
5 x L401a.
1 x L402.
2 x L409.
? x 7.5cm Flak.
3 x 2cm Flak 30.
1 x 5cm Pak 38.
1 x 7.62cm I.H.K.260(r)
7.62cm I.H.K.260(r).
5cm Pak 38.
2cm Flak 30.
Ra237, les Cognees, Dinard.
Ra237 is situated now in a housing estate but was actually in the country side in WW2.
L403 on the top with an open gun platform.
L403 underneath this is the fire control post for a heavy AA batterie. Starting at the top left clockwise.
Officers room.
None commissioned officers.
None commissioned officers. (two rooms)
Crew room.
Crew room (two rooms)
Latrines/washrooms.
Heating.
Fuel.
Ventilation.
Work room.
Telephone room in the middle.
Ra237, les Cognees, Dinard.
The red squares are known sites and the yellow squares I am not too sure of. The yellow circle are two concrete water towers??? that show bullet marks.
Water tanks inside the yellow circle.
Bullet marks all over it.
Close up of the 1959 air photo.
Ra237, les Cognees, Dinard.
This is a 1959 air photo showing the Flak battery laid out in the countryside and the two water/oil tanks yellow circle.
Flak crew.
Flak crew.
L402 there was one here.
Site of a Bunker and Entrance to the estate.
In the corner is a small piece of bunker concrete a Vf ammunition storage.
Close up.
Plan.
8.8cm ammunition.
L401 Emplacement for an 8.8cm or 10.5cm Flak gun.
There was one L401 here. This one is at the moment in the middle of a housing plot which soon will be built on or around.
L401 top view.
Bunker underneath. Large crew room and smaller ammunition storage.
75mm M32(f) Flak gun. There was at least one here.
L401.
The entrance which may have been open or closed off with concrete lintels, wooden heavy planking, or any other items that came to hand.
Plan.
How the guns were put into their bunkers.
L409 for 3cm Flak there was also two here.
L401.
Ready ammunition space.
Image Caption
Image Caption
L401a now a Flower Bed.
L401a emplacement for an 8.8 or 10.5cm Flak gun.
L401a emplacement.
Plan.
Left - Ammunition.
Right - Crew room.
Plan.
L401a now a Flower Bed.
Garden extension.
L401a now a Flower Bed.
Another view.
L401a Roundabout.
Now made into a roundabout and flower bed.
Plan.
Plan view of an L401a emplacement.
L401a Roundabout.
L401a.
This is the last one that can be seen easily and sits on a large plot.
Image Caption
There are quite a few concrete cylinders that lay around this emplacement. They were used as anti shrapnel defences and can stand vertically, maybe cutting off the entrance or stacked up around the walls of the emplacement to dissipate bomb fragments?
L401a.
Now looking down at the floor of the emplacement with slots for command wires that came from a command bunker the L403. Orders from it would be transferred to the gun with range and height so that the gunners could train the gun on its target.
Range finder.
L401a.
There are four of these small niches around an L401a and I am not exactly sure what they were for. I think that they were shelters for the crew? Note the black mark on the wall has lettering showing which ammunition is stored at the gun.
L401a.
Detail of the paint marks. There are other marks to find, often there are four points of the compass or a main mark where all guns are left pointing in the same direction so when 'action stations' is called all control bunker knows where all the guns are pointing.
A 3.7 British battery with the guns lined up ready to fire.
View of the site.
To the left of this picture is a Vf ammunition bunker hidden under the grass.
Plan of a Vf7b a type of ammunition bunker that may be here.
How it would have looked in the entrance passage with two rooms off to the left.
L401a with 8.8cm Flak Gun.
© 2013 Richard Drew