Merlimont Batterie
Batterie 9/A.R.149, four 15.5cm s.F.H.414 starting to be placed in casemates.
Set back from the coast covering the beach defences south of Stella Plage.
15.5cm s.F.H.414
Ammunition came in two parts, case and shell.
It could be towed by a team of eight horses if a two-wheeled limber was placed under the trail and the barrel pulled back along the trail to move the centre of gravity towards the limber.
Merlimont Batterie
Merlimont Batterie
Batterie 9./A.R. 149.
2 x R669 casemates. (only one found).
4 x Geschützstellung (Ringstands none found).
1 x R128 early type twin group bunker.
1 x 2cm Flak 30.
4 x 15.5cm s.F.H.414(f).
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Rue Camille Delacroix looking west.
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Rue Camille Delacroix
The StP is between these houses and there is a concrete track all the way up to the site.
2024 the tree has grown and a no parking sign erected.
2 x R669 casemates.
4 x Geschützstellung (Ringstands).
1 x 2cm Flak 30.
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This is all that can be seen in1946 with one R669.
1 x R128 twin group bunker with forward apron.
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The path into the dunes.
The sand dunes before the war were open clear sand and since the war, trees have been planted and grasses to stabilize the sand. Also all the houses along this part of Rue Camille Delacroix are nearly all post war.
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Then it comes into view
You are going to see this red coat a lot here.
The battery at Stella Plage and this one would have given cross fire onto the beach.
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R669 casement
Note the concrete roadway.
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R669 casement.
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R669 Casemate view from the rear.
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R669 Casemate rear entrance.
How a set of rear doors would have looked if they had been fitted.
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R669 Casemate
This bunker has two quite small niches either side. This side may have had the extraction fan sucking foul air out of the bunker when it fires.
Plan of the foul air extraction.
15.5cm heavy field howitzer.
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R669 Casemate
Pipes for the extractor fan to remove foul gases from the gun room.
Some information here
Extractor fan.
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R669 Casemate vent from fan.
Extraction.
Rost 200mm vent.
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R669 Casemate
Ammunition niches.
The square holes in the door frame were to set in the door frame and then a set of steel doors to close it off. They were either never fitted or were taken for scrap.
Casemate ammunition storage.
494P2 are the type of doors that may have been used?
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R669 Casemate gun room rear door.
R669 plan.
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R669 Casemate gun room embrasure.
15,5cm sFH414 re loading.
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R669 Casemate command cable inlets.
Armoured cable.
Cable linesmen.
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R669 Casemate
This looks as though there were doors on the front.
A set of wooden front doors on a casemate.
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R669 Casemate
The front.
A set of wooden front doors on a casemate.
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R669 Casemate crew room entrance.
On the side of the bunker is a small crew room.
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R669 Casemate
Small
crew room entrance.
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R669 Casemate Crew room
It is quite a large bunker with reinforced roof and quite thick walls.
Officer at a plotting table.
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R669 Casemate Crew room
Nicely painted walls.
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R669 Casemate Crew room
The way out.
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R669 Casemate Crew room
This looks as though there was a cabinet screwed to the wall?
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R669 casemate
Rear of the casemate.
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R128 twin group bunker
The entrance can just be seen on its left side.
Merlimont Batterie
R128 twin group bunker
The blast wall on the left side and entrance on the right..
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R128 twin group bunker
The entrance into the bunker.
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R128 twin group bunker
By the entrance is a voice pipe to communicate with the inside of the bunker.
Sprachrohr mouthpiece voice tube.
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R128 twin group bunker
Continuing into the bunker with a long passage.
A breather vent is called a Rost and they come in several sizes, depending on the amount of air needed to pass through it.
Plan.
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R128 twin group bunker
Hinge for a 491P2 Gittertür (Screen Door).
491P2 Gittertür (Screen Door).
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R128 twin group bunker
On the right a niche for a telephone to talk to the inside of the bunker. The niche in the far end was a close combat embrasure covering the entrance.
Plan.
Relay box.
Inside a niche on another bunker.
Close combat embrasure.
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R128 twin group bunker
The other side of the close combat embrasure a very interesting type, it has two slots, one a viewing slit and the second the embrasure to shoot through.
Plan.
Close combat embrasure.
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R128 twin group bunker
Entrance which may have had a sliding door.
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R128 twin group bunker
Merlimont Batterie
R128 twin group bunker
Crew room with the close combat defence embrasure..
R128 twin group bunker.
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R128 twin group bunker
MKB Bunkertour plan of the R128 bunker..
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R128 twin group bunker
MKB Bunkertour plan of the R128 bunker..
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R128 twin group bunker
The crew room looking at the anti-gas pump fitted on the wall .
'If there is a risk of gas, remove the connecting piece and insert the room filter'.
Plan.
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R128 twin group bunker
The crew room bunk fittings on the wall .
Plan.
The threads sticking out of the wall are to locate the bed bunk supports..
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R128 twin group bunker
The crew room looking at the anti-gas pump fitted on the wall .
Plan.
Hand operated anti-gas filter.
Anti-gas filters.
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R128 twin group bunker
The second exit.
Plan.
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R128 twin group bunker
Pressure relief valve.
Plan.
4ML01 equalizer valve.
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R128 twin group bunker
The way out, the same way we came in as the other side is blocked up. Note the hinge on the right for the 491P2 Gittertür (Screen Door)..
Plan.
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R128 twin group bunker
On the roof is a fitting for a periscope.
Bunker periscope plan.
Periscope bunker roof fitting.
Using a periscope in a bunker.
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R128 twin group bunker
Screw picket in the sand.
Screw picket..
Barbed wire..
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