Norway (coming soon!)
France
Great Britain
St Remy des Landes Plage a most lovely place when the sun is out and the sea is blue. When not, it is cold, with wind off the Atlantic Ocean charging in to an open beach and sand dunes. For a soldier, it was cold, wet and very boring. Always hungry. Ordered out onto the beach to lay obstacles. As not only would they be on their guard, they were totally on their own. No troops to the north and a river estuary to the south. They would have to lay mines, beach defences, barbed wire and dig trenches. Stay worm, cook food and try and sleep. When the Americans landed at Utah beach, they were now facing the wrong direction. As the Americans started to cross the peninsular, it was cut off a few kilometres north at Barnaville-Carteret & Port-Bail-sur-Mer. That left these troops no option but move from their trenches and out with the field companies and fight the Americans in a hard slog, retreating all the time. Being harassed by Jabos (fighter bombers). Many would have died, but some may just have made it home.
What would he have been looking for. There was no way the Allies were going to land there.
Beautiful but very open to the elements.
Here, north of the Surville harbour, in 1942, we find Wn 17, occupied by the Flugmeldewache "p" (aerial watch post). In 1943 the site was renamed Wn 333. In 1944, we also found here some small concrete works, including at least three Tobruks Bf 58c (Vf8), trenches. Details from - Investigations sur le "Mur de l'Atlantique" - Atlantikwall
Facebook.
The fight south.
Plan
A small section of soldiers with a Corporal in charge.
3 x Vf8 Tobruk's + pos. a fourth.
2 x Unterstands
Trench system.
On guard.
The river estuary, Havre de Surville.
Trench or a small gun position.
Tobruk 1 was on the top of the sand dunes but due to the changing weather and tides, they have been uncovered.
Plan.
Tobruk 1 Vf8.
details
details
Tobruk 1 Vf8.
Beach defences.
Tobruk 2 Vf8.
details
Tobruk 2 Vf8.
Vf8 Tobruk.
Inside design.
Tobruk 3 Vf8.
Plan.
How they were set into the ground and a trench to the entrance.
Tobruk 3 Vf8.
Tobruk 3 Vf8.
MG34 mounting to sit in the ring of the Tobruk.
I think this is the type a Vf8.
A small crew room and a ring for a machine gun.
The ring to fit a machine gun on.
Tobruk 3 Vf8.
Unterstand.
Unterstand, you can see the chimney vet running out of the rear wall.
Unterstand, on the floor there is a small depression where the stove once sat.
The stove, now removed from the unterstand. Probably taken from one of the local houses in the area.
Trenches.
It looks like pillbox but its the second unterstand.
Unterstand with a bricked up door.
More trenches.
Trench defence position sitting astride the trench and may have been an ammunition niche where boxes of bullets could be stored ready to use..
More trenches and defence positions.
Ammunition.
MG34.
MG34 tool kit.
© 2013 Richard Drew