Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Etretat a lovely small channel town. In the late 1800's it became a very popular holiday destination, four hours by train from Paris. In WW1 many of the hotels were used as British and then American as hospitals. WW2 and the Germans arrived and started to defend between the high chalk cliffs. First with small bunkers and gradually increasing with tunnel systems to link up the larger gun casemates and lots of beach defences. Most of the bunkers were made locally only one or two were regular designs. One certainly is an R612 casemate for a WW1 type field gun.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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30 September 1945 Geoportail

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1 x R612 casemate
1 x SK/casemate for a 5cm KwK.
1 x Observation bunker.
1 x SK-Lla
1 x 7.5cm F.K.235(b).
1 x 5cm KwK L/42.
1 x 5cm KwK L/60.

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7.5cm F.K.235(b).

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5cm KwK L60 gun.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1940's

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
Town

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In the town there were several anti-tank walls built to stop or slowdown any attacker from the sea.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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SHM

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
Plan SHM

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 The French military like other allied armies visited many of the defences and drew maps and photographed of bunkers.

 8 - Casemate pour Mitrailleuse
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain
12 - PC (Commander)
13 - Encov ' p ' 50mm.
14 - Casemate 612.
15 - 6 Abri personnel.
16 - Abri avec tobruk.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1945

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
13 - Encov ' p ' 50mm.

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Placed up on the hill behind the beach was a 5cm KwK set in a field style position and not in the usual concrete emplacement.

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5cm KwK field position.

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Gun mounting set into the ground not in an emplacement.

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Base of the gun.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
Pillbox

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The second pillbox of this style, the first was in WnEt05. Also the Belgian gate road blocks behind.

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Another picture of the pillbox.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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The area the pillbox covered.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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The next set of defences of Et05.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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An anti-tank gun bunker made locally and of no regular design.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1944 German                                                                                                                         1945 American

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1944 the barbed and in 1945 the barbed wire has gone and the beach defences are starting to be cleaned up.

 

 

 

 

 

The Americans had camps at the end of the war to pass troops from Europe back to America. LeHavre was one of the major ports of embarkation. The American camps were called cigarette camps and were named after their major cigarette companies. The men in their spare time came down to Etretat beach for R&R.
Etretat's camp was Pall Mall.

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Pall Mall

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1945 or later

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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Anti-tank casemate with a very low and wide embrasure.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1944

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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After capture and it looks like mines piled up after being removed off the beach area.

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S mine.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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The side entrance into the casemate.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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First you enter a small lobby room with a door on the right into the casemates gun room.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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Note the very low roof with a long thin embrasure at the front.

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The gun barrel sticking out of the casemate, it does not have a muzzle break, so is it an anti-tank gun or not?

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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In the middle just below where the gun would have sat is a hole. It could be a pit to drop fired shell cases down after firing. A way of storing them out of the gun room when in action.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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Around the rear a trench in the concrete recess in a half moon shape. This was for the trails of the anti-tank gun to sit to stop the gun from flying backwards when the gun is fired.

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The way out.

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3.7cm Pak and you can see the trails sticking back from the gun.

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It would have to have been a small anti-tank gun that was low to the ground to fit into the casemate.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
11 - Casemate ' p ' campagne avec abri et souterrain

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The small room on the way out.

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The way out

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A sort of crew room.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012                                                                                                                          1944 German troops relaxing

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
12 - PC (Commander)

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The observation/command post was linked to the gun casemate by a tunnel.

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Plan of the tunnel system.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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Google                                                                                                                          1944

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
12 - PC (Commander)

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A now

 

 

 

 

 

and then photo.

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05 March 2012

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Continuing up the cliff to a machine gun pill box.

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
8 - Casemate pour Mitrailleuse

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This machine gun could have cut to pieces any advance up the beach, it would have fired down about half the length of the beach.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
8 - Casemate pour Mitrailleuse

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The small entrance.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
8 - Casemate pour Mitrailleuse

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Looking inside the room.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
8 - Casemate pour Mitrailleuse

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How the machine gun would have been able to fire down the beach.

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
14 - Casemate 612.

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Above is the R612 casemate for a field gun, a 7.5cm F.K.235(b).

Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
14 - Casemate 612

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The flanking wall and its camouflaged concrete.

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R612 casemate.

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Unknown

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
14 - Casemate 612 for a 7.5cm F.K.235(b).

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An American soldier being used to show the size of the casemate, or he is sheltering from some very bad weather.

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7.5cm F.K.235(b).

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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1944

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
14 - Casemate 612

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This is the rear of the casemate and a trench entrance into it. This casemate cannot be seen now as a wooden observation platform has been built over it.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage
15 - 6 Abri personnel.

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Trenches up on the cliff top. Behind here, now on the golf course, were six small group shelters of unknown type and probably an earth/wood supplemented by concrete to strengthen them. All these have been covered over by the golf course.

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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05 March 2012

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Wn Et06 Etretat plage

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