Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville,
K.V.U. Gruppe Cherbourg See,
KVR J1, Normandy.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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John and I visited Wn223 on a cold damp November day, it was one of the first sets of bunkers where there was a lot of graffiti, now its all too common. Voban in the 1700 had seen the vulnerability of this site and so had the German army defending the North Cotentin. Designed to keep an invader out from the sea, the invaders actually came in from the land side. A small Wn was built with two 5cm KwK guns pointing in a crossfire in front. Mine field to its left and many Tetrahedra on the beach and out in the surf.
Querqueville an ex French naval camp/seaplane base. Became a landing ground for the German air force with Me109's in the early war years and Post its capture American fighters and transports. It became A-23.

French Navy Loire 130 float plane.

Me109.

Querqueville as A-23 in USAAF hands.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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The original French to keep out the English.

This picture is Le Fort Vauville in 1944/45 showing what this small French fort would have looked like.
The Vauville fort was built around 1760, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), when Vauban undertook to defend the English Channel coast against a possible invasion by English troops. After studies, a certain Ricard was entrusted with the creation of a coastal defense network, from Mont Saint-Michel to Cherbourg (west coast) and from Cherbourg to Carentan (east coast). The defensive system comprised two types of structures: small forts scattered along the coast, which could communicate with each other by relayed optical signals; and larger, less numerous forts. These fortified forts housed the command centre, reserves and reinforcements, and also included a chapel. The forts located directly on the beaches most often consisted of a standard plan: a house or shelter measuring 10 meters by 6 meters, with rubble walls built with lime mortar, 1.20 meters thick. This house was divided into three compartments or rooms: the storeroom for powder and provisions, the captain's room, and the men's room, a room equipped with a fireplace. Surrounded by a perimeter wall with a sentry walk leading to a firing platform where a light cannon was positioned, the house sheltered approximately six men. Virtually no forts remain in good condition. Most were abandoned and then sold off by the state. In most cases, they were used as stone quarries. The Fort of Vauville, listed in the supplementary inventory of Historical Monuments, has the advantage of having been preserved and restored. It is one of the last remaining links in the Cotentin defense chain from the 18th century.

Vauban.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Plan of the outer ditch defence and the trenches from a 1947 air photo.

R134

R501

R667

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Plan of the defences in 1944 and what is there today. An anti-tank ditch was built around the rear of the defence, barbed wire, mines and out at sea Tetrahedra the X shaped anti vehicle defences, some just on land and many in the sea.
There is a tank wall covering the back of the SK/Searchlight bunker and the Tobruk in the top corner has an interesting entrance.

1 x R501 group shelter.
1 x R134 ammunition bunker.
2 x R667 casemates for 5cm KwK.
1 x SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight) bunker.
3 x Vf58c Tobruks, although there may have been four or five?
1 x Ringstand Pz.TFT17.
1 x MG stand or more?

Vf58c Tobruk.

MG stand.

Searchlight.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate for a 5cm KwK Pak gun.

Plan.

5cm KwK Pak gun.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate for a 5cm KwK Pak gun.

Plan.

Range card.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate for a 5cm KwK Pak gun.

Plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R134 ammunition bunker we did not enter this bunker first door on the right.

Plan.

R134 plan.

It would have been stacked full of 5cm rounds, MG ammunition, grenades, mines and spare parts for weapons.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter entered through the passageway. The plan of a standard R501, shows an entrance with a close combat defence embrasure and an escape out from the side. This one follows that design, but where it differs is in the thickness of concrete. Being adjoining the R134 and using much thicker concrete, this is so much stronger than any I have seen before.

Plan.

R501 plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter. the entrance passage, look at that thickness.

R501 plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter. Entering Bw30 the build number still painted on the wall. The R134 was Bw32.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter. It looks like a 422po1.

422po1.

A machine gun would cover the entrance.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter. Hooks on the wall to support bunk beds.

Bed hooks.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter. Escape with a 410P9 escape door. Also a steel 19P7 type door gas tight door.

410P9 escape door.

Escape.

19P7 type door.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R501 group shelter the exit. On the left would have been a 434P01heavy armoured door.

434P01door.

Top half 434P01door.

434P01heavy armoured door.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
SK - Sonderkonstruktionen special construction or not built to a standard plan, although uses all the same fittings.

Plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
An anti-tank wall was built to cover the rear exits, they must have had an inclination that they could be attacked from the rear, look at the bullet splashes below the graffiti.

Bullet splashes.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
John entering the SK/ Scheinwerfer crew quarters.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
Inside.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
Crew room. on the wall are parts of the anti-gas pump a Heers-Einheits-Schutzlüfter HES 1.2.

HES1.2 bracket.

Heers-Einheits-Schutzlüfter HES 1.2.

Filters, the U shaped bracket on the lower wall, is to store the spare filters.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
434P01 steel bunker door.

434P01 steel bunker door.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
Store room for the searchlight and usually a small fuel room for the generator, if it has one.

Search light, how it may have looked out by the sea.

60cm searchlight.

Generator.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
When I took this photo, I had no idea I would have a set of "Then & Now" photos.

US Army Signals Corps 1944 just after capture.

US Army Signals Corps sorting out his photos.

US Army Signals Corps.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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SK/Scheinwerfer (Searchlight bunker).
This is an interesting photo, note that there is a first aid box by the entrance, something else I have never seen before. The two white marks in the door entrance, maybe to help see the door in the dark.

Plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Vf58c Tobruk in the coast path, one of these may have had a French tank turret on its top, a Pz.T.FT17.

Plan.

A Pz.T.FT17 turret.

French Reibel machine gun.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate.

Plan.

The two R667 casemates are designed to give crossfire over the beach.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate.

Plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate.
This shows the rear entrance to enter the bunker.

Plan.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate.
Gun room looking out of the guns embrasure.

 Wn65 St-Laurent-sur-Mer le Ruquet ouest, showing what it would have looked like.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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At the rear entrance, there are two hinges, this is another thing here I have never seen fitted to an R667 casemate?

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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R667 casemate.
The wall that the casemate is built through is the old French forts outer wall, clever bit of camouflage.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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And further to the west is the last Tobruk, with an interesting entrance.

Observation.

Communications.

Defence.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Vf68c with an interesting entrance which would have lead into the trench system.

This is an Allied report on Tobruks.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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Interesting camouflage on some of the bunkers.

Wn223 Marais de Bas Querqueville

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© 2013 Richard Drew