Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
This French fort was built to protect the western side of the naval dockyard from attack. Possibly built around the 1890's and then re-fortified by the Germans and incorporated into the Atlantikwall. But I have noticed that there was also a Luftwaffe site here as well as the army defences.
B29 Marauder USAAF.
Whirlwind fighter bomber.
Spitfire low level.
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
Double Peilstand control post.
Funk Horch was a monitoring intercept receiver Fu.H.E.c built in 1938 high accuracy monitoring receiver to intercept enemy radio traffic. This could be an ideal spot where the monitoring of allied aircraft flying in the this area of France.
These units were set up all around the coast and also mobile units could follow the battles on land.
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
German WWII Radio Monitoring Receiver, 1939 Type Fu.H.E.c., SW receiver with 4 wave ranges (3,53 to 25,8 MHz), made by Telefunken, serial no. 128335, 10 valves (RV2P800), metal case.
Luftwaffe signals Organisation in the west, D-day 1944.
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
Two American soldiers watching mine sweepers clearing the extensive mine fields that were laid all around the Normandy coast.
As the Allies gradually expanded their hold on Normandy and – eventually - broke out, the minesweepers steadily shifted their area of operations to clear the approaches to the vital ports that were being liberated. This saw our sweepers - particularly the MMS and BYMS flotillas with their better inshore capability - working off Cherbourg. Their efforts inshore were supplemented in the harbors and docks themselves by the ‘P Parties’ – diving teams trained to locate and make safe or destroy the innumerable mines and booby traps left in the docks and wharves. (HMS Vernon).
This looks like either a small radar or a monetoring device.
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
They probably would have been a small mobile unit of very highly trained radio operators that could monitor radio traffic from aircraft and ships transmissions.
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
Aircraft like these Blenheim flew against targets in Normandy very early in the war and the radio monitoring stations would listen out for planes trying to attack the port of Cherbourg and the airfield around the town
Wn225 Fort de Nacqueville Hout,
Luftwaffe station 'Castor' Monitoring Unit
© 2013 Richard Drew