Wn17 de Colleville ('Hohe 61') [Hillman],

K.V.U.Gr Riva-Bella, K.V.Gr Caen, KVAH1, AOK7.
R806/SK Command Bunker

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Stab Gren. Rgt. 736.
Grenadier-Regiment 736 : Kommandeur : Oberst Ludwig Krug
Gefechtsstand : Colleville-sur-Orne (Wn17 Höhe)
I./736 : Kdr :
Gefechtsstand : Ouistreham (Wn14)
1. Kp : Franceville Ouest
2. Kp : Riva Bella ; Hauptmann Leo Mabhoffer
3. Kp : Franceville Plage
4. Kp : Ouistreham-Val ; Hauptmann Wil Luke
II./736 : Kdr : Hauptmann Deptolla
Gefechtsstand : Château de Tailleville (Wn23)
5. Kp : St-Aubin/Berniers-ser-Mer ; Hauptmann Rudolf Gruter
6. Kp : Courseulles-sur-Mer ; Hauptmann Grote
7. Kp : Graye-sur-Mer/La Rivière ; Hauptmann Gustav-Adolf Lutz
8. Kp : Tailleville-Tombette ; Hauptmann Johann Grzeski
III./736 : Kdr : Major Pipor
Gefechtsstand : Cresserons
9. Kp : Langrune/Luc-sur-Mer ; Hauptmann Kurt Mickish
10. Kp : Lion/Hermanville-sur-Mer ; Hauptmann Henry Kuhtz
11. Kp : N.E. de Cresserons ; Hauptmann Hans Gutsche
12. Kp : Douvres-la-Délivrande
IV./736 : Kdr : Hauptmann Heinz Plate
Ost Battalion 642 (Rus.) Gefechtsstand : Amfreville
1. Kp : Franceville Plage
2. Kp : Amfreville le plein
3. Kp : Hermanville-sur-Mer
4. Kp : Bavent

From D-DAY : ETAT DAES LIEUX

Plan of his R608/SK with the tunnel running out to the cupola.

 

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Stab I./A.R.1716.
Artillerie-Regiment 1716 : Kommandeur : Oberstleutnant Helmut Knüppe
Gefechtsstand : La Folie/Beuville (?)
I./1716 : Kdr : Gefechtsstand : Colomby-sur-Thaon
1./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Merville ; Leutnant Raimund Steiner
2./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Colleville-sur-Orne (Wn16)
3./1716 : 4x 7,5cm FK16 n.A. - Bréville ; Hauptmann Schimpf
4./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - Ouistreham (Château d'Eau/Wn12)
II./1716 : Kdr :
Gefechtsstand : Crépon (Wn35b)
5./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Wn36a ; Oberleutnant Theimer
6./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - La Mare-Fontaine (Wn32)
7./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Bény-sur-Mer ; Hauptmann Wilhelm Franke
III./1716 : Kdr :
Gefechtsstand : La Cambe
8./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Maisy La Martiniere (Wn84)
9./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - Maisy Les Perruques (Wn83)
10./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - N.E. Bayeux ; Oberleutnant Rudolf Schaaf

From D-DAY : ETAT DAES LIEUX  

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

So, against my better judgment I decided to take my two very good friends to Normandy. After Pegasus Bridge, we drove up here on all the back roads and arrived in bright sunshine. It was lunch time, I had managed to get a Baguette in the Boulanger in Bénouville. We walked out to the R608/SK and sat on the seats provided. I explained to my friends that in the 20 odd years I had visited "Hillman" (the Allied code word on D-Day for the position). That I had never been inside the two bunkers. Whilst away, placing the paper rappers in the waste bin, my two friends sat looking at the view out to sea. Just then a group of "Hillman" volunteers came trudging back from working somewhere to the west on the site. The volunteers all said Bonjour, my friends duly answered and one volunteer stopped and asked were they enjoying the day, etc. A conversation continued and my friends mentioned that I had been here many times and that I had never been inside the bunkers. (It was not an open day, but a workday). One volunteer said, would we liked to look in as he had the key.
So thats how I managed after 20 years to see inside one of the R608/SK bunkers at "Hillman". The main picture is Hugh, Hugh's father landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, but like a lot of ex service members of that period, had never told his son what he had done. The other friend we will meet again soon inside the bunker.

1st Battalion,18th Infantry Regiment,1st Infantry Division during high tide on Easy Red sector of Omaha beach.

Pos, Capa photo.

US troops on Omaha.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

The bunkers Tobruk and second entrance.

'Mit Verschlu§kopf' - With locking head. Armoured aerial tube cover. The cover twists to the left and lifts off. Then the aerial could be wound up to its full height.

Plan.

Photo of an aerial in place.

'Antenneinfurungsrohr' - antenna feed-in tube.
The aerial tube without the cap on the top.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

At the end is the Close Combat Defence Embrasure (CCDE). On the right the 491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

Plan.

491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

There may have been a sink here to wash in before entering the bunker.

Bunker sink entrance.

Alarm!

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

The second entrance and 434P01. 6025 type. When the bunker was excavated due to it being used as a dumping ground after the war, it was found that there were no fittings what so ever. The French Navy found out what they were doing and offered them all sorts of items from their, becoming redundant old U-Boat pens of Brest & Lorient.

This is a 6026 type door opening from the opposite side.

434P01 door.
6025 left door.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Entrance gas lock.

details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

R608 Battalion or Regimental Head Quarters.
Plan
This is an Allied plan dated 1943.
MI 10b/701 May'45 ABW
Store room - Chart room/Planning room - Wireless
None-Commissioned Officer - Work room - Gas lock
Commander
Crew - Ventilation - Heating - Close Combat Defence.
                                     Escape

(MI could be Military Intelligence?)

04 June 1944 Oberst Ludwig Krug, commander of 736th Infantry Regiment, whose HQ is at the blockhouse codenamed "Hohe 61".

 

 

 

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Work Room.
This is the desk of the Officer who drew the maps of this part of the Normandy coast. He would have to update it on a daily basis. Going out to see what had been built, how many more guns, mines, etc had been laid out and then re draw the map and then send copies out to all the neighboring units. This was a very important job.

details

Map of Colleville.

 

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Work Room.
The carpet was laid to stop the soldiers boots scraping on the concrete and annoying the Colonel.

'Achtung Feind hürt mit' - Attention enemy is listening.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

'Gasschutztur' 19P7 gas tight door, a rubber seal running all around the doors lip, seals the door and a small glass window, allows viewing. There are two large handles each side that allow the door to be opened and closed and also pulled tight against the seal. All he inner doors would be this type.

'Gasschutztur' 19P7 gas tight door.

Steel armoured pieces awaiting delivery.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Colonel Ludwig Krug private work room.

Possibly from this desk:
“Colonel Ludwig Krug, telephoned his commander, General Wilhelm Richter. ‘Herr General,’ he said, ‘the enemy are on top of my bunker. They are demanding my surrender. I have no means of resisting and no contact with my own men. What am I to do?’ There was a long pause down the line. General Richter had received nothing but bad news all day. ‘Herr Oberst,’ he replied, ‘I can no longer give you any orders. You must act on your own judgment. Auf Wiedersehen.”

Plan.

Colonel Ludwig Krug.

Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Richter.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Chart room.

Plan.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Chart/Wireless Room.

details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Passage to the short tunnel out to the cupola.

The short tunnel to the cupola.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Base of the cupola.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Infantry observation cupola type 749p3 for the PC (Command Post).
The original was removed and the steel scrapped.
This is not a fighting cupola and does not turn, as spoken about in the numerous reports of the battle for Hillman.

Infantry observation cupola type 749p3 for the PC (Command Post).

A pair of binoculars very like this may have been used in the cupola.

Lamp.

Lamp.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Looking back into the bunker.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Crew room.

Plan.

 

 

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Ventilation room.
Graham talking to one of the Hillman guides. Thank you for allowing us access.

Plan.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Ventilation room.
'Bei Gasgefahr Verbindungsstück mit herausnehmen Raumfilter einsetzen'.
In case of gas hazard, remove the connecting piece and insert the room filter.
These filters could be run by an electric motor or manually by a large handle. This one still works.

 

Handle.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Heating room.
A nice coal burner, or wood. Water was heated and circulated around the radiators. The hand pump on the side was to top up the local water supply.

Plan.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Close Combat Defence Room, it doubled as a crew room and had a periscope fitted into the roof.

'Stabfuhrungarohre' - steel guide tubes.

Plan.

 

 

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Close Combat Defence Room.
'Vor Offnen der Sharte oder des Sehschlitzes Licht aus'.
Before opening the slit or the viewing slit, turn off the light.

'Lichtschalter' - Light switch.

Plan.

Rifles at the ready.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Information

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman],
R806/SK Command Bunker

Details

The Boyz on Omaha Beach Wn61, this is where Hugh's father may have landed.

Back to Wn17 de Colleville Menu

© 2013 Richard Drew