Longues-sur-Mer battery
| Longues-sur-Mer Battery | |
|---|---|
Marineküstenbatterie (MKB) Longues-sur-Mer | |
| Part of Atlantic Wall | |
| Normandy, France | |
 A gun emplacement at Longues-sur-Mer battery | |
.svg) .svg) Kriegsmarine Ensign | |
| Coordinates | 49°20′37″N 0°41′42″W / 49.3435°N 0.6950°W |
| Code | Wiederstandsnest (Wn) 48 |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Coastal Conservatory (Fr.:Conservatoire du Littoral) |
| Open to the public | All casemates are open to public |
| Condition | Four casemates with naval guns plus fire control bunker |
| Site history | |
| Built | September 1943 to April 1944 |
| Built by | Organisation Todt |
| In use | 6 June 1944 |
| Materials | Concrete and steel |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Normandy |
| Events | D-Day landings |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Kriegsmarine then Wehrmacht |
| Occupants | ~185 |
The Longues-sur-Mer battery (German: Marineküstenbatterie (MKB) Longues-sur-Mer) is a World War II German coastal artillery battery approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) north of the village of Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. The battery is sited on a 60 m (200 ft) cliff overlooking the Baie de Seine and formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications, between the Allied landing sectors of Gold Beach and Omaha Beach. The battery shelled both beaches on D-Day (6 June 1944), but was captured on 7 June by British forces and played no further part in the Normandy campaign.
The battery is the only one in Normandy to retain several of its original guns in situ. It was listed as an historical monument in October 2001, and remains in a good state of conservation.
Construction
The battery is located halfway between Port-en-Bessin in the west and Arromanches-les-Bains in the east and 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Bayeux. Construction of the battery - code-named Widerstandsnest (Wn) 48 - began in September 1943 and was completed by April 1944.[1] Although constructed and manned initially by the Kriegsmarine, the battery was transferred to the Heer in late 1943.[2]
Four type M272 regelbau ("standard design") casemates requiring 600 cubic metres of concrete and four tons of reinforcing steel were built, with walls and roofs over 2 m (6.6 ft) thick. Each casemate held a 15 cm TbtsK C/36 naval gun, manufactured by the German-controlled Škoda Works in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, with a range of approximately 20 km (12 mi) and a rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute. The guns were positioned on a central pivot mount (Mittelpivotlafette or MPL) TL C/36. Behind each gun were rooms containing the shells and charges.
Fire control was managed from a regelbau type M262A two-story command post located on the cliff edge 300 m (980 ft) forward of the guns. It was equipped with some of the most technically advanced fire-control systems available in Normandy. It communicated with each gun via an armoured electrical communication system.
Also situated at the battery were ammunition bunkers and shelters for defending troops. Three 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were placed at the battery with a searchlight. Around the battery was a minefield, barbed wire fences and machine-gun and mortar pits for defence. A captured Soviet 12,2 cm K.390/1(r) gun was also sited in an open gun pit close to the entrance to the battery.[3]
Garrison
The battery had a garrison of 184 officers and men, initially from the Kriegsmarine but after late 1943 from the Heer.
Normandy landings
The battery at Longues-sur-Mer was situated between Omaha Beach and Gold Beach.[4] In the build up to D-Day, the battery was attacked several times by Allied aircraft. On the evening of 5/6 June 1944 the battery was attacked by bombers, severing the armoured communication system, but little damage was inflicted on the casemates. A large amount of the bombs dropped hit the nearby village.[5] The fire control post reverted to visual signals to control the guns, but this affected their accuracy.
The aerial attack was followed at 05:37 on the morning of 6 June by shore bombardment from the Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Ajax. The battery itself opened fire at 06:05, and at 06:20 targeted the headquarters ship for Gold Beach, HMS Bulolo, which withdrew out of range.
At 08:00 Ajax and HMS Argonaut again engaged the battery. At 08:45 the battery's guns ceased fire temporarily as the Germans undertook repairs. The heaviest damage from this Allied bombardment was the explosion of the ammunition for an anti-aircraft gun, mounted by the Germans on the roof of casemate No.4, which killed several German soldiers.[6]
After effecting repairs the battery once again opened fire, this time towards Omaha Beach. The French cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm, assisted by the World War I vintage dreadnought USS Arkansas returned fire, knocking out one casemate and damaging two others. The still-active fourth gun fired intermittently during the afternoon and evening of D-Day but had little impact on the Allied landings. The battery had fired over 100 rounds throughout the day.
The garrison of the battery (184 men, half of them over 40 years old) surrendered without a fight to advancing British troops of C Company of the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment at midday on 7 June 1944.
Advanced Landing Ground B-11
Close to the Longues-sur-Mer battery a temporary Advanced Landing Ground (code-named B-11) airstrip was built by the Allies. The airstrip was active between June 21 to September 4, 1944 and used by the 125th Wing of the No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group flying Spitfires, and by the French air ace Pierre Clostermann.
Gallery of bunker photographs
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Command post bunker on the cliff edge -
Casemate No. 2 -
Casemate No. 3 -
Casemate No. 4 -
Lines of casemates at Longues-sur-Mer
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See also
External links
References
- ^ "Wiederstandnest n° 48". The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum.
- ^ Zaloga, Steven J. (10 November 2005). D-Day Fortifications in Normandy. p. 28. ISBN 1-84176-876-6.
- ^ "Long-sur-Mer". normandie44lamemoire.com. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ Sterne, Gary (2014). The Cover-up at Omaha Beach. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 286. ISBN 9781629143279.
- ^ "The Taking of the Longues Sur Mer Battery". Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ Ford, Ken (2002). D-Day 1944. p. 50. ISBN 1-84176-368-3.
