| Merville Gun Battery | |
|---|---|
| Part of Atlantic Wall | |
| Normandy, France | |
The Merville Battery today |
|
| Type | Artillery battery |
| Built | World War II |
| Built by | Germany |
| Construction materials |
Concrete, steel, barbed wire |
| In use | 1944 |
| Current condition |
Still exists |
| Current owner |
France |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Controlled by | Germany 1944, France 1944–present |
| Garrison | Wehrmacht |
| Battles/wars | Normandy landings, Operation Tonga |
The Merville Gun Battery was a coastal fortification in Normandy, France, in use as part of the Nazis' Atlantic Wall built to defend continental Europe from Allied invasion. It was a particularly heavily fortified position and one of the first places to be attacked by Allied forces during the Normandy Landings commonly known as D-Day.
Contents |
The Merville Battery was composed of four 6-foot-thick (1.8 m) steel-reinforced concrete gun casemates, built by the Todt Organisation. Each was designed to protect First World War-vintage 14/19 Tschechisch 100 mm guns.[1] Other buildings on the site included a command bunker, a building to accommodate the men, and ammunition magazines. During a visit on 6 March 1944, to inspect the defences, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ordered the builders to work faster, and by May 1944, the last two casemates were completed.[2]
The battery was defended by a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun and several machine guns in 15 gun positions, all enclosed in an area 700 by 500 yards (640 by 460 m) surrounded by two barbed wire obstacles 15 feet (4.6 m) thick by 5 feet (1.5 m) high,[3] which also acted as the exterior border for a 100-yard-deep (91 m) minefield. Another obstacle was an anti-tank ditch covering any approach from the nearby coast.[4]