Maisy battery
| Maisy Battery | |
|---|---|
| Part of Atlantic Wall | |
| Grandcamp-Maisy, Normandy, France | |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
All casemates are open to public |
| Condition | Several casemates, accommodation block, trench system |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-44 |
| Built by | Organisation Todt |
| Materials | Concrete and steel |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Normandy |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Wehrmacht |
The Maisy battery was a World War II artillery battery constructed by the Wehrmacht near the French village of Grandcamp-Maisy in Normandy. It formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications.
The battery consisted of four 105-mm cannons (three inside casements and one in an open field position) plus six 155-mm howitzers, a Russian howitzer (captured at Dunkirk during the British retreat), two 50mm KwK anti-tank cannons, bunkers, accommodation blocks, shelters for personnel and ammunition and an extensive trench system featuring mortar pits and defensive machine-gun emplacements. The battery was garrisoned by approximately 450 soldiers. It was built under strict security by forced labour, the Wehrmacht run battery was not marked on Allied D-Day maps.[1]
Normandy landings
The battery at Maisy (designated by the Germans as WN83 or Widerstandsnest (Resistance Nest) 83), was situated between the American landing beaches of Omaha and Utah and its guns were capable of shelling both beachheads. The battery is located 4 mi (6.4 km) from Pointe du Hoc, a key objective for the US Rangers during D-Day. The battery was garrisoned by elements of the 352nd and 716th Infantry Divisions plus an anti-aircraft detachment consisting of 12 88-mm anti-aircraft artillery pieces sent to protect the battery shortly before D-Day on June 3.
The battery was in operation until 9 June 1944 when following heavy bombardment from the sea the battery was overrun and captured by American forces from the US 2nd and 5th Rangers. as well as elements of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division. 18 US soldiers were killed or wounded during the attack.
Rediscovery
Amateur British military historian Gary Sterne rediscovered Maisy Battery after finding a map amongst some memorabilia at militaria fair in Stockport, England. The battery was marked on the map as an "area of high resistance", but the location was not one that at that time was recorded amongst other D-Day fortifications. Visiting the location, Sterne was able to locate a bunker entrance amongst undergrowth. Sterne then investigated further to find additional buildings and a network of trenches.[2]
Sterne subsequently starting buying the land on which the battery had been built and in April 2007 opened the site to visitors.
External links
References
- ↑ "Maisy Battery". Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ↑ "Amateur historian unearths Nazi battery". Retrieved 26 October 2013.