Fortifications Of Alderney
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Apart from a Roman Fort, there were very few fortifications in
Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
until the mid 19th century. These forts were then modified and updated in the mid 20th Century by
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during the occupation period. Alderney at 8 km2 is now one of the most fortified places in the world.


List of fortifications

* The Gannets * “The Guns” Gun Emplacement * Fort Clonque * Fort Tourgis * Fort Platte Saline * Fort Doyle * Fort Grosnez * Mt. Hale Battery * Fort Albert * Fort Chateau A L’Etoc * Fort Corblets * The Odeon * Fort Les Hommeaux Florains * Fort Quesnard * Fort Houmet Herbé * Fort Ile de Raz * The Nunnery * Essex Castle


Early period


The Nunnery, 350 AD

Current evidence indicates that the Nunnery originated as a Roman fortification, with rounded corners where bastions were built. Built of stone and
Roman concrete Roman concrete, also called , was used in construction in ancient Rome. Like its modern equivalent, Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement added to an aggregate. Many buildings and structures still standing today, such as br ...
, the south, west and north curtain walls are still standing. Parts of the east, north and south walls remain of the tall tower that stood inside the walls. There is close similarity in plan to Roman signal stations built in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, which were slightly smaller.


Essex Castle, 1550s

In 1556, at the end of the reign of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, work began on building a fortification on the site that would become known as Essex Castle. The only remains of the fortification are the current north and west walls. 200 men worked to provide facilities for a garrison of 200 soldiers. The capture of
Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...
by the French in 1549 ensured the work would continue, and additional funding was obtained. However, when Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553, the work was abandoned and dismantled, and it was converted to a private residence for John Chamberlayne, the Lord of Alderney 1584–91. There followed a period when the island was attacked by pirates or used by pirates, as it was undefended.


Militia, 1337-1840

The Island
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
may have existed for centuries, as did the militias of
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
and
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
. In 1337, King
Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
authorised Thomas de Ferres to “levy and train” militias in Guernsey, Jersey, Sark and Alderney, to the use of arms and to "aray them in thousands, hundreds and twenties". The first mention of a militia commander, Captain Nicholas Ling, was in the records in 1657. Without fortifications apart from a decaying Essex Castle and the Nunnery, and with few if any cannon, the island was not defendable. During the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
in 1756 the Militia amounted to 200 men, and the island became a centre for
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
s. In 1781 France invaded Jersey, resulting in the
Battle of Jersey The Battle of Jersey took place on 6 January 1781 when French forces during the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) and the American Revolutionary War unsuccessfully invaded the British-ruled island of Jersey to remove the threat it posed to French ...
. In 1793, the fear of the French Revolution resulted in 200 soldiers, together with trained artillerymen, being sent to Alderney. The loss of , a 38-gun frigate wrecked in 1795 off Alderney, gave the island a number of cannon rescued from the wreck, and batteries were built for them. By 1809 there were nineteen batteries holding 93 cannon. Barracks had also been built to house 568 men, and the militia totalled 384 men. A telegraph tower was constructed above La Foulère in 1811, enabling signals to be relayed visually to Le Mât in Sark and on to Guernsey: early warning of attack during the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
was of strategic importance. On the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Jersey, in 1831, the Alderney Militia, now reduced to 65 gunners and 98 infantry, was awarded the epithet of "Royal", as had the Jersey and Guernsey Militias. The militia continued until after World War I.


Victorian era fortifications

Concerns by the
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the title of the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 (the English Army, founded in 1645, wa ...
,
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
, over France and the expansion of their harbour at Cherbourg resulted in a commission in 1842 to look at the problem. A recommendation to build harbours at St Catherine's in Jersey and in Alderney was approved in 1845, to be called "Harbours of Refuge" to avoid upsetting the French. A massive breakwater to enclose between and in Braye bay, dependent upon the date of the plan between 1845 and 1859. The idea of building just a harbour would provide the enemy with a good facility that once taken could not be recovered. It required fortifications to defend the harbour. Following the construction of the railway line from the quarry to the harbour and the importation of two engines, the northern breakwater was begun. Given the misleading title of a ''harbour of refuge'' so as not to provoke the French, it was constructed by Jackson and Bean between 1847 and September 1864 when it had reached when works were abandoned.


Construction

The French
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
in 1851, followed by the crowning of Prince Napoleon as Emperor
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
in 1852, prompted the start of the defensive works. Captain William F.D. Jervois, Corps of Royal Engineers, was appointed. He not only supervised the works but insisted on agreeing every detail, between 1852 and January 1855, assisted by the 11th Company of Sappers and Miners. He would return to Alderney on occasions. There were three royal visits to Alderney by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
and
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
to Alderney. The first was on 8/9 August 1854, when the royal couple rode on an Alderney Railway car under a striped silk canopy, pulled by two black horses to the quarry before returning. Captain Jervois was promoted to a brevet Major after the visit. The second visit was on 19 August 1857, and the third in 1859 to inspect the works.


Fort Clonque

Completed in 1855 on an islet, Fort Clonque, the most westerly in Alderney, connected by a causeway, mounting ten guns with a crew of 59 and bomb proof buildings. Originally the barracks were on the shore, making it impossible to get to the fort to man the guns at high tide. Decommissioned in 1929, and sold by the Crown for £27.


Fort Tourgis

Fort Tourgis, also completed in 1855, the second largest fort on the Island, mounting 33 guns in five batteries requiring 346 men. Sufficient accommodation was available in the fort. Built on a headland covering the bays of Clonque and Plattes Saline with many loopholed walls. Along the second beach, two batteries were built: Platte Saline and Doyle with three and four guns. Used by the Alderney militia until it was disbanded in 1882 and by the militia artillery until 1929.


Fort Grosnez

At the base of the breakwater. Authorised in 1850, and constructed from 1851 to 1853. Containing 28 guns in seven batteries. In the bay, Braye Battery was built for 9 guns. Manned by the Royal Garrison Artillery.


Fort Albert

Originally Fort Touraille and planned as a battery, it was renamed after the death of
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
in 1861. The fort was built on Braye bay eastern headland between 1856 and 1859; it had 43 guns with barracks for 424. Roselle Battery, also on the headland with seven guns, was completed in 1854. Around 1900 the fort was modified, reducing the number of guns and fitting two 6 inch BL guns, which changed the appearance of the fort. The fort was the island military headquarters housing a regular army garrison until 1929.


Fort Château L'Etoc

Built on a narrow headland projecting into the sea, completed in 1855, designed for 23 guns with accommodation for 128. Designed to be the protection for the eastern arm of the breakwater that was never built. Built on a stone age burial site; a Guernsey archaeologist was distraught at the way the construction labourers threw the bones and artefacts over the cliff into the sea.


Eastern forts

* Fort Corblets – Thirteen guns in four batteries manned by 59 men. * Fort Les Hommeaux Florains – on a small Island with five guns. * Fort Quesnard – seven guns with 55 men. * Fort Houmet Herbe – built on an island, with five guns on four towers. * Fort Ile de Raz – reached by a causeway, 10 guns manned by 64 men. * Longis Lines – battery of 14 guns. * Essex barracks – built in original Fort Essex.


Redundant

The
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of 1853–56 saw the former enemy, France, fighting alongside the British army. Alliances were changing. The rising cost of the breakwater construction, in 1864 it stood at £1,600,000 () and storms that had severely damaged the breakwater, resulted in works being stopped. This left the harbour exposed to easterly gales. Half of the breakwater was abandoned. The lack of commercial and navy shipping wanting to use the harbour, combined with the increase in the size of navy ships, and improvements in the power of artillery added to political changes including the crushing defeat of France in the 1870-71
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
made the harbour and its fortifications redundant. The forts had cost £250,000 and needed 7,000 soldiers to man them.


German fortifications

Arriving in an almost deserted island in 1940, all but 18 of the population having evacuated to England, the 450 Germans manned the existing fortifications until 1941 when
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
decided to fortify the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. The majority of the work was given to the
Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a Civil engineering, civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior member of the Nazi Party. The organisation was responsible ...
(OT), and
Fritz Todt Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior figure of the Nazi Party. He was the founder of '' Organisation Todt'' (OT), a military-engineering organisation that supplied German industry w ...
visited the islands personally to inspect the plans for the proposed works designed by the fortress engineers before they were agreed by Hitler on 20 October. The OT gave the code name ''Adolf'' to Alderney. The garrison from all three services would rise to 3,200 by 1944. Workers were brought to the island and installed in camps. By January 1942, the four camps held 6,000 workers. Two of the camps held "volunteer" workers, ''Borkum'' holding German and other European skilled workers and ''Helgoland'' Russian volunteers. Camp ''Sylt'' held Jews, who were treated as slaves, and camp ''Norderney'' held forced labour: mainly Russian and Polish POWs, but including men of many other nationalities. The camps were run by the OT until the SS took them over in March 1943. Those that survived the harsh treatment were shipped back to France to work on the Atlantic Wall when that became a higher priority. There are 397 known graves in Alderney, and about 200 died when two German minesweepers were sunk by two Allied destroyers on 7/8 July 1944.


Artillery

Using the Island as a fixed gun platform, large artillery guns would be capable of interlinking with guns on the Cherbourg peninsula and Guernsey to deny the area to the British Navy. Five batteries were established: * ''Elsass'' – 3 × 17cm SK L/40 in naval shielded open emplacements with range in Fort Albert * ''Annes'' – 4 × 15 cm SK C/28 naval turreted in open emplacements with range on the western end of the island * ''Blücher'' – 4 × 15cm K18 in open emplacements with range in centre * ''Marcks'' – 4 × 10.5cm K331(f) in casemates on Roselle battery site * ''Falke'' – 4 × 10cm leFH 14/19(t) in open field positions in the centre All but ''Battery Marcks'' having 360 degrees angles of fire and were controlled from the Naval Direction Tower (known as MP3 or ''Marine Peilstand 3'') at Mannez quarry using Freya radar and optical observation. This was the only tower built of the six that were planned. In June 1944 ''Battery Blücher'' opened fire on American troops on the Cherbourg peninsula who were attacking Cherbourg. was called up on 12 August to fire at the battery. Using a
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...
aircraft as a spotter, it fired 72 shells at a range of . Forty shells landed within of the target. Two Germans were killed, and several injured with two of the four guns damaged. Three guns were back in action in August, the fourth by November.


Anti aircraft

Four 8.8cm Flak batteries supported by three 3.7cm Flak batteries and numerous 2cm Flak guns for close support. The 8.8cm batteries, generally with six guns in open-topped concrete emplacements, being controlled with mobile
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that had a range of . ''Flak Battery Hohe 145'' located next to the MP3 tower comprising a command post, radar position, 3 × 2 cm and 8 × 8.8 cm emplacements. With ammunition bunkers, personnel bunkers and the normal smaller defensive facilities. Anti aircraft landing obstacles were erected in many parts of the Island to hinder any glider landings. A
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''Idiot’s Delight'' was shot down by Alderney batteries on 19 June 1944 and ditched in the sea. There was only one survivor.


Coastal defences

Sixteen 10.5cm K331(f) guns of which nine were in casemates were located in suitable positions to defend approaches to beaches. Often using existing forts such as Fort Raz with 2x10.5 cm. A number of anti tank guns in casemates covered the beaches. 60 cm and 150cm Searchlights were located where necessary. An anti tank wall at ''SP Steinbruch'' at Longis Bay at the top of the beach with anti landing craft obstacles, some mined, in the sea and on the sand. Roll bombs made from large calibre French shells with a long wire attached to the detonator, were located on top of cliffs. Rolled over the edge they would fall until the wire pulled the detonator. Barbed wire, machine gun pits, anti tank obstacles, small air raid shelters and anti personnel mines, in total 30,325 mines were laid.


Defensive areas

Thirteen ''Stützpunkt'' (Strongpoints) (SP), more than in Guernsey and many smaller ''Widerstandsnest'' (Resistance nests) (WN). Many of the Victorian forts were converted into SPs or WNs. Each defence area comprised zigzag trenches, machine gun posts, weapons pits, barbed wire, minefields and if appropriate had Tobruk pits, personnel bunkers, fixed location flame throwers that were fired remotely, mortars, armoured machine gun tank turret, 3.7 cm Pak 35/36, 4.7 cm Pak K 36(t) or 5 cm Pak 38 anti tank gun, coastal gun. Concrete bunkers and casemates as well as open positions. Fifteen light Renault tanks were located at three parks in the Island as a mobile reserve.


Tunnels

Numerous tunnels were excavated as shelters and to store ammunition and food. A few were completed, some abandoned. Few were lined with concrete before materials became scarce and the workers left the Island.


Specialist facilities

Command bunkers, a hospital bunker off Longis road, generator bunkers, water bunker, water tower in St Anne, telephone switching bunker and wireless communications bunker.


Camouflage

An important element of defence, great care was taken to disguise fortifications from aerial observation using granite, earth, vegetation, paint, wire mesh sprayed with concrete, nets and dummy structures. Regular Allied observation flights took photographs of the Island from high and medium levels as works were being constructed, identifying most large objects, but misinterpreting a number of them. Many infantry positions were not identified.


Surviving fortifications

Many of the Victorian fortifications survive, as do many German ones in a demilitarised form, having been stripped of metal in a scrap metal drive after World War II. Earthwork field fortifications and trenches have been filled in, and a few concrete emplacements buried. The majority of fortifications are on private land, with some converted to private accommodation and are therefore not accessible to the public. German fortifications along beaches may be on public land and may be open for access; however great care should be taken. Tunnels are generally very dangerous and should not be entered. Bunker parties are a feature of Alderney life. The breakwater is not as long as in 1863: part of it has been abandoned as it suffers from the strong tides and winter storms which have washed away some of the protecting stonework. It requires a high annual maintenance bill to keep it intact, with the current cost of maintenance being paid for by Guernsey.


See also

*
German occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the ...
* Alderney camps * Fortifications of Guernsey


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Davenport, Trevor, ''Festung Alderney'', Barnes Publishing, * Partridge, Colin and Davenport, Trevor, ''The Fortifications of Alderney'', Alderney Publishers,


External


Fort Clonque

Fort Corblets


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