The Longues-sur-Mer battery (German: ''Marineküstenbatterie (MKB) Longues-sur-Mer''; also designated ''Widerstandsnest (Wn) 48'') is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

German coastal artillery battery approximately north of the village of Longues-sur-Mer in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France. The battery is sited on a 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 Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy la ...

and Omaha Beach. The battery shelled Allied naval forces off Gold and Omaha beaches on D-Day (6 June 1944), but was damaged by Allied shore bombardment the same day. It was captured on 7 June 1944 by British ground forces, playing no further part in the Normandy campaign. The battery is the only one in Normandy to retain several of its original guns. It was listed as a 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 north of Bayeux. Construction of the battery by Organisation Todt began in September 1943 and was completed by April 1944. The battery was initially manned by ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' personnel, but was transferred to the '' Heer'' in late 1943. The battery had a garrison of 184 officers and men. Four type M272 '' regelbau'' ("standard design")

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

s requiring 600 cubic metres of concrete and four tons of reinforcing steel were built, with walls and roofs over thick. Each casemate held a 15 cm TbtsK C/36 naval gun, manufactured by the German-controlled Škoda Works in

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, with a range of approximately 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 magazines containing the shells and propellant charges. Fire control was managed from a ''regelbau'' type M262A two-story command post located on the cliff edge forward of the guns. It was equipped with some of the most technically advanced fire-control systems available in Normandy and was connected to 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 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

12,2 cm K.390/1(r) gun was also sited in an open gun pit close to the entrance to the battery.

Normandy landings

The battery at Longues-sur-Mer was situated between Omaha Beach and

. 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. 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 6 June by shore bombardment from the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

light cruiser HMS ''Ajax''. The battery returned 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. 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. After a second Allied air bombardment on the morning of 7 June, the surviving German troops (approximately 120 men, half of them over 40 years old) surrendered with minimal resistance to British troops of C Company of the 2nd Battalion,

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the World War I, First World War and the World War II, ...

at midday.

Advanced Landing Ground B-11

After the D-Day landings, the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) built a temporary airstrip east of the battery. Designated Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B-11, the airstrip was active between 21 June to 4 September 1944, and used by the No. 125 (Fighter) Wing of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force flying Spitfires, and by the French air ace Pierre Clostermann.

Gallery of bunker photographs

File:Bunker in Longues-sur-Mer (2).jpg, Command post bunker on the cliff edge File:Atlantic Wall, Longues-sur-Mer (2).jpg, Casemate No. 2 File:Atlantic Wall, Longues-sur-Mer (3).jpg, Casemate No. 3 File:Atlantic Wall, Longues-sur-Mer.jpg, Casemate No. 4 File:Batteries longueville.JPG, Lines of casemates at Longues-sur-Mer

External links

Photos from Longues-sur-Mer BatteryGuide to visiting Longues-sur-Mer Battery

References