Artillery battery at Merville
The artillery battery at Merville is a German historic gun emplacement in France , built as part of the Atlantic Wall by the Todt Organization , which was believed to cause significant damage to troops and landing craft landing on D-Day on the Sword stretch of beach . It consists of four casemates equipped with 100 mm howitzers and various ancillary buildings.
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Allied attack on the battery
The Allies planned to destroy the battery in the course of Operation Tonga in order to relieve the troops landing on the beaches. According to the Allies, the most effective way of eliminating this threat was an airborne strike . The fears of the Allies were based on the assumption that the battery with its howitzers threatened the beach section intended for landing as Sword Beach . The cannons were protected in their casemates by two meter thick concrete walls; at the front and rear these fastenings were fitted with steel doors. The Germans had 160 men stationed in the battery, they were several machine gun post and three 20-mm anti-aircraft guns available. The battery command post was about two kilometers north, near the Sword stretch of beach . The 9th Battalion of the British 6th Airborne Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel ( Lt. Col. ) Terence Otway was to conquer the battery and destroy.
After capturing the battery and destroying the guns , the Allies discovered that the cannons were not 150mm caliber, but 100mm Škoda howitzers , which would have posed a far less threat to the landing forces.
Today's open-air museum
The approximately ten hectare area is now an open-air museum , which deals with the history of the battery and the events of the night of June 5th to 6th, 1944. During excavations, almost all of the battery's bunkers were uncovered and are now accessible to visitors.
In April 2007, a light, sound and smell show was installed in casemate No. 1 of the Regelbau 611 type, allowing visitors to experience the events of the night of June 5th to 6th, 1944 up close. Casemate No. 2 houses a memorial of the British 9th Battalion with numerous photos and exhibits. In front of the battery is a memorial to the British 9th Battalion and a memorial stone with a bust depicting Colonel Otway.
On June 5, 2007, a memorial stone for all fallen soldiers was inaugurated in France in front of casemate No. 1 in the presence of the German army attaché . Since that day, the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany has been flying with "black-red-gold" on the former battery position.
Movies
- The documentary film " D-Day 6/6/44 - Decision in Normandy " on the British television broadcaster BBC also documents the events during the attack on the Merville battery. Producer: Tim Bradley ; Directed by Richard Dale , Kim Bour , Pamela Gordon , Sally Weale
Web links
- Stern.de: Article on the Merville battery
- Storming of the battery at Merville (English)
- Attack on the battery at Merville (English)
- Merville (English)
- Official website of the museum (English, French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Site de la Batterie de Merville - La Batterie. Site et Musée de la Batterie de Merville, accessed June 5, 2019 (French).
Coordinates: 49 ° 16 ′ 10 " N , 0 ° 11 ′ 51.8" W.