Fort les Forches Map 1210E N4938.425 W001 38.621
The old French fort that occupied this site above Equeurdreville to the west of
Cherbourg has long since disappeared.
In the sixties new housing was needed for the growing city and the old fort was
demolished, with the exception of some of the housing which now sits uneasily
among the apartment blocks and the college named after a famous local painter
(Millet).
The Germans took over the fort very soon after their arrival in the city and
placed here four 170 mm German guns made by the famous Krupp factory.
They were of the K18 type and were mounted in the open, but I have yet to find
any trace of concrete that they might have be mounted on.
What does remain is the fire control post, which sits in the grounds of a school
and is partially hidden by bushes, and is of course sealed.
I think the position was manned by the AR/1709, and I always thought that the
guns had been moved by the time of the liberation, but as a relatively late
build FCP is here on the site, more research is needed.
