La Pernelle N49 37.121 W001 17.899 Map 1310O
Wn144 FCP WN149 Pernelle II
The village of La Pernelle boasted two gun batteries a radar station.
The second batterie (Pernelle 2) was equipped with three 170 mm German guns
mounted in the open.
They were supposed to have H679 type casemates but these had not been started by
D-day.
The other batterie (Pernelle 1) called by the Germans "La Pinoterie" was further
advanced and its six 105 mm Schnieder guns of 1916 vintage. The guns were housed
in two different types of casemates, types H650 and H671.
It is claimed that these guns were again mounted on carriages after D-day and
moved inland.
There was also a command bunker of the H608 type. At the time of the occupation
the quarry in which the guns are placed were not in use. Today it is a different
story and many of the casemates and associated bunkers have been destroyed. The
Fire Control Post sits on top of the workings and looks as if every moment will
be its last.
The Pernelle I batterie could have no effective roll against the Allied fleet
landing on Utah beach, because its guns faced out to sea and because of being in
casemates and could not be rotated enough to be of any use.
The Pernelle 2 batterie known to the Germans as Essen was a more serious threat
on D-day.
The batterie had never been equipped with a range finder and so its fire upon
the fleet was not accurate. In an earlier bombing raid one of the 170 mm
guns was damaged and taken to Cherbourg for repairs, it had not returned by June
6th.
After further raids the two remaining guns were moved further inland and before
the Germans retreated, the guns were spiked to prevent them being of any use to
the Americans.
The Russian guns from Carteret were brought close to here after D-day to help
slow the Americans advance.
