Crisbecq N49 28.734 W001 17.730 Map 1311O
WN135
Work on these batteries was begun by the
Todt organisation in 1941, but was not completed by D-day.
The Batterie was a formidable concrete fortress surrounded by mine fields and
barbed wire, and was to have been the second largest in Normandy after the
batterie at L'Havre.
The main guns were four 210 mm and one 150 mm, although only three of the main
guns were working on D-day, two housed in type 683 Casemates, and the other was
in the open. In addition to the two H683 Casemates constructed here, there were
have to been two others of the H683 type but these had barely been started by
D-day. The guns being housed in open emplacements, which can still be found. The
site also retained one of the original 150 mm guns, and the other three were
moved when the 210 mm guns became available.
The 150 mm gun was to be housed in a M272 Casemate, but this too was not
completed by D-day.
The Skoda 210 mm "type K39/K41" guns had a range of twenty miles, and the 150 mm
gun about eleven miles.
The front of the Casemates should have been protected by metal embrasures, but
they had not been fitted, either due to non delivery or more likely, the
shortage of metal in Germany.
The Batterie had its own fire control post type "H637FCP" with a anti flak gun
mounted on the top, together with an machine gun post. To the right there was a
separate Fire Control Post for Azeville.
The Batterie was also equipped with six 75mm anti aircraft and seventeen machine
gun nests. .
