Biville Plage N49 36.564 W001 50.439 Map 1110E
WN314
The Germans fearing that the Allies or the French Resistance might use this long
beach for landings, created a very economic defence system. The use as the main
defence a "SK Sonderkonstruction" type SK667 casemate that housed a 50 mm KwK
cannon that had unusually two embrasures. This enabled the gun to cover two
sections of the beach, and that meant that the Germans could cover twice the
area with only one weapon.
There are around thirty concrete structures along the 5 kms of beach and due to
erosion, all but two have fallen onto the beach, looking like children's
building blocks.
The two SK667 casemates can be found in other lightly defended sections in
Normandy, but these have another added dimension in as much as a emplacement for
a Renault tank turret has been incorporated at the front of the casemate.
The entrance for the crew of the turret is via the gun room through a small
entrance which would have meant crawling on all fours. Once inside the crew
could close a small fortified door.
There is evidence of damage to both the casemates, but this may have been caused
when the gun was recovered for scrap after the war.
