Auderville Laye N49 42.149 W001 55.746 Map 1110E
WN314 StP356
The first thing you notice about this remarkable Batterie is that there is no
railway to be seen.
Normally railway guns were kept on the railway so that they could me moved
easily.
The nearest railway connection is at Cherbourg or Martinvast, and bringing them
to this site would mean a road journey of 25kms. Both guns were railway guns of
203mm, of the Kanone E type.
The guns would have still been mounted on their railway wagons and the gun
traverse would have been achieved by sitting the guns on turntables. The
turntables each 35 meters in diameter, would have been the same that you find at
a railway yard for turning locomotives.
Each of the gun emplacements is surrounded by ammunition (type VF) and
personnel bunkers (type 502). There is even a medical bunker (type 661)
which has the distinction of being the only bunker which has doors on different
levels. Unfortunately the medical bunker is always flooded no matter what
time of year you visit. The normal gas prevention measures are evident, with gas
tight doors, showers and pressure ports to keep the inside air pressure slightly
higher than the outside air pressure. This stops gas entering the bunker. Escape
hatches can also be seen, one even still has its original door in place. The
crew quarters are across the road and not built to the same standard.
They are made from single concrete blocks and would have had a simple wooden or
asbestos sheet roof. There would have been about 300 men and officers stationed
here.
