Discovering and visiting a WW2 bunker in Normandy, France.

[Sylvain]

I found an aerial view.

I just discovered that this area is larger than I thought and there could be room for more bunkers.
The 1 is the one I visited, 2 and 3 I saw them while walking towards the 1.
You can see a tiny grey spot who is the corner of bunker number 3.

 

[Sylvain]

Great thread Sylvain,

There has go to be an entrance to the other bunkers. They couldn't supply those bunkers with weapons & ammo with just the tunnels??? Hope that you find them..

This one is actually the one I marked 3 on the aerial view.That's the tiny spot of concrete you can see.

 

[Bigtanker]

Whats the location so we could google map it ourselves?

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Whats the location so we could google map it ourselves?

 

[Alamo]

I can't believe you actually went in the vegetation-festooned entrance that led to the dark depths. Don't you know that's how all the horror movies start, with somebody poking around a deserted structure, opening a door they shouldn't have, going in a basement they shouldn't have, and discovering long-lost entrance to the Cthullu's lair, with attendant bloody results. You're lucky you're still in one piece.


But since you survived to post the pictures, thanks! They were interesting.

When I was stationed in Germany, right on the border between Germany and The Netherlands, there were lots of leftover pillboxes and dragons' teeth and such scattered around. Not as big as the ones Sylvain found on the Normandy coast, they were more personal sized. Farmers farmed around them. On base we had many wooded areas, and the joggers were told to stick to the marked paths, as the wooded areas had never been cleared of ordnance from WWII (!). There was a lot of fighting in that area just prior to and after the Battle of the Bulge (which was just to the south of us).

I've been thinking about those hooks in the wall; I suspect they may have been attachment points for folding bunks. I notice there are hooks in the ceiling at the right point to have suspended the other side of the bunks if you hung a chain or cable from them.

Also that tunnel: Since it doesn't head in the direction of the other bunkers and it is not tall enough to walk in, I am thinking it was an emergency exit. I have been in slightly more modern German-built bunkers in the basements of barracks and such, and they had similar small tunnels that zig-zagged and extended away form the main area, so that if the building on top collapsed and the main exits were blocked, you had another way out. It was extended enough so that the exit was outside the likely collapse zone, and you had to take hand tools with you (chisels, sledge, etc) because there was no door -- they sealed the end of the tunnel with a few inches of concrete (to prevent entry by enemies, blast, and gas), and you had to use the hand tools to chop your way out.

Thanks again for posting those pics.

 

[Fordtough25]

Well done Sir!!! Great thread, loved the pics and suspense!! I would love to visit the area, my great uncles, Grandpa, and older uncle were there in '44 and after. Stories!!

 

[1911ly]

Incredible! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure. It would be cool to see more picks. I hope you can make another trip!

 

[88GT]

Those are super cool photos. I got a bit teary-eyed when I was looking at the one overlooking the beach.

 

[churchmouse]

French Guy.....This is great thread.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Awesome pics and story Sylvain! Merci beaucoup for sharing them!

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I can't believe you actually went in the vegetation-festooned entrance that led to the dark depths. Don't you know that's how all the horror movies start, with somebody poking around a deserted structure, opening a door they shouldn't have, going in a basement they shouldn't have, and discovering long-lost entrance to the Cthullu's lair, with attendant bloody results. You're lucky you're still in one piece.

As long as he wasn't wearing stiletto heels, (that always break at the most inopportune moment) I think he was safe!

 

[churchmouse]

As long as he wasn't wearing stiletto heels, (that always break at the most inopportune moment) I think he was safe!

And split off from the main group to look in the bunker.....Oh...he did

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Thanks for posting, Sylvain! That's really cool.

 

[MrsGungho]

awesome Sylvain

can't wait for the next cool place you take us

 

[96firephoenix]

I was gonna make some sarcastic post about reading this thread backwards and seeing satanic symbols... but I couldn't come up with anything good.


Good photos!

+1 for bravery going down there.

 

[Lectric102002]

Shame that a historic place like this got "tagged" by the idiots with their paint cans.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Very cool indeed, thanks for posting! In those early pictures looking out to the beach...do you know which D-day beach designation was given to it?

We're starting to talk about a potential trip to Europe next fall to follow the tracks both of my Grandfather's took during WWII. One was with 2nd Service Command and helped stage for the faked D-day invaision of Calais (Operation Quicksilver), and then a few days after the Normandy invasion came into Normandy and helped with setting up the temporary ports there before LeHavre was opened up. The other was with the 3rd Infantry Division in '45 and came through France and up through Germany.

 

[Bennettjh]

That's neat! Thanks for the pics, Sylvain! All of that represents so much it's a lot to take in, sure it was seventy years ago but as far as the history of the world, that's not that long ago.

It's a shame it's all vandalised.

Thanks again!

 

[jblomenberg16]

Can you see any signs of battle damage in that bunker?

Not to thread jack, but here are some pictures of a bunker I visited a few years ago in Okinawa. This was one of the last bunkers to fall. Yep, there was some battle damage too.


The sign speaks for itself.



A wider view. The young man in the picture just happens to be standing and have his hands about where the Japanese soldier that pulled the pin on the grenade would have been. There were some other signs in the room that said that dozens of men died in that room before the American soldiers breached the entrances to the bunker.

 

[db1959]

Thanks Sylvain. Great pictures and a little history lesson to boot.