Saturday, May 3, 2014

The Guns At Longues-sur-Mer

Being in Normandy, much of my vacation involved seeing military sites from World War II, particularly D-Day.  The first place we visited was the German gun emplacements at Longues-sur-Mer, part of their Atlantic Wall.  These guns were located several hundred yards inland from the cliffs rising above the English Channel, and had a range of about 11 miles.

The Germans also used this cannon, captured from the Soviet Army, but now located near a parking lot, complete with tourist vehicles.

The first gun installation we visited was heavily damaged.  The diagonal streaks in this picture are raindrops, which were coming down profusely.

The second gun we saw was more intact.  We had to step around a large puddle to get close to it.

The third gun was the only one pointing upward and thus in a viable firing position.  In the background to the right is a fourth gun, but we did not go to see it up close, since we were already wet enough from the rain.  With the second and third guns, it was possible to step around the gun's metal casing and get inside the respective concrete bunker.

For more information about Longues-sur-Mer and its guns, go here and here.

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