HISTORY
When the Germans had conquered France, they started building cross-channel guns on the French coast. These were long range coastal artillery pieces which were intended to bombard enemy ships in the Channel and also English coastal towns and military installations. Four 38cm Siegfried guns were placed near the little village of Haringzelle. These enormous guns weighted 111 tonnes (109 ST), were 18m (724 in) long and could fire every 30 seconds a 800kg (1800 lb) shell. The same type of gun was also used on the Bismarck-class battleships.
Normally these guns were placed in open concrete gun positions, relying on their armour for defence. But Hitler thought that was not enough protection for these massive guns since they were so close to the enemy. He ordered reinforced concrete casemates 3.5m (11 ft) thick and 10m (33ft) high built over and around the mounts. These casemates were built in a little forest patch and also camouflaged.
EXPLORE
Drove past this place by chance on a recent holiday in Northern France and couldn't resist the urge to pull over and check it out. One of the turms has been turned into a museum, but I prefer my history to be a bit more raw (and, of course, free) so we avoided that and headed straight to this one. We were a little surprised to be the only ones there, as some of the paths through the woodland surrounding the site seemed well-trodden. It was quite an eerie place, particularly as there's a lot of original Nazi insignia and propaganda still adorning the walls. It was a great little explore however, and something very different to my previous escapades.
When the Germans had conquered France, they started building cross-channel guns on the French coast. These were long range coastal artillery pieces which were intended to bombard enemy ships in the Channel and also English coastal towns and military installations. Four 38cm Siegfried guns were placed near the little village of Haringzelle. These enormous guns weighted 111 tonnes (109 ST), were 18m (724 in) long and could fire every 30 seconds a 800kg (1800 lb) shell. The same type of gun was also used on the Bismarck-class battleships.
Normally these guns were placed in open concrete gun positions, relying on their armour for defence. But Hitler thought that was not enough protection for these massive guns since they were so close to the enemy. He ordered reinforced concrete casemates 3.5m (11 ft) thick and 10m (33ft) high built over and around the mounts. These casemates were built in a little forest patch and also camouflaged.
EXPLORE
Drove past this place by chance on a recent holiday in Northern France and couldn't resist the urge to pull over and check it out. One of the turms has been turned into a museum, but I prefer my history to be a bit more raw (and, of course, free) so we avoided that and headed straight to this one. We were a little surprised to be the only ones there, as some of the paths through the woodland surrounding the site seemed well-trodden. It was quite an eerie place, particularly as there's a lot of original Nazi insignia and propaganda still adorning the walls. It was a great little explore however, and something very different to my previous escapades.
