This impressive site takes you back to the dark days of the Second World War.
This impressive site takes you back to the dark days of the Second World War. In the immediate vicinity of Utah Beach, the enemy had installed a huge artillery battery - the largest on the Atlantic Wall - capable of covering an area stretching from Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue to Pointe du Hoc. For those in the know, the site was equipped with 21-centimetre guns, a must for the time. Under the command of Oberleutnant Walter Ohmsen, the garrison of 400 soldiers put up fierce resistance until June 12, 1944. A must-see site from which the first cannon shot was fired at dawn on June 6, 1944, it had fallen into total neglect and nature had reclaimed its rights (a wood had taken over here, and the casemates were filled with silt and water...). Some fifteen years ago, it was bought back by enthusiasts and restored so that it could be visited: a great idea! Today, you’ll follow a well-established route from the casemates to the various shelters, and will discover the entirety of a battery as you visit: dormitories, kitchen, ammunition bunkers, infirmary... You’ll be given plenty of explanations, and younger visitors will learn a lot about the site’s intense past. But the Battery also offers a busy programme of events: D-Day anniversaries, participation in Museum Night and the European Heritage Days, guided evening tours... A visit here leaves no one indifferent.
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Members' reviews on CRISBECQ BATTERY
Les scénographies et le parcours permettent de s'imprégner du quotidien des soldats dans cette batterie.