Merville Gun Battery | |
---|---|
Part of Atlantic Wall | |
Normandy, France | |
Type | Artillery battery |
Site information | |
Owner | Nazi Germany 1942–44 France 1944–present |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Several casemates and trench system |
Site history | |
Built | World War II |
Built by | Organisation Todt |
In use | 1942-1944 |
Materials | Concrete, steel, barbed wire |
Battles/wars | Normandy landings, Operation Tonga |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Wehrmacht |
The Merville Gun Battery is a decommissioned coastal fortification in Normandy, France, which was built as part of the Germans' Atlantic Wall to defend continental Europe from Allied invasion. It was a particularly heavily fortified position and one of the first places to be attacked by Allied forces during the Normandy Landings commonly known as D-Day. A British force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway succeeded in capturing this position, suffering heavy casualties.