StP166 M.K.B. Todt Turm 4

Turm 4 is the only casemate with easy free access. It sits out on the left flank of the batterie, looking over the channel coast. Very imposing. Its job when first envisaged back in 1940, was to protect a channel invasion of England. With other large batteries of artillery, closing off the channel to the Royal Navy. Originally made in open emplacements (Geschützstshartensand) and then later casemated. These casemates were built to a Kriegsmarine design. SK stands for Sonderkonstruktionen - Special construction and Geschützstshartensand - Gun hard stand.

The gun barrels being brought from the closest railway station that could handle their weight and size. The three half tracks are Sdkfz 9 Famo 18ton tractors. The gun is a 38 cm SK C/34 naval gun developed in the late 1930s. It was designed to arm the Bismarck class battleships..

The view walking to the casemate.

 

The gun room, absolutely huge.

The Geschützstshartensand - Gun hard stand is in place. Strong outriggers are being constructed to carry a moving crane gantry to lift the gun on its platform. Members of the Todt Organization with the 3.Komp./Marine-Pionier-Bataillon 316 helping.

Geschützstshartensand. The gantry now assembled and ready to drop the gun and all its mountings, on the hold fast bolt ring. Note the double nuts are sitting on the threads ready for the gun.

Lovely blue sky with views to the white cliffs in the far distance.

 

Out in the small wood is a Tobruk defence and an Unterstand. We only found the Tobruk.

The entrance into the Tobruk. This would have lead down to a trench system.

Looking into the entrance. A bit of a crawl.

Inside the Tobruk.

The view out. It may have had a complete cover over it with viewing slits?

I am too old for this. Another crawl out.

On the right is an SK/Wasser bunker, water bunker (StP166 M.K.B. Todt). On the left a fire control post. A Vf/Beobachtung (observation). Wn168 Leyer, Cran Mademoiselle süd.

Vast, what a monster.

Geschützstshartensand. Gun in place and can be test fired.

Walking up to the casemate.

A Vf58c Tobruk with a non standard cover over it, to protect the crew inside from the constant bombing. John checking his ISO.

The main entrance to the bunker.

Geschützstshartensand. More than likely this was a regular firing of one of the guns. The construction has started for casemating the gun.

Shell store and crew entrance showing the overhead monorail gantry to collect the ammunition and transport it to the shell & case store room. A monorail ran from the door and with switching points, could then go. Either to the shell store or the case store. All using a block and tackle hoist to lift the shells.

The monorail running around from the door entrance into the bunker.

The first plan is an Allied plan drawn up after its capture.

Entrance passage coming in from the right and straight in front is the stair hall. In the roof the monorail fittings can be seen.

Stair hall, on the right side, stairs would lead down to the lower floor. All now blocked off.

Coming out into the ammunition passage.

The casemating has moved on a pace, the walls are gradually being built up. This looks like Turm 1 as you can see two entrances into the gun room for ammunition. This I believe was discarded on at least Turm 4 and maybe the others? It allowed re supply via the rear of the casemate. On Turm 4 resupply is through the main ammunition entrance.

Looking into the shell store.

A huge arrangement for lifting in place the massive I beams.

Geschützstshartensand. The gun room with the large concrete mound to mount the 'Lafette' on. Lafette - carriage or here, gun carriage

 

You can see the raised lip ran around the ammunition annular passage. There may have been a small railway line and trucks could be pushed around from the flash proof hatches.

Ammunition passage.

Shell room, this would have been stacked with 38cm shells.

Flashtight scuttle with a shell in place ready to enter the gun room.

Continuing along the shell passage, on the plan it states there should be a lift to the lower level. I am not sure this was fitted here. Niche on left side, may have held a panel with a phone and also a way of saying what shell, powder & case was needed for each firing. There were several types of shell. As the technology moved on a rocket assisted shell was used and also a SABOT round. This is an outer cover that when fired is discarded and a dart like shell continues. Both types revolutionary, both able to fly further, but both had limited explosive power. These may not have been used here. SABOT - a device which ensures the correct positioning of a bullet or shell in the barrel of a gun, attached either to the projectile or inside the barrel and falling away as it leaves the muzzle Sabot - a kind of simple shoe, shaped and hollowed out from a single block of wood, traditionally worn by French and Breton peasants.

Cartridge store.

Casemate under construction I cannot imagine what it would have been like to fire the gun now.

Looking back into the cartridge store. It has two entrance doors, one for ammunition and the other between the two ammunition stores.

The way out of the cartridge store. The ammunition monorail can be seen coming through the top of the door. The doors were on the inside, you can just see the door frame running around. Probably a 434P01 Einganstür double door. Einganstür - entrance.

Heading out of the ammunition part of the bunker.

3.Komp./Marine-Pionier-Bataillon 316.

Looking into the Wellblech style store room. This was not an after thought as all the bunkers I believe have them added on??

The Wellblech with its escape hatch in the far wall.

This is the rear of the casemate and the direction the Canadians advanced onto the batterie. Also this is the area of the casemate where a lot of tank shells were directly fired at it. On the roof was a Flak gun, an Oerlikon.

Gun has been ready to fire for a few months and then the Geschützstshartensand needed to be casemated and the roof was placed over it. This is absolutely fine if the enemy stays in front of the gun. But when the Canadians attacked, they did it from the rear and the guns could not be used on them. Whilst the Canadians were advancing, the guns started to fire off ammunition at England. A sort of spite attack. This ended when the first Canadian soldiers started to throw grenades into the casemate entrances. The batterie troops (seamen) gave in very quickly once it was realised the battle was lost. Once the Todt batterie was consolidated, the Canadians then advanced on Cap Griz Nez and the next batterie of guns the StP155 MKB 'Grosser Kurfürst'.

I do not know what the basket on the back is.

Escape hatch. A tunnel running horizontally out of the bunker and the turning 90° to the vertical This would be filled with sand or gravel, Why, so that it is nearly impossible for an enemy to dig it out and enter the bunker, but from inside, the sand/gravel can be withdrawn through the passage and crawling out.

The view from the roof of the ammunition store. There would have been a breather vent around hear somewhere.

Foot prints on the wet concrete. We often find these.

The attack on the bunker, there are many hits on the rear. None have gone close to doing any real damage.

After the capture in September/October 1944. 'Undergo' was the Canadian reduction of the German pocket centred on Calais by Major General D. C. Spry’s 3rd Division (25 September/1 October 1944). The clearance of the north-east French coast between Dieppe and Antwerp, beginning with the 'Fusillade' and 'Wellhit' reductions of Dieppe and Boulogne respectively, was allocated to Lieutenant General G. G. Simonds’s Canadian II Corps of General H. D. G. Crerar’s Canadian 1st Army after Adolf Hitler had instructed Generaloberst Hans von Salmuth’s 15th Army to hold the Channel ports indefinitely. Hitler’s fixation on the notion that the Pas de Calais would by the primary Allied invasion area meant that most of the defences had been planned and constructed to counter an invasion from the sea, with the defence of the area from land assault, as in fact eventuated, provided only at the initiative of a succession of farther-thinking German local commanders. Five points were to be tackled in 'Undergo'. The first was the area around Cap Gris Nez, where four 380-mm (15-in) guns had been emplaced as the Batterie 'Todt'. The area of Floringzelle and Framzelle was the location of the Batterie 'Grösser Kurfürst', which had four 280-mm (11-in) guns with all-round traverse. The Batterie 'Gris Nez' had three 170-mm (6.7-in) guns, while the Batterie 'Wissant' farther to the east had 150-mm (5.9-in) guns all pointed out to sea. Another strong outpost was located near Sangatte, where the 406-mm (16-in) guns of the Batterie 'Lindemann' were emplaced in concrete bunkers with walls between 11 ft 10 in and 16 ft 1 in (3.6 and 4.9 m) thick. Other heavy gun positions were located at Escalles off Cap Blanc Nez. All these artillery batteries were shielded against air attack by batteries of anti-aircraft guns in calibres between 20 mm and 88 mm (3.465 in), most of which were converted for the defence of the Calais and Cap Gris Nez perimeters. The capture of Cap Gris Nez had meanwhile become an essentially separate operation. Supported by Crocodile flame-thrower tanks, flail mine clearing tanks and AVRE vehicles, the attack was to be launched after an artillery preparation by one field regiment, two medium regiments and two heavy artillery batteries. It was expected that more than 1,000 rounds would be fired and, as before, air observation post aircraft were available to direct fire. A unique form of artillery support involved the British coastal artillery battery in St Margaret’s Bay, Kent, whose railway guns fired 68 rounds and damaged all four guns of the Batterie 'Gris Nez' to varying extents. Bomber Command also made a signal contribution, dropping more than 3,500 HE bombs, and Typhoon fighter-bombers attacked targets of opportunity with rockets. The Cap Griz Nez part of 'Undergo' cost the Canadians 44 men including only five killed, while the Germans lost 26 officers and 1,500 other ranks captured. From Codenames operations of WW2 website.

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