Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach', K.V.U. Festung St-Malo, K.V.Gruppe Rance, KVA A1, AOK 7

K.V.Gruppe Rance · AOK 7 Brittany · France

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Several occupied ports were made into Festung's, fortress's and defended by extra troops and guns. A ring of casemates circled the inland side of St Malo and continued around to Dinard. Inside this there were many batteries, this is one of them.
Batterie 4./A.R.177.
4 x R611 casemates.
4 x Geschützstellung.
1 x R621.
1 x R610.
4 x 15.5cm s.F.H.18(f).
1 x 2cm Flak 30.

Updated information : -
My visit in 2013, I was able to wonder around quite freely. But now at least three casemates are closed to any public access. They are being used by the factories as storage facilities and wired off.
They are not protected by the equivalent French National Trust or on any list for saving.
There is at least one more bunker, which one I am not sure, now covered in earth and grassed over.
Thank you to Cedrick for this information. 26/09/2022.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

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Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, ´Battr. Kahlenbach´

The Batterie today with factory units places around it and the green field is now gradually filling with housing. The R610 & the R621 have both as far as we could see have been built over. The four main casemates are still in place and in very good condition. Three are open and one is used by the house in front of it.

IGNF

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

This is how it looked in the late 50's.

1950

Behind each casemate was an open emplacement set behind it, they may have been there before the casemates were built and kept on so they could be used to fie 360deg.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

R611 a very large casemate with a gun room, a passage through the middle to a rear door, two ammunition rooms, a crew room, close combat defence room and a Tobruk all around defence.

24 November 2013

15.5cm Field Howitzer a French weapon captured and used in large numbers in the German army.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

This is where the gun sat with the long passage to the rear door.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

The rear door in the centre with a close combat defence window covering the rear and a Tobruk nod half cut away due to the a factory being built to its right.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

The Tobruk has been cutaway to allow a building to be placed band it and its quite a good way of showing how they were made.

24 November 2013

A speaking tube connected the gunner to the bunker below.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Ammunition rooms to the left and to the right the entrance to the close combat & crew room.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Close combat & crew room passage. A heavy double 434P01 door with half at the top & half at the bottom with a slot in the top section to view through.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Close combat room. A defence window to cover the rear door and also to act as a small guard room to check crew in and out.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Close combat defence window. As the years go by and you get to know these bunker you notice gradually that small pieces get removed and here there is very little left.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Passageway to crew room. Toilet paper is an added extra!!

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach',

Crew room. Some additional details will go here

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

R611 crew room. Now looking towards the door with the internal close combat window which only covers the back door.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Cable Ducting by the crew room Door.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Cable Ducting by the crew room door. Now cabling above the crew door. The bunker was built and then all electrics and fittings were added afterwards and funnily enough painted last?

24 November 2013

This is an other bunker wall with cabling coming down to fittings that have been painted around.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Ammunition room. Two ammunition rooms, the forward one is the shell room.

24 November 2013

It may have looked like this, there would have been shaped wooden pallets fitted between the the shells.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Case room. This room held the case a brass tube filled with cordite.

24 November 2013

Wooden boxes would hold cordite powder like the ones here. These were for a 10.5cm gun. I believe seven were used in a 10.0cm case.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

The ammunition room exit. This is the way out of the two ammunition rooms with individual light switches either side.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

The gun would sit here and the trails would fit into the half round slots laid into the floor and the two tubes set either side of the rear passage was for placing the spent cases after they had been fired and they went down into a small basement to be collected later for re-use.

24 November 2013

Plan of an R611 spent case room or baseman but was never used or designed as a fighting room.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Where the main work of the bunker was to be. The battle for Dinard the attack came in from the rear so I am presuming that these guns never fired inside their bunkers but were removed and placed to the rear to fire on the Americans working up the railway line which runs to the left of this Batterie.

24 November 2013

The four casemates with four emplacements to their rear and the railway line on the left.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

The Side View. In the rear is the Tobruk. In the middle a chimney for removing the gases when the gun is fired and below it a small what looks like a water tank??? I have no idea what this is for.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Gun room embrasure. Sloping gutter across the front to allow rain water to drain away.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Gun room. Two steel plates to take the wheels of the gun and the half round slots for the gun trail to fit in to.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Gun room embrasure. No gutter fitted to this one??

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Looks like a direct hit.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Light switch fitting. This one still has the wood to screw a light switch.

24 November 2013

As well as electric light carbide lamps were used in great numbers.

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Tobruk defence. The step ladders up to the Tobruk and two handles to climb inside all still there.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

Inside the Tobruk showing the detail of the speaking tube and possibly a sort of phone communication on the right.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

My father would comment 'Jerry built' to poor craftsmanship which is unusual as VW has proved him wrong but the building of bunkers with the use of temporary and unskilled labour meant a lot of German war building was very sub standard. Here where bomb or shell splinters have knocked away the outer skin, the internal mix was very low on sand & cement and is Just flaking away.

24 November 2013

Ra155 Ville es Mesneirs, 'Battr. Kahlenbach'

24 November 2013