StP Douvres I “Distelfink” radar outer defence

This covers the outer defence.
StP Douvres I Luftwaffe station "Distelfink" just behind the beach this StP was the main radar site covering Bay of the Seine was made operational in late September 1943. This radar instillation was placed here to watch for heavy bombers flying day & night entering and exiting German airspace around the Seine estuary.
8./Luft.Nachr.Rgt 53.
Commander Oberleutnant Kurt Egle.
2 x L409A 3.7cm Flak emplacement.
1 x L410A 3.7cm Flak emplacement & command post.
Flak guns were 2cm Flak 30 and not 3.7cm Flak.
2 x FuSE 65 Würzburg Riese.
2 x Freya Fu.450 & 401.
1 x L479 'Anton' bunker.
1 x L486 radar bunker.
3 x R622 twin gruppe bunker.
1 x R661 bunker for casualty assembly.
1 x Wasser bunker.
5 x Nr.1694 Ringstand's for 5cm KwK guns.
5 x 5cm KwK L/60.
4 x Vf8 Tobruk's.
1 x Nr.1699 Tobruk.
1 x L413 ammunition bunker for a 3.7cm Flak batterie.
2 x Vf/MG.
2 x V229 radar sockets.
1 x FT-MG.311 (f) tank turret.
1 x Pak stand.
2 x PAK garages.

RAF Allied intelligence plan of the radar site.

'Rhubarb' targets for the RAF ground attack aircraft to destroy before D-Day.

Rhubarb – fighter or fighter-bomber sections, at times of low cloud and poor visibility, crossing the English Channel and then dropping below cloud level to search for opportunity targets such as railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft on the ground, enemy troops, and vehicles on roads.

Another view for the pilots to see what the whole area looked like before they left southern England.

This is the site today, inside the yellow lines is the museum and the rest is in open farm land.

The museum on a very snowy MARCH when it should have been sunny.

There were two Wurzburg Reice Fu.SE65. This one was moved here close to the museum entrance and is not the original.

Tobruk area defence covering the Douvres road. This is an Nr1699 type Tobruk.

The other side of the road is a Wacht or guard post. There may have been a barrier or a Belgian Gate to close off the road.

Wacht or guard post.

With the Wacht on my left and the Tobruk just down the road on the left, this is an ideal place for a check point.

Lip of the Nr 1699 Tobruk.

A Vf8 Tobruk covering this side of the defence. All to the right was a mine field and barbed wire. Around the middle of the picture was one of the FuSE 65 Würzburg Reise radar..

5cm KwK L/60in an Nr 1694 Ringstand.

5cm KwK L/60in an Nr 1694 Ringstand.

One of the five Nr. 1694 Ringstand's that were here.

L413 ammunition bunker for a 3.7cm AA batterie.

L413 ammunition bunker for a 3.7cm AA batterie.

I have listed on this air photo where I think some of the items I photographed in November 2010

A Vf8 Tobruk or a plant pot.

Vf8 Tobruk.

L410A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun, and command post for the Flak guns.

L410A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun, and command post for the Flak guns.

L410A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun and command post for the Flak guns.
The crew shelter and ammunition niches and also for spare barrels, which get very hot with sustained fire and need changing regularly.

L410A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun, and command post for the Flak guns.
The niche where all the cables came in from the command post.

L410A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun
How It may have looked when in action but with a 2cm not a 3.7cm.

And this is the view that the gunners would have had when both attacks came in, their gun would have fired against the Canadians and basically defeated them The Canadians actually did not realise at the time how well the defence was and so, bypassed the radar station and left it to others to just hold. It was later that the Commandos attacked, but when they did, they used a massive artillery barrage and specialist mine clearing and other 'Funnies' to breach the defences..
The German radar station at Douvres-la-Délivrande in Normandy was attacked twice in June 1944 by British and Canadian forces. An initial assault occurred on June 7 by the 5th Battalion The Black Watch and Canadian units supported by Sherman and Churchill AVRE tanks. The final successful assault on June 17, 1944, was carried out by British No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando, backed by heavy artillery and specialist mine-clearing and assault tanks from the 79th Armoured Division.

In a far field, the remains of trenches and bunkers.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun.
Hooks for the camouflage netting.

L4090A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Guns.
Inside the emplacement and when the gun was in position, the entrance would have been closed off with possibly wooden bulks of timber, and this was the troops way in and out. It looks small now, but it is bigger than it looks.

Blown off pieces of concrete lying around.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun No.2.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun No.2.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun No.2.
Small niche for the radio/telephone operator to shelter.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun No.2.
Damage from the many attacks by RAF and ground troops.

L409A Emplacement for a 3.7cm Flak Gun No.2.

I believe this is a trench bridge.

This looks like a bridge over a trench at Dauvres.

Gun garage.

Gun garage.
As these and there was two here, are quite small garages. Then I would presume they are for a 3.7cm or a 5cm Pak gun. The niche in the back wall is to allow the end of the barrel to fit in.

Gun garage.
The name Maroi is rare and has a few possible origins. It can appear as a rare family surname or a modern given name, potentially linked to Swiss-German or South-German roots as a pet form of Martin.