StP106 'Dresden' M.A.A.244 Batterie MII Sangatte
BATTERIE · K.V.Gruppe Calais · AOK 15 Nord Pas de Calais · France
StP106 Dresden
Batterie MAA 244 a three 17cm S.K.L/40
gun batterie set into the cliff face with an SK (Sonder Konstruktion - special cons.) fire control post. Half the site is in accessible due to it being in a garden, the rest you can see from the cliff top walk or if the tide is out, along the beach. Parking is easy and there is a access to the cliff edge path past the last building in Sangatte.
In the summer 1940 the Kriegsmarine installed 4 17cm average batteries between Waldam and Gris-Nez for the close defense of the Seelöwe Operation to attack Britain.
This is one of the four M batteries, they were named “Coastal batteries M” of the Marine Artillery Abteilung 244.
StP Waldam, Fort Vert M.K.B. MI.
StP Dresden M.K.B. MII.
StP164a Sickingen M.K.B. MIV.
StP106 Dresden
StP106 Dresden
Batterie MAA 244
Commanded by Kapitänleutnant Edelbert Specker with 1 Officer, 24 NCO´s and 106 Men.
2 x M270 Casemates.
1 x SK Fire Control Post (Leitstand).
1 X Wellblech.
1 x SK/Scheinwerfer
2 x Feldm bunkers.
1 x SK bunker.
3 x Munitionsbunkers.
3 x Vf Machine gun stands.
1 x Wellblech + Flak.
3 x 17cm S.K.L/40 guns.
2 x 7.62 F.K.39(r).
2 x 4cm Flak 28.
1 x 2.5cm Pak112(f).
2 x 4cm Flak 28 Bofors type.
1 x 2cm Flak 28
1944
StP106 Dresden
Wellblech/Flak for a 2cm Flak 28 Oerlikon.
15 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
View from the beach.
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StP106 Dresden
Flak tower just gives the gun a bit of height above ground level to see very low flying fighters coming across the channel.
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StP106 Dresden
Door into the Wellblech bunker was a
434PO1 type armoured door comes in two halves with a small opening to look out or poke a gun through.
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StP106 Dresden
Going inside.
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StP106 Dresden
Inside the crew Wellblech bunker.
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StP106 Dresden
Escape tunnel.
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StP106 Dresden
Escape tunnel outside. The Wellblech would be almost covered in earth and a concrete or brick lined tunnel leading out at the top..
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StP106 Dresden
The escape and the insets in the wall to take the concrete or brick tunnel, there would also be a set of iron ladders up the wall to climb out.
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StP106 Dresden
Flak tower with a couple of layers of brick around the top to give extra cover for the crew. The guns crew could be as little as one man in an emergency to probably three at the gun and one carrying ammunition up to the roof.
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StP106 Dresden
The view with the old hotel.
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StP106 Dresden
One of three ammunition bunkers that were on the complete site.
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StP106 Dresden
An old Marine style munitions bunker.
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StP106 Dresden
A quite small two roomed bunker.
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StP106 Dresden
Not sure why a cable run has been cut into the concrete, it may have been done post war??
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StP106 Dresden
Usually these bunkers would have had a Marine door say a T8 Marine double ships type door but here there was just a single door with two hinges of unknown type??
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StP106 Dresden
Inside the left room. I do not know if this was for the Flak guns or the main guns. 17cm shells would fill this Munitionsbunker very quickly, so it may have been for the 2cm Oerlikon Flak 28 gun??
15 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
Inside the right room.
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StP106 Dresden
This is an individual Wellblech (Corrugated iron) style bunker just for crew or ammunition, it could be either.
15 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
I believe this was Turm1 the open emplacement. Also another SK/Ammunition store and a Wellblech bunker.
StP106 Dresden
Turm3 of StP106 Dresden (Sangatte Batterie) 17cm S.K. L/40.
WO 33/1831
StP106 Dresden
WO 33/1831
StP106 Dresden
This is the ramp down to the beach and when the tide is out, you have plenty of time to look at the batterie from the sand.
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StP106 Dresden
The Wellblech looking up from the beach.
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StP106 Dresden
Unknown bits an pieces, some now vanished and others a mystery??
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StP106 Dresden
18 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
There may have been one of the machine gun bunkers.
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StP106 Dresden
So I wonder what it was?
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StP106 Dresden
There are many odd buildings probably built by the crews that manned the defence and could not await official channels, so they got on and made what they wanted.
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StP106 Dresden
I have seen it said that it could be the site of a searchlight and there was one on the batterie site??
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StP106 Dresden
A dug in MG emplacement, probably accessed by a tunnel from behind.
This is exactly the area that Hitler and his Generals expected an invasion to come.
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StP106 Dresden
Very like some at Omaha beach area.
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StP106 Dresden
M270 Casemate designed for the Marines (Navy) and used widely. A large emplacement to house a 17cm S.K.L140 gun with its own shield..
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StP106 Dresden
This could be before the FCP was built?? Three Belgian gates protecting the batterie from assault from the sea.
DEFE 2/2092 1944
StP106 Dresden
18 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
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StP106 Dresden
SK fire control post.
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StP106 Dresden
It looks to have a higher upper viewing platform with a wider slit than standard models like the
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StP106 Dresden
Three levels of viewing.
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StP106 Dresden
An odd opening in the lower front of the Leitstand?
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StP106 Dresden
Another nice side view showing the added brickwork and concrete to give the lower lookouts more cover, usually added just before D-Day when in the early 1944 a lot of beefing up of emplacements was carried out.
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StP106 Dresden
You can see in this close up showing the added brickwork and concrete observation room. Inside would be the computing room where the information seen would be transferred to the guns teams.
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StP106 Dresden
Observation.
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StP106 Dresden
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StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
18 May 2018 WO 33/1831 Rep. on German Coastal Defrnces
StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
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StP106 Dresden
You can see how the sea erosion has taken away a lot of the cliff and getting worse.
DEFE 2/2092 1944
StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
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StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
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StP106 Dresden
17cm S.K.L/140 gun.
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StP106 Dresden
The Fire Control Tower in the middle with two M270 casemates either side. There was another open emplacement for a the third S.K.L/140 gun somewhere, two 7.62 F.K.39(r) field guns, a 2.5cm Pak 112(f) for anti-tank defence and 2 x 4cm Flak 28 Bofors type.
18 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
This is the original Dresden three gun batterie in open emplacements before the casemates were built.
DEFE 2/2092 1944
StP106 Dresden
Unsure of this bunker but it may be another Munitionsbunker or an Vf/crew bunker?
18 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
On the top of the cliff several home made bunkers can be found.
15 May 2018
StP106 Dresden
Built with local bricks, probably from bombed out houses in Calais.
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StP106 Dresden
Escape hatch from an underground bunker.
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StP106 Dresden
A Tobruk which may be part of the western M270 casemate?
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StP106 Dresden
Another concrete structure close to the cliff.
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StP106 Dresden
Looking along its length.
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StP106 Dresden
Now looking back.
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StP106 Dresden
This is a bunker just behind the cliff.
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StP106 Dresden
Barbed wire hanging out of the cliff.
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StP106 Dresden
Whilst laying out StP106 Dresden, I was sailing past StP106 in the P&O cruise ship, Azura bound for Southampton.
15 May 2018