Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

WN · StP. Groupe St-Valéry en Caux · AOK 15 Haute-Normandie · France

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

St-Valery en Caux west of Dieppe east of Le Havre set with steep cliffs each side. On the west cliff (falaise Aval) is Va09.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

The green routes are tracks/paths that I believe you can see any remains from. We did not walk this side as we did not have the time.

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Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

2 x R621 groupe shelter.

1 x SK (90P9 observation.

1 x Fire control post (Leitstand).

6 x Feldmässig bunkers.

3 x Geschützstellung (open emplacement).

1 x 5cm KwK Ringstand.

2 x 7.5cm F.K.16 neu Art.

2 x R669? casemates with added flanking walls.

1 x Tobruk?

The defence we are looking at starts in front of the house at the top in the trees.

04 March 2012

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

2 - Pos. R621 groupe shelter.

9 - Emplacement for artillery 7.5cm F.K..

10 - Casemate pos.R692.

11 - Machine gun concrete casemate.

12 - Observation post with a Cloche 90P9.

13 - Concreted gun emplacements for 7.5cm F.K.

SHM 1946

Observation post with a Cloche 90P9 at Die03 Dieppe..

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

9th USAAF 18 June 1945.

NARA

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

1945 air photo that I have marked out to the best I can of the defences. I have no real information of what is here and really only guessing from what I can see.

IGNF 1945

SK Observation bunker.
1 - entrance.
2 - crew room.

3 - cupola room.

4 - emergency escape. — SK Observation bunker. 1 - entrance. 2 - crew room. 3 - cupola room. 4 - emergency escape.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

Top R669 casemate with flanking wall. Also what could be the Ringstand for a 5cm KwK gun.

IGNF

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

The bottom R669 also with or is it without a flanking wall?

IGNF

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

Radar site:

14 - 5cm KwK.

15 - Radar.

16 - Concrete barrack/working buildings set into the ground.

17 - Garage. So this area looks to have been almost a separate site for a radar instillation.

SHM 1946

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

This is the plan of the radar site for the RAF's fighter bomber targets.

AIR 40/1668 Rhubarb - Appendix XII Coastal Radar Stations.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

Low flying reconnaissance photo of the radar on the cliff.

AIR 40/1668 Rhubarb - Appendix XII Coastal Radar Stations.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

Already in 1939, an other successor to the "X-System" was conceived. It retained the director-beam ("Marschleitstrahl") concept of the "X-System". But rather than using a cross-beam to mark the position of the target along that beam [and "speed measurement" point], it used a transponder system (?? "Emil" Kontroll-E-Messung???) that allowed the ground controller to determine the aircraft's distance from the beacon (of course "slant range", not distance over ground). Ground controlled bomb release command, X-clock at ground control station. After a fixed delay time, the transponder in the aircraft would retransmit the received signal at a different frequency (1.9 MHz lower). The interrogator ground station would derive the range from the total round-trip signal delay, minus the fixed delay. The ground controllers would command release of the bombs ("Abwurfkommando", based on the range, via VHF R/T. This was called the "Y-System" ("Y-Verfahren", ref. 6G, 244D), US/UK Allied code name "Benito" (system or beacon?). It became operational in September of 1940. As the procedure involved a ground controller, the number of aircraft that could use the system simultaneously, was limited.?
I found this in the axishistory forum, a plan of the radars in the area.

Forum axishistory Radar Normandie

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

'Y' Benito.

AIR 20/1647

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

GROUND CONTROL SYSTEMS, Benito. The Benito system of control using FuGe 16, known to the Germans as "Y". The following paragraphs deal with recent developments. When operating the bomber Benito procedure with the narrow beam. (0.3°) essential for azimuth accuracy, it was easy for the bomber pilot to get on to one of the side lobes in error since these were only about 3° from the main beam. In order to minimize the possibility of mistake and to relieve the pilot of the strain of flying on a beam, an automatic device, the FuGe 28a, was in use which was the improved and final form of the old Y-Gerät of 1941. Documents dated about June 1944 show that it was used in conjunction with FuGe 17, but POW's thought that it had been modified for use with FuGe 16ZY as well. The procedure was that the bomber pilot flew on instructions conveyed over the FuGe 17 until it had been established by ground D/F stations that he was on the true beam, when the code word "Bako" would be given whereupon the pilot would switch on the FuGe 28a which took over control of the automatic pilot and kept him on the beam. POW's gave the accuracy of range measurement with the Bomber Benito procedure as only ± 1 km. at maximum range.

axis Radar Normandie

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

9th USAAF 18 June 1945.

NARA

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

AIR 40/1668 Rhubarb - Appendix XII Coastal Radar Stations.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

1940 thousands of troops in the 51st Highland Division were forced to surrender. Despite a heroic last stand at St Valéry-en-Caux which followed nearly 10 days of fighting the Division had to surrender when efforts to evacuate them were unsuccessful. (Twitter) A combination of poor weather and the proximity of German artillery made escape impossible and the Division was forced to surrender on 12th June 1940, following a final battle at St-Valéry-en-Caux, a fishing port west of Dieppe. They had to make a harrowing forced march from France to Poland with little food or shelter and were held as a POW for the remainder of the war.

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Highlanders in the station square at St Valéry-en-Caux,
1 September 1944. — Highlanders in the station square at St Valéry-en-Caux, 1 September 1944.

Va09 St-Valéry falaise aval

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