Wn17 de Colleville ('Hohe 61') [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

WN · K.V.Gruppe River-Bella (Sword & Juno Beaches) · AOK 7 Normandy · France

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Stab I./A.R.1716.
Artillerie-Regiment 1716 : Kommandeur : Oberstleutnant Helmut Knüppe
Gefechtsstand : La Folie/Beuville (?)
I./1716 : Kdr : Gefechtsstand : Colomby-sur-Thaon
1./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Merville ; Leutnant Raimund Steiner
2./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Colleville-sur-Orne (Wn16)
3./1716 : 4x 7,5cm FK16 n.A. - Bréville ; Hauptmann Schimpf
4./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - Ouistreham (Château d'Eau/Wn12)
II./1716 : Kdr :
Gefechtsstand : Crépon (Wn35b)
5./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Wn36a ; Oberleutnant Theimer
6./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - La Mare-Fontaine (Wn32)
7./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Bény-sur-Mer ; Hauptmann Wilhelm Franke
III./1716 : Kdr :
Gefechtsstand : La Cambe
8./1716 : 4x 10cm leFH 14/19 (t) - Maisy La Martiniere (Wn84)
9./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - Maisy Les Perruques (Wn83)
10./1716 : 4x 15,5cm sFH 414 (f) - N.E. Bayeux ; Oberleutnant Rudolf Schaaf

From D-DAY : ETAT DAES LIEUX

Plan of his R608/SK with the tunnel running out to the cupola.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

From D-DAY : ETAT DAES LIEUX

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

So, against my better judgment I decided to take my two very good friends to Normandy. After Pegasus Bridge, we drove up here on all the back roads and arrived in bright sunshine. It was lunch time, I had managed to get a Baguette in the Boulanger in Bénouville. We walked out to the R608/SK and sat on the seats provided. I explained to my friends that in the 20 odd years I had visited "Hillman" (the Allied code word on D-Day for the position). That I had never been inside the two bunkers. Whilst away, placing the paper rappers in the waste bin, my two friends sat looking at the view out to sea. Just then a group of "Hillman" volunteers came trudging back from working somewhere to the west on the site. The volunteers all said Bonjour, my friends duly answered and one volunteer stopped and asked were they enjoying the day, etc. A conversation continued and my friends mentioned that I had been here many times and that I had never been inside the bunkers. (It was not an open day, but a workday). One volunteer said, would we liked to look in as he had the key. So thats how I managed after 20 years to see inside one of the R608/SK bunkers at "Hillman". The main picture is Hugh, Hugh's father landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, but like a lot of ex service members of that period, had never told his son what he had done. The other friend we will meet again soon inside the bunker.

21 April 2023

1st Battalion,18th Infantry Regiment,1st Infantry Division during high tide on Easy Red sector of Omaha beach.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

The bunkers Tobruk and second entrance.

09 March 2013 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 09 March 2013

'Antenneinfurungsrohr' - antenna feed-in tube.
The aerial tube without the cap on the top. — 'Antenneinfurungsrohr' - antenna feed-in tube. The aerial tube without the cap on the top.

09 March 2013

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

At the end is the Close Combat Defence Embrasure (CCDE). On the right the 491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

09 March 2013

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

491P2 Gittertür (Screen-Door).

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

There may have been a sink here to wash in before entering the bunker.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

The second entrance and 434P01. 6025 type. When the bunker was excavated due to it being used as a dumping ground after the war, it was found that there were no fittings what so ever. The French Navy found out what they were doing and offered them all sorts of items from their, becoming redundant old U-Boat pens of Brest & Lorient.

21 April 2023

434P01 door.
6025 left door. — 434P01 door. 6025 left door.

This is a 6026 type door opening from the opposite side.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Entrance gas lock.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

R608 Battalion or Regimental Head Quarters.
Plan
This is an Allied plan dated 1943.
MI 10b/701 May'45 ABW
Store room - Chart room/Planning room - Wireless
None-Commissioned Officer - Work room - Gas lock
Commander
Crew - Ventilation - Heating - Close Combat Defence.
Escape

(MI could be Military Intelligence?)

MI 10b/701 May'45 ABW

04 June 1944 Oberst Ludwig Krug, commander of 736th Infantry Regiment, whose HQ is at the blockhouse codenamed "Hohe 61".

MI 10b/701 May'45 ABW

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Work Room. This is the desk of the Officer who drew the maps of this part of the Normandy coast. He would have to update it on a daily basis. Going out to see what had been built, how many more guns, mines, etc had been laid out and then re draw the map and then send copies out to all the neighboring units. This was a very important job.

21 April 2023

'Achtung Feind hürt mit' - Attention enemy is listening.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Work Room. The carpet was laid to stop the soldiers boots scraping on the concrete and annoying the Colonel.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

'Gasschutztur' 19P7 gas tight door, a rubber seal running all around the doors lip, seals the door and a small glass window, allows viewing. There are two large handles each side that allow the door to be opened and closed and also pulled tight against the seal. All he inner doors would be this type.

21 April 2023

Steel armoured pieces awaiting delivery.

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Colonel Ludwig Krug private work room.

21 April 2023

Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Richter.

Possibly from this desk:
“Colonel Ludwig Krug, telephoned his commander, General Wilhelm Richter. ‘Herr General,’ he said, ‘the enemy are on top of my bunker. They are demanding my surrender. I have no means of resisting and no contact with my own men. What am I to do?’ There was a long pause down the line. General Richter had received nothing but bad news all day. ‘Herr Oberst,’ he replied, ‘I can no longer give you any orders. You must act on your own judgment. Auf Wiedersehen.”

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Chart room.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Chart/Wireless Room.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Passage to the short tunnel out to the cupola.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Base of the cupola.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Infantry observation cupola type 749p3 for the PC (Command Post). The original was removed and the steel scrapped. This is not a fighting cupola and does not turn, as spoken about in the numerous reports of the battle for Hillman.

21 April 2023

A pair of binoculars very like this may have been used in the cupola.

Infantry observation cupola type 749p3 for the PC (Command Post).

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Looking back into the bunker.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Crew room.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Ventilation room. Graham talking to one of the Hillman guides. Thank you for allowing us access.

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Ventilation room. 'Bei Gasgefahr Verbindungsstück mit herausnehmen Raumfilter einsetzen'. In case of gas hazard, remove the connecting piece and insert the room filter. These filters could be run by an electric motor or manually by a large handle. This one still works.

21 April 2023

21 April 2023

Wn17 de Colleville ("Hohe 61") [Hillman], R806/SK Command Bunker

Heating room. A nice coal burner, or wood. Water was heated and circulated around the radiators. The hand pump on the side was to top up the local water supply.

21 April 2023