Wn18 Colleville Plage "Skate" (Sword Beach)
K.V.Gruppe River-Bella (Sword & Juno Beaches) · AOK 7 Normandy · France
Wn18 Colleville Plage
10./ Grenadier-Regiment 736 of the 716th Static Division (Wehrmacht).
To the allies - Sword Beach, 'Roger' Green, code named Skate.
1 x R612 casemate.
1 x Ringstand for a 5cm KwK gun.
2 x Vf58c Tobruk's.
1 x Pz.T.FT.17 turret on a U shaped Tobruk.
1 x 5cm KwK L/60.
1 x 7.5cm F.K.231(f).
1 x 2.5cm Pak 112(f).
2 x Mine fields Mf.71 & 21.
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Wn18 Colleville Plage
These are all the defence positions printed onto this German map, also showing the command structure.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Red - defence structures.
Longer Red - possibly huts for troops.
Black line - barbed wire defence.
Black straight lines - anti-tank ditches and an A/T wall.
Green - trenches.
This area now is covered in houses, the road system is very much the same and it would have been with sand dunes along the beach.
1944
Wn18 Colleville Plage
The beach on a lovely day in November.
31 October 2016
Wn18 Colleville Plage
On D-day.
This was the defence position of ''Skate'' the code name given to Wn18 by the ''Bigot'' Allied planners.
June 1944 NA
Wn18 Colleville Plage
On D-day.
This was the defence position of ''Skate'' the code name given to Wn18 by the ''Bigot'' Allied planners.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Several AVRE's landed in front of the casemate and the 7.5cm Kannon managed to shoot tanks and landing craft before at least two rounds from a tank took it out. You can see the blast effects on the concrete.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Several AVRE's landed in front of the casemate and the 7.5cm Kannon managed to shoot tanks and landing craft before at least two rounds from a tank took it out. You can see the blast effects on the concrete.
09 March 2013
Wn18 Colleville Plage
The side of the casemate which was covered in sand.
09 March 2013
Wn18 Colleville Plage
The side of the casemate which was covered in sand.
09 March 2013
Wn18 Colleville Plage
R612 casemate the view from the landward side.
09 March 2013
Wn18 Colleville Plage
N° 4 Commando.
00 00 00
Wn18 Colleville Plage
The road to the French Redoute.
Wn18 Colleville Plage
French Redoute was used as part of the defence..
31 October 2016
Wn18 Colleville Plage
The 5cm KwK L60. This gun took out quite a few tanks and hit many landing craft.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Pz.T.FT.17 turret
on a U shaped Tobruk. A captured tank turret placed on a U Tobruk, a crew of one with shelving inside the Tobruk to stack ammunition. It would have held many hundreds of 7.92 rounds.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Pz.T.FT.17 turret
on a U shaped Tobruk, this is where the turret was set on top of the Tobruk. All this area has now been built over.
1940's/50's Post Card
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Wn18 beach defences with trenches on the edge of the beach and the R612 casemate behind.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
D-Day morning 6th of June 1944. The RAF & USAAF started bombing around 06.00am , then Naval units continued the bombardment and around 7.15am landing craft rockets fired on the beach, then around 07.25am the first units started to land to the west of Wn18.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Once the bombing, shelling and rocketing stopped the landings started. The whole coast of France was segmented into code names by the Allies. Here Sword Beach was split into Oboe, Peter, Queen & Roger and then again with Green, White and Red.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Wn18 is the V shaped roads on the left and the landings went in to the right of the picture.
Landing craft and tanks were attacked by the guns of Wn18. Many of the tanks were hit until one fired at least two rounds into the embrasure. Disabling the gun.
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Wn18 Colleville Plage
Looking down the beach to the west where the first landings took place. This is where the majority of tanks and soldiers came ashore on Sword Beach. The assault infantry here were the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment.
09 March 2013
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Sword Beach D-Day utter chaos.
Wn18 Colleville Plage
About 09.05 the Commandos started to land.
Just before touchdown, the congestion on the beach with so many tanks.
Landing Craft Infantry - LCI.
(L) - Large.
06 June 1944 about 09.00am
Wn18 Colleville Plage
About 09.05 the Commandos started to land.
They came in closer to Wn18 and took a lot of damage from the beach defences. Many landing craft were disabled and some sunk. Quite a lot of Commandos were killed & wounded and as it was high tide with a strong westerly wind the surf was running and the landing ships with boarding ramps (like this one in the picture) had a lot of trouble off loading the Commandos, as some ramps were washed away.
06 June 1944 about 09.00am
Wn18 Colleville Plage
A Centaur MK IV close support tank. This was a Cromwell with a 90mm short range gun that could support the Commandos on landing. About 46 were used on D-day.
06 June 1944 about 09.00am
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Commandos assembling on the beach.
06 June 1944 About 09.30am
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Memorial.
21 March 2015
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Memorial.
31 October 2016
Wn18 Colleville Plage
William "Bill" Millin the personal piper to Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, Commander of 1 Special Service Brigade on D-Day.
Lord Lovat is at Bill Millins left arm in the water wading ashore.
06 June 1944 about 09.00am
Wn18 Colleville Plage
Piper Bill Millin at Sword Beach.
31 October 2016
Wn18 Colleville Plage
31 October 2016