Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

WN · K.V.U.Gruppe Joburg · AOK 7 Normandy · France

1 x SK/(R606 type) 60cm Scheinwerfer. 1 x Early gun position? 1 x 20cm Flak?

60cm Scheinwerfer.
MKB Bunkertour. — 60cm Scheinwerfer. MKB Bunkertour.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

A very high level photo of Cap de la Hague and I have added several of the Wn defence numbers and by no means all of them. The Luftwaffe were here in strength, although there were no airfields on the Cap, there were many radar, Flak, Searchlight and radio navigation troops stationed here. Added to the technicians, they would also have had some defence troops to add to the Heers (army) artillery and infantry regiments serving here.

NIG No. 36355 24 September 1943

Movements for local French people would have been almost imposable, due to all the road blocks and checks. Keeping them away from sensitive sites.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Wn308 showing up well at the top of the Cap. The light could have picked up any ship (in good weather conditions) from here to Alderney. A light was probably placed here very early on in the occupation sat in a field with rudimentary accommodation and buildings. Then as casemating of gun bunkers started to be increased, other bunkers were added to the bunker list and this type would have had a priority. Radar was very important, but radar could be duped with 'Window' and other electronic devices. Also the RAF had a bad habit of shooting up radars. So an old fashioned search light would still be needed.

German plan of its defences.

The light could see any shipping using the channel and the guns of StP356 Auderville Laye H.K.B. (E. Batt 685) and also the guns of MB 2 M.K.B. Batt. Annes on Alderney covered this stretch.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

A USAAF B26 Marauder medium bomber with invasion stripes flying over the Cap and arrowed is the area of Wn308. Marauders bombed the Cap many times and every now and then we find the odd bomb crater.

00-00-00

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

A low level target photo showing what the area of the Cap looks like from the sea. The target is the inland radar sites, of which there are many.

00-00-00

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

The French Marine Sémaphore station. A follow on from the Napoleonic semaphore which was the world´s first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.

05 May 2001

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Eisenpfahel - Iron pile or Iron post. German Eisenpfahel barbed wire posts, either still in place or re used by the farmer. Dig a hole, place the lower square plate in hole, re fill the earth. Tamp it down with your boot and its secure, ready for barbed wire. Very hard to get back out of the ground at a later date.

23 October 2004 - Eisenpfahel barbed wire post plan

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

German Eisenpfahel barbed wire posts.

05 May 2001

The Origins of the Swastika
The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." The motif (a hooked cross) appears to have first been used in Eurasia, as early as 7000 years ago, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. To this day, it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia. Swastikas also have an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artefacts from pre-Christian European cultures. Holocaust Museum. — The Origins of the Swastika The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." The motif (a hooked cross) appears to have first been used in Eurasia, as early as 7000 years ago, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. To this day, it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia. Swastikas also have an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artefacts from pre-Christian European cultures. Holocaust Museum.

The centre is a stylised Swastika design.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Sémaphore la Hague

05 May 2001

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Niche for ready ammunition. Two pictures of a niche possibly for ammunition found in one of the fields. These may have been here from as early as 1940. So no idea of their uses.

23 October 2004 - 23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Open field gun position. Or light Flak.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Open field gun position. Or light Flak. I am going to say this was an early field gun position covering the seaward approaches to the gap. Now talking to a friend and he says it was an AA gun position. So betwixt and between. I am going to split it down the middle, I feel this was a very early position for two field guns to fire out over the water. They could have been 7.5cm or even 15cm howitzers. Then later on they were not needed due to the heavy batteries slightly inland, and later as the Allied air forces increased in their power, a 2cm Flak may have needed and been placed here.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Open field gun position. Or light Flak.

05 May 2001

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

Open field gun position. Or light Flak It was hit several times at what looks like solid shot from a 75mm Sherman tank main gun. The troops this side of Cherbourg did not disintegrate and retreat into the city but stayed and put up quite a fight of it. There are two ready ammunition niches each side of the emplacement.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer. Phare du Cap de la Hague behind and the SK (Sonderkonstruktion - Special construction) searchlight bunker based on an R606 style.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer This is MKB Bunkertours plan of the bunker. The searchlight is kept inside the bunker for safety & maintenance and brought out at night and dragged up the quite steep slope to the roof, where it can be used as a search light for shipping or for aircraft. Inside the bunker is a generator to power the light, a fuel store of some kind and a crew quarters.

Plan Kurt

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer the ramp that would have had iron railings up the sides.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer generator sitting inside the bunker and the searchlight on the roof.

Plan Kurt

MKB Bunkertour.
See them on Facebook. — MKB Bunkertour. See them on Facebook.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer entrance to crew quarters.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer crew quarters, a 434P01 type steel armoured double door with a viewing window in the top. If the bottom door gets stuck with rubble, the top door can be opened and you can escape.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer close combat embrasure covering the entrance. A machine gun, Schmeisser or just a rifle would be needed to shoot through it. Inside a steel sliding plate to close off the opening, now removed.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer engine room and searchlight garage.

23 October 2004

Generator of the type that may have been in here.
MKB Bunkertour. — Generator of the type that may have been in here. MKB Bunkertour.

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer engine room and searchlight garage. There would have been doors to close off the entrance. The plan of an R606 searchlight bunker shows a chimney in he front to allow exhaust gases out. But this model based on an R606 does not have one, so there must have been a different arrangement for the exhaust.

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

23 October 2004

Wn308 Sémaphore la Hague

60cm Scheinwerfer. A large generator set, sat at the back of the bunker and a space for the searchlight to sit. Crew quarters the other side, room for however many crew that would be needed here. And in the middle the fuel store. Probably what we call Jerry cans. Standard 20ltr steel containers that could be stacked up in the store and brought out, used and refilled at a later date.

Plan Kurt