Wn94 La Halte du Vey

 

There were supposed to be two R622's but I am not sure if they were ever built?? The R629 faced east and a small track would have enabled the gun to be removed from its shelter to prepared positions covering the road.

This was the RN13 before the new Auto-route was built with the entrance on the left. A good field of fire down towards Carentan and also East towards Isigny. It was also possibly a road check point.

The position of the R629 garage. The gun could be pulled out of the garage and dragged to a defence position nearer the road. Here it could cover the road east & west. A crew of four to six with one of them the guns commander. Usually the one with binoculars around his neck.

The house, it must have been built in the 1950's.

This is the rear of the bunker as the entrance faces the house.

This was a handy little gun before the war. To be used against small tanks and vehicles likely to attack France. Relatively cheap to produce and easy to crew. Hundreds would have been made and after the capture of France the arsenal were opened to the German army to use as they will. Now that Normandy had been captured in June/July 1940, it had to be defended. The Germans did not have enough equipment of their own and so large amounts of captured weapons were distributed out the army units. This the 2.5cm Pak 113(f) was one of them. 2.5cm - Calibre. Pak - Panzerabwehrkanone. 113 - The German number for the gun. (f) - This means it is of French origin. The French 25mm SA.L Model 1937 is an improvement on the 25mm Model 1934.  These anti-tank guns served France up to the German invasion of 1940.  They were then captured and used by Germany and her allies including Vichy France and Finland.  In German service the piece was designated 2,5cm PAK 113 (f).  These pieces had a fair amount of service in the North African Campaign and in the Finnish war with the Soviet Union. http://lovettartillery.com>

The roof of the garage.

This is how the entrance into an R629 anti-tank gun garage would have looked. WN 454 La Vacurie is on the southern defence of Cherbourg.

A closer look at the entrance of La Vacqurie's R629.

This is the gun garage where the gun would have been pushed in, barrel first. The barrel would have fitted up to the slot at the end allowing a bit more room in the bunker for longer guns. The space under the two floor is for ammunition storage.

This is the crew room at La Vacqurie's R629. A 1942 design, not many were built along this invasion coast, but more around Cherbourg where Wn452 La Vacqurie is situated.

25mm SA mle 34 and SA-L mle 37.