CIOS BUNKERS OPEN THIS WEEKEND!
BATTERIE LOTHRINGEN COMMAND BUNKER and the OBSERVATION & RANGE FINDING TOWER ‘MP1’ – Noirmont Point, St. Brelade’s
Sunday 16th July 2-5pm
Originally intended as ‘Marine Battery 2’ armed with 4 modern quick firing 15cm turreted guns which never arrived thanks to the success of Allied bombing raids in Europe, Coastal Artillery Batterie Lothringen at Noirmont Point was the only Kriegsmarine (Naval) battery found in Jersey and armed with ex-battleship 15cm guns.
The ‘eyes’ of the battery is the CIOS maintained large multi-floored Command Bunker equipped with both a 6 meter range finder and Azimuth direction finding periscopes protected by armoured turrets. Originally equipped with state of the art equipment to calculate the ‘target’ location and how humidity wind etc. would affect the shell’s flight, today parts of the bunker are restored to how it looked when operational.
There is also information on Allied attacks that took place off the headland and items found in the area of relevance to the Battery and those who manned it, and you can even look through one of the periscopes! Knowledgeable members will be on hand to help you with your visit and the CIOS has also progressively opened up a large proportion of the Battery’s sealed bunkers behind the command bunker which allows the interested visitor to explore them and have a better understanding of how the battery worked thanks to numerous interpretation panels found on multiple structures.
Admission £5 -under 16s and CIOS members free.
