STRONGPOINT CORBIERE 10.5cm COASTAL DEFENCE GUN CASEMATE “KANONE 2”
DISCOVER SOME OF THE BEST PRESERVED GERMAN FORTIFICATIONS IN EUROPE!
STRONGPOINT CORBIERE – THREE RESTORED BUNKERS AND A TUNNEL – La Corbiere headland. Sunday 12th October 2-5pm . Admission £10- CIOS members and under 16s free. Last admission at 4:30. Just turn up!
With knowledgeable volunteers on hand to guide you, discover and experience a ‘working atmosphere’ feel when you enter the multi roomed bunkers restored to authentic wartime condition with displays based around information given by the soldiers who actually served there! Information is also provided on the forced labourers who constructed the site, interactions between the soldiers with nearby civilians as well as an escape attempt which ended in failure on the causeway to the lighthouse in September 1944.
With construction staring in late 1942, Strongpoint Corbiere formed a key part of the defenses of St. Ouen’s Bay and also boasted several bunker designs unique to Jersey and you will be able to visit the 5CM M19 AUTOMATIC FORTRESS MORTAR BUNKER AND THE INTERCONNECTED 6-LOOPHOLED HEAVY MACHINE GUN TURRET BUNKER has been restored to a high standard, and thanks to the post war return of its wartime commander, Engelbert Hoppe, tells the story of the crew who actually manned the bunker and what they got up to during the last year of the Occupation. The bunker is uniquely connected to a neighbouring 6-loopholed heavy machine gun turret bunker by an impressive underground corridor with this bunker also serving as the Strongpoint’s Command Bunker as well as being the main hub for all of the Strongpoint’s telephone and radio communications.
Also open will be the 10.5CM COASTAL DEFENCE GUN CASEMATE “KANONE 2″. Strongpoint Corbiere was unusual for have two ex-French 10.5cm K 331 (f) coastal defense gun casemates, one facing south (designated “Kanone 1” = Cannon 1) was decimated in the post war scrap drives while the north-facing “Kanone 2” escaped the post war scrap metal drives and not only retains the original gun but also a wealth of other rare armoured parts. Restored to near operation condition it also tells the story of former crew member Horst Herrmann who manned this casemate from late 1943 and was involved in several live firing exercises of the gun.
Opening times not convenient? Get a bespoke personal tour of any CIOS site with www.Jerseybunkertours.com
!— at Strongpoint Corbiere.
