Exploring WW2 bunkers in Normandy, France.

[Sylvain]

The entrance.A few steps going down, then turning right where the door used to be.
As always a gun port is greeting you down the stairs.

 

[Sylvain]

Same gun port viewed from inside the main room of the bunker.
This one still has its armored steel plate.

 

[Sylvain]

At least 6 or 8 rooms inside.

 

[Sylvain]

Apparently this one is still visited regularly and was turned into a dispensary/pharmacy.

Some candles by the door.

Nobody was there when I showed up.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Steel and wood]

This thread is great. Thanks for all the photos and info about them.

 

[mac45]

Great pics.....thanks!

 

[Sylvain]

Some fortifications around the bunker.

A Flak gun position (anti aircraft gun).

 

[Sylvain]

A Tobruk.Just a fox hole for a LMG.

 

[Sylvain]

Today I discovered a second bunker 100 yards away from the other one.
This one is fully covered by thick vegetation and I never noticed it before.

The entrance is barely visible.

 

[Sylvain]

That's the entrance and the stairs leading to the bunker (taken from the bottom of the stairs, looking up towards the entrance).
I could have used a machete.

With the mud and the branches the stairs are moke like a slide now.

 

[Sylvain]

The gun port facing the stairs still has its original wood.

The steel doors and door frames are missing.

It looks like there has been a fire in the main room, all the walls and the ceiling are black, making the room even darker than usual.

 

[Sylvain]

No idea if the fire is recent.

 

[1911ly]

Freaking awesome brother! Thanks for going to the effort to share this history. I love seeing it.

 

[Fordtough25]

That's amazing thank you, the fact that they still exist shows how hard they tried to keep the allied troops back. Thank God we had the greatest generation!!

 

[Alamo]

More awesome pics.


That Tobruk looks a little claustrophobic to me.

 

[Sylvain]

More awesome pics.


That Tobruk looks a little claustrophobic to me.

It's probably the less claustrophobic type of bunker you can find.
It's small, there's no door and your head sticks out outside when you're inside.

Some of those Tobruks had tank turrets (from captured enemy tanks) mounted on them.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Great pics again! Thanks Sylvain

 

[Sylvain]

Some updates, I thought I would just bump this thread.

Next target to visit is a Kriegsmarine (German Navy) bunker built in 1943.

It's 21,500 square feet.Has a massive roof and several entrances.
It was used to protect ammunition (torpedos, naval mines, shells for naval guns used for costal defense etc) and food from Allied air raids.

Even today it's pretty well camouflaged even though it's a large building.

It's built in a wooded area on the side of a cliff.The Germans digged 40 yards inside the cliff.
Only one side of the bunker is visible from the outside

The concrete slabs in front of the bunker, that is now the road, were also built in 1943.

It's very well camouflaged from the air.

The building is now partially used by local fishermen to store their nets.

 

[Sylvain]

One of the doors.