| Actual Image
june 6th , operation Overlord (12)
colvert
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 426 W: 95 N: 511]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (4050) | "A l'ouest rien de nouveau"
All quiet on the western front...except on early morning this june 6th 1944
Longues-sur-Mer :
" Located between the British Gold and American Omaha beaches, the battery was made up of four casemate-sheltered guns located a few hundred meters from the ocean bluff and a command bunker with lookout facilities on the bluff itself. This is the only Atlantik Wall defense work that still has its cannons, in this case 155-mm TK (Torpedo -Kanone) C/36 guns manufactured by Skoda at Pielsen.
Construction of the battery began on March 2th and 3000 m3 of concrete was used for gun casemates resulting in concrete wall around 1 meter thick. The control bunker contained 720 m3 of concrete. Not surprisingly, most of these structures survived the war largely intact.
Before the D-Day invasion the RAF dropped 1500 tons of bombs on the battery. Some weighed more than two tons and craters were reported up to 7 meters in diameter. The US Air Force sent 127 bombers on D-Day morning to drop another 600 tons of bombs. The net effect of this havoc was that the gun were still operational as was the command bunker. The bombing did, however, sever telecommunications lines and this caused coordination problems in aiming the guns.
Thanks to the range of its guns, the battery could fire on both the Omaha (American sector) and Gold (British sector) beaches.
Although it was heavily bombed prior to D-Day, it was still capable of opening fire on the invasion fleet in the morning of June 6th 1944. At daybreak, it engaged in a duel with several Allied cruisers before being silenced in the evening. The next day, it was captured by the British without a fight.
from : www.normandiememoire.com
and http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/gallery/gal165.html
another view in ws
and a shot of Colleville american cemetery, add while President Obama is saying his speech |
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