SS Special Heavy Battery 672(E)
Near Sangatte, Pas-de-Calais
Thursday
September 5, 1940
Whittaker, Dupont and the rest of the work team at the battery compound spent the majority of their days now sitting around, waiting for tasks to be assigned to them. There was little left to do in truth, and a workforce that had originally numbered in the thousands had now dwindled to no more than a hundred or so that the battery commander was holding in reserve in the event of there being a need for basic manual labouring deemed too menial for Wehrmacht engineers.
A pair of ‘smaller’ and far more conventional railway guns had joined their much larger brethren in the intervening time. These weapons had been shunted over their emplacements until their carriages could be lowered onto pivots known as Vögele turntables, leaving the weapons, installed outside and on either side of the larger guns, with a 360º field of fire. Known as the Krupp K5, the pair of 283mm guns had been brought in as support for Gustav and Dora, and also to allow the engagement of British ships in The Channel — something that wasn’t possible with the larger guns, as they were unable to depress to a low enough angle due to the protective fortifications beneath their barrels.
Early that Thursday morning, the work group had been engaged in digging out foundations for a small latrine block toward the very rear of the installation near the main gates. They were given no formal warning as usual, but this time past experience was sufficient for them to recognise the firing of the huge guns was imminent as the alert klaxons sounded all over the base. They all covered their ears tightly, and as the prisoners stood straight and craned their necks to stare out of the large foundation holes they were digging within, all who could see watched in awe as Gustav’s huge barrel rose to a high angle of elevation. The earth shook a moment or two later and the air filled with flame and smoke as the weapon sent a five-tonne shell on its way skyward across the Channel.
Five minutes later, Gustav fired again following some minor adjustments in traverse and elevation, and then again after another five minutes and further corrections. Firing ceased after the third shot, and there was a great deal of maintenance activity at the rear of the gun as Dora took up the baton and fired her first shell, followed by the same three-shot pattern of fire and adjustment. The alternating fire would continue in the same manner for most of the morning and use up more than two-dozen shells between the two weapons. The noise and shock of the continued explosions made breathing quite uncomfortable when combined with the smoke and dust that filled the air all around, and the experience placed a good deal of stress on the POWs, although there was some comfort in the fact that none of the guards present thought to order them to continue working.
High above the English coast, a single unarmed S-2F Lion FAC aircraft assigned to Battery 672(E) flew in a pre-planned, circular orbit as the experienced observer in the rear cockpit maintained continuous contact with the gunlayers at Sangatte. The man carried detailed maps of Kent and the Dover coast and would carefully mark down the exact position on those maps and report back as every impact of Gustav’s and Dora’s massive shells shattered and devastated English soil.
The shell strikes were clearly visible from high altitude, although the random, indiscriminate damage the huge projectiles were inflicting on the Kent countryside was less obvious from that distance… damage that in some places was great indeed. None of the shells were seeking specific targets, and many landed some distance inland as Battery 672(E) recorded the details of their pre-bombardment target registrations. Most of the shots landed in open country and, although exploding spectacularly, did little real damage other than in spreading fear throughout the surrounding area. A few however did fall close enough to farms or hamlets to cause loss of life and significant numbers casualties.
At Deal, Dover and Folkestone, single shells fell within heavily built-up areas, and quite close to the centre of town in the case of Dover, still reeling from the collateral damage inflicted by the destruction of Sceneshifter some weeks before. The devastation from those single, massive blasts caused loss of life and injuries rising into the hundreds, demolishing entire city blocks in one stroke, and also created a wave of terror that swept through the populace of the areas involved with a speed that defied belief.
Fires resulting from the explosions would spread through the surrounding neighbourhoods, causing further casualties and adding numbers to a growing steady stream of refugees that began to pour inland in search of safety. The subsequent strain on the military and on local authorities was immense, and many of Kent’s main roads and carriageways were choked as a result, hampering troop movements in the days and nights to follow.
From their prepared defensive positions outside Smeeth, Davids, his crew and the rest of 7RTR and the 1st London Division felt the ground shake as some of the closer shells struck, and a pall of grey smoke hung over the eastern horizon for the rest of the day, although none of the huge rounds actually fell within sight of their defences. The Hythe Road was choked with a torrent of frightened refugees heading westward as a result, some of whom had been witness to the carnage wrought upon Folkestone, and the renewed spread of ‘rumours’ regarding German superguns unsettled the defenders in the aftermath of the distant, earthshaking explosions they’d felt earlier in the day.
At Deal, reports of a Kriegsmarine destroyer flotilla in The Channel were mistakenly identified as a fleet of assault ships, resulting in the spread of far more damaging rumours of the sighting of an invasion force. The alert codeword of ‘Cromwell’ (meaning invasion was imminent) was prematurely broadcast to many local HQs throughout the south-east region, causing further unwanted panic, stress and alarm as units mobilised in response.
None of the chaos resulting from the registration bombardment had been the intention of the battery on the opposite side of The Channel, although it would no doubt have been considered a fine, unexpected bonus had the commanders of Battery 672(E) been made aware of the situation. As it was, little of any note occurred on the French coast during the rest of that day as the guns responsible for the mayhem were rested for the night in comfortable silence, and soldiers and civilians alike generally went about their normal business.
The exercise had been conducted purely for the purpose of marking pre-registered target positions for the maps of the area commanders of the upcoming invasion, and those carefully noted impact points, when matched with the elevation and traverse data recorded at the gun line, would provide the officers hitting the beaches with more than enough detail to provide accurate coordinates for any strongpoints they might come across within range of those huge guns.
Home Fleet Naval Anchorage at HMS Proserpine
Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands
Friday
September 6, 1940
The Officers Mess at HMS Proserpine was large and well-appointed, as would’ve been expected of the facilities of commissioned officers in any large and established military installation. A liberal use of lacquered wood panelling and polished brass fittings complemented large, comfortable leather armchairs and ornate tables, while the bar itself was a long affair of expensive, dark-stained hardwood with ornately carved fittings. Several types of ales were available on tap, and a quite comprehensive selection of spirits and even wines were also kept on hand for the discerning officer.