The Atlantic Wall (1): France

Army coastal artillery units in France 1944

Army	Unit	Sector	Batteries	Weapons
Fifteenth Army (AOK 15)	HKAA.1244	Dunkirk	6	18 × 155mm, 12 × 88mm
	HKAR.1245	Dieppe	7	6 × 170mm; 4 × 105mm, 4 × 220mm 12 × 88mm
	HKAR.1253	Fécamp	4	18 × 155mm; 4 × 105mm
	HKAR.1254	Le Havre	4	12 × 105mm; 3 × 170mm
	HKAA.1255	Deauville	4	18 × 155mm; 4 × 105mm
Seventh Army (AOK 7)	HKAA.1260	Caen	4	12 × 155mm; 4 × 122mm; 4 × 150mm
	HKAR.1261	Cotentin	10	16 × 105mm; 4 × 122mm; 12 × 155mm; 3 × 170mm; 3 × 210mm
	HKAA.1273	N. Brittany	2	8 × 105mm
	HKAA.1274	S. Brittany	2	4 × 220mm; 4 × 105mm
First Army (AOK 1)	HKAR.1181	La Rochelle	4	16 × 155mm
	HKAR.1180	Ile d’Oléron	4	8 × 100mm; 8 × 150mm
	HKAA.1282	Royan	5	12 × 105mm; 6 × 114mm; 6 × 152mm
	HKAR.1287	Bordeaux	6	18 × 152mm; 12 × 105mm

^{Batterie Todt}

^{Construction of Batterie Siegfried began in August 1940, armed with four 380mm SKC/34 in B-Gerüst C/39 turrets, near the village of Haringzelles. The battery was located close to the sea and within sight of Cap Gris-Nez where several supporting observation posts were located. The four turrets were of a special design consisting of a main circular gun casemate with a smaller multistory bunker for ammunition and support located to the left of the gun pit. Each casemate consumed 800 tonnes of steel and 12,000m³ of concrete.}

^{The battery was declared operational on January 11, 1942, and it was renamed later in the year in honor of the head of the Organization Todt, Fritz Todt, who died in a plane crash on February 8, 1942. Unlike Batterie Lindemann, the four gun turrets were not named, but simply numbered from 1 to 4, with Turret 4 being the one located closest the sea and Turret 1 being the furthest inland and the site of today’s Musée de Mur de l’Atlantique.}

^{This battery was part of MAA.242 and was commanded by Kapitänleutnant MA Klaus Momber. The battery was part of StP 186 Saitenspiel, which included numerous support facilities, defensive positions and anti-aircraft batteries. The associated surface search radar and optical rangefinder for the battery was positioned along the cliffs near the village of Cran-aux-Oeufs about 1km to the northwest.}

^{Like Batterie Lindemann, Batterie Todt was engaged in bombardment of Channel shipping in 1942–44 as well as periodic campaigns against English ports, coastal towns, and coastal artillery batteries. The battery’s most active combat took place in the summer of 1944 when in took part in a campaign against Dover and Folkestone along with Batterien Lindemann and Grosser-Kurfürst. As Canadian troops closed in, it fired for the last time on September 29, 1944, hours before its surrender. (Artwork by Hugh Johnson)}

^{Some of the ports along the Atlantic Wall were protected by controlled minefields. To supplement German mines, the Franz WB was developed based on surplus French depth charges. These mines were also used to demolish harbor facilities prior to their surrender. (NARA)}

^{One style of camouflage for the shoreline casemates was trompe l’oeil painting, intended to make the bunker look like a harmless civilian home. This example is certainly more elaborate than most, complete with a cart in the false garage. This Canadian soldier is looking into the gun embrasure of the casemate, which had been covered with a false wooden cover now on the ground. (NAC PA-131229 Ken Bell)}

Atlantic Wall artillery in France by type

Caliber	Navy coastal	Army coastal	Army railroad	Army field	Sub-total
75mm	129	0	0	4	133
76.2mm	4	0	0	144	148
88mm	23	24	0	0	47
100mm	0	0	8	96	104
105mm	64	116	0	164	344
Other light	23	6	0	12	41
122mm	0	18	0	80	98
150mm	56	4	4	72	136
155mm	28	106	0	210	344
Other medium	45	24	0	0	69
170mm	19	34	0	22	75
210mm	4	3	1	8	16
240mm	12	0	5	0	17
280mm	10	0	15	0	25
Other heavy	37	14	2	0	53
Total	454	349	35	812	1,650