The Longues-sur-Mer Battery

The Longues-sur-Mer Battery was a critical link in Hitler’s Atlantic Wall defense which consisted of more that 15,000 defensive structures stretching from Norway to the Pyrenees. These guns could hit targets up to 12 miles away with relatively sharp accuracy if linked to good target information. Four German casemates, 300 yards inland, were arranged in a semicircle to maximize the firing range east and west, and are the only original coastal artillery guns remaining in place in the D-Day region. This battery was staffed by 194 German soldiers. It took seven soldiers to manage each gun, which could be loaded and fired six times per minute (the shells weighed 40 pounds).Read more