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History Power the history of the relics of the 2nd world war

04/25/2025

SHERMAN MEMORIAL AT SECRET NORMANDY HQ

This M4A1 Sherman tank is located at Camp Patton near Néhou in Normandy and is the site of General George S Patton’s top secret command post.

Patton was here from July 7 to August 2, 1944.

This former orchard provided space and overhead cover for his Third Army command vehicles with nearby fields housing troops in tents.
The Sherman on display here stands as a memorial to the remarkable General and his men who helped to liberate France. Patton himself was injured in a car accident and subsequently passed away on December 21, 1945 having led his troops all the way to Germany.

It’s a M4A1 version with a 76mm gun and it is in good condition for an outdoor exhibit, being cared for by a local group. It stands in a park with lots of information boards.

Follow the Association Souvenir General Patton on Instagram souvenir_patton_nehou

What’s your favourite WW2 tank or vehicle?

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04/25/2025

HIDDEN BUNKER SITE NEAR UTAH BEACH IN NORMANDY

Enjoy an overhead view of German strongpoint Wn25 Morsalines to the north of Utah Beach in Normandy.

Although most of the buildings here are overgrown and hidden, there are many structures at the site including personnel shelters, gun positions, and defensive Tobruks.

The the stand-out construction is an R677 casemate which covered the bay north of Utah Beach near St Vaast la Hogue. This casemate is fully accessible if you’re careful.

Who’s visited the bunker sites on Utah Beach?

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04/25/2025

ENGLAND FRANCE GERMANY

Enjoy a view of the white chalk cliffs of southern England from our vantage point near Audinghen across the English Channel in northern France.
In front of us is a stand for a WW2 German Wurzburg Riese radar, one of two dish type radars at this site known as Stp183 Eber.
This bunker site contained a mixture of buildings and served as a supply point for ammunition for the huge coastal Batterie Todt gun towers located at nearby Haringzelle.

Eber featured a large, 30m wide x 16m long, special construction ammunition bunker which provided a temporary storage for the 380mm shells and their propelling charges in its six, 12m long storage rooms, and a smaller ammunition storage building less then 50m away.

While both bunkers are still in place today, they were subjected to controlled explosions to destroy them following their capture by the Canadian Royal Winnipeg Rifles in mid-September 1944.
One is in a destroyed state while the other is still standing although the inside is in ruins.

Also part of the complex, which was manned by over 80 troops, are supporting R622 group bunkers, a kitchen building, garage, and many smaller shelters. Apart from the kitchen, these are heavily overgrown and not accessible.

Surrounding the bunkers at the farmland location are a ring of defensive Tobruks, two positions for medium-range Wurzburg Riese radars and long range Freya radar system.

On a clear day the views are incredible and make you realise how close German forces actually were to English soil.

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04/24/2025

AGAINST ENGLAND - GIANT GERMAN EAGLE AND INSCRIPTION ON WW2 BUNKER IN NORMANDY

This WW2 German Luftwaffe bunker at Sortosville-en-Beaumont was part of a Knickebein radio guidance site built to direct bombing raids on England.

It featured a large FuSan 721 type antenna mounted on a 10m diameter circular track plus a crew bunker where there would also be a large generator and ‘computing room’.

The main bunker here has two entrances, and one still features a large German eagle above the doorway with the remains of original concrete lettering in place.

The inscription originally said: “Built under Adolf Hi**er, in the fight against England.”

Inside this bunker you can work your way through several large comms and crew rooms, a generator area where large banks of batteries would be housed, and a toilet and shower room.

The rooms where the generator and batteries once stood, and the main comms rooms, all feature tiled walls and it’s believed that this is to prevent any accidental spillages of battery acid reacting with the concrete and giving off noxious gas.

Along with the miles of cabling inside, the generator and batteries would give off a lot of heat and there are four large cooling chimneys on the roof of the building which can be seen and accessed with care.

The antenna track outline can still be seen today near the wind turbines, although the field it stands in is now off limits for safety.

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04/24/2025

WW2 GERMAN TUNNEL IN NORMANDY CLIFFS

We received lots of messages following our recent video asking what’s at the other end of the German tunnel we showed you - well here’s where it ends up on the cliffs.

Located in the Auderville-Laye area on the West side of the Cotentin peninsula, this position was codenamed Wn357 by the occupying Germans and provided a secure shelter and storage location near the coast.
You can walk through the tunnel and up the steps at the far end where you’re greeted by some spectacular views - on a clear day you can even see the Channel Island Alderney.
The tunnel is also home to a colony of bats who roost in the offshoot rooms which were once storage spaces for the German troops stationed here.

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04/24/2025

BIG BUNKER COMPLEX ON NORMANDY BEACH

Enjoy an aerial view of one of the most extensive strongpoints on the Atlantikwall in Normandy.

This is the Neville Blankenese and the Batterie de Carqueret on the North East coast of the Cotentin peninsula and it’s a must-visit location for bunker hunters.

This site - codenamed Wn126 - was built around four captured British Vickers 94mm guns and protected the coast in this area between Cherbourg and Gatteville.
You can access the inside of many of the buildings (with care!) and also crawl through covered concrete trenches.

We’ve just completed our full film of the site on our Normandybunkers YouTube channel - give it a watch when it launches this week 👍

Who’s visited the bunkers here?

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04/24/2025

RESISTANCE MONUMENT IN NORMANDY

This amazing monument to the French Resistance in Normandy was unveiled in St. Marie-du-Mont in 2021 on the 77th anniversary of the D-Day landings- June 6 1944.
The French Resistance played a pivotal role in the success of the Allied landings with their campaigns of sabotage. Many made the ultimate sacrifice.

The bronze monument features a Frenchman with a Sten gun, a young French woman using radio equipment, and a French boy on a bicycle returning from reconnaissance with a message to be coded.

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04/24/2025

LOOK INSIDE MASSIVE BLOWN UP GUN BUNKER

Take a look inside one of the biggest bunkers at Stp221 Arnika Fort de La Crèche to the north of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

As you may suspect from the ship like style of doors, this was a naval batterie and features a two storey construction.
It once housed a 105mm gun on the second floor, with a high-level defensive Tobruk incorporated in the structure too, although this could only be accessed via an external set of steel rungs built into the concrete walls.
Below the gun were several rooms for personnel and ammunition storage, plus a machine gun position which protected the rear entrance.

Today you can see the impact of an enormous explosion inside the casemate which has destroyed much of the external structural integrity too.

The original French fort was completed in 1879 and you can still walk through the original buildings, along with many German constructions from WW2.

The position was created to protect the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer and was the scene of fierce battles during WW2, eventually being secured on September 22, 1944 by the Queen’s Own Rifles Regiment of Canada - to whom there is a memorial on site.

This extensive site - cared for by an amazing group of volunteers - is only open for visitors on a few days each month during the summer, and this position is normally off limits to the public.
More info at www.fortdelacreche.fr

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04/23/2025

WW2 GERMAN 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN UP CLOSE

The 88mm gun or Flak 88 was a German dual purpose weapon deployed in both anti-aircraft and anti-tank roles in WWIl.
Over 21,300 were produced during the war.
Secretly developed in the 1920s, against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the gun was first deployed in action during the Spanish Civil War.

A well trained crew could bring the gun into action in about two and a half minutes. It was a powerful anti-tank weapon able to pe*****te over 84mm of armour at a range of around 2,000 metres, making the 88 one of the most formidable weapons of WWIl.

On display at the Batterie Todt Museum in Audinghen, Northern France, and normally off limits to the public, this 88mm gun is in great condition and there are several markings near the breach which indicate it was built in early 1944. The mechanism to turn the gun still works too!
The gun’s history is documented too and it served in an anti aircraft batterie in Finland before being re-homed at the museum after the war.

Who’s been to the Batterie Todt Museum? Who’s seen an 88 up close and where?

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04/23/2025

TANK TURRET BUNKER ON UTAH BEACH IN NORMANDY

This small concrete construction overlooks the wide sands of Utah Beach in Normandy and was built to house a captured French tank turret.

Bolted to the top of the structure, the turret was accessed via the opening at the rear of the bunker where there were also two niches for storage of ammunition.

It’s located at the extensive bunker site codenamed Wn10 at Hameau Mottet les Temples which still features over 20 accessible structures of many types including gun casemates, mortar and machine gun Tobruks, personnel shelters, a garage, and anti tank gun ringstands with many located along the ridge line on the dunes.

Who’s been to visit the bunkers on Utah Beach?

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04/23/2025

AMAZING WW2 BUNKER WHICH FELL FROM CLIFFS IN NORMANDY

We always enjoy a visit to the beach at Sainte Marguerite sur Mer to the west of Dieppe where you can see this remarkable bunker standing upright on the shoreline.

It’s a R622 type Double Group personnel shelter with defensive Tobruk and once sat on the chalk cliffs behind. The bunker was deemed to be dangerously overhanging and so the local firefighters were tasked with washing away the cliff below it with hoses to enable it to fall. No one expected it to fall into the position it is in now though!
In the decades after the fall, the soft chalk cliffs have eroded back, leaving it stranded on the beach.

You can get underneath the bunker and see inside it from where the foundations would have been but watch out for the tide as it can surround the bunker.

At the rear, you can see three entrances, two are for the personnel rooms inside and the third gives access to the defensive Tobruk where a machine gun would have been located.

Has anyone been to see this bunker on the beach?

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04/23/2025

‘EVER FOWARD’ MEMORIAL ON OMAHA BEACH

The ‘Ever Forward’ statue was created to remember the soldiers of the US 29th Division’s 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team - the Blue and Gray - who were the first wave of troops ashore on this section of Omaha Beach on D-Day June 6, 1944.

It shows their strength in adversity, their resilience, and sheer determination to get the job done against all the odds.

You can visit the Ever Forward statue at the WW2 German strongpoint Wn72 at Vierville-sur-Mer where you’ll also discover a number of concrete casemates, including one with an 88mm gun inside.

Who’s visited Omaha Beach and seen its bunkers and memorials?

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04/23/2025

D-DAY 80TH ANNIVERSARY - LANDING ON UTAH BEACH

This is a replica of one of the most iconic boats in WW2 history - the Higgins boat or LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel).
Standing near the utah_beach museum at La Madeleine, this type of US developed craft delivered troops and jeeps onto the beaches as the liberation of Europe began on June 6, 1944.

Created by Andrew Jackson Higgins in 1941, the LCVP was built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans. The Higgins Boat carried up to 36 troops, was capable of up to 12 knots and could be outfitted with a pair of Browning M1919 machine guns.
The boats were crewed by four personnel.

By the time of the Normandy landings the LCVP had been used in every theatre of operations including Operation Torch in North Africa, landings in Italy, and in southern France. It was also used in the Pacific theatre.

This memorial to Higgins, his boats, and the men who rode ashore in them has been given to the people of France by the citizens of Columbus, Nebraska, the birthplace of Andrew Jackson Higgins. The memorial here is a replica of a memorial built in Columbus in 2001.

We love visiting the museum and memorials here - have you visited too?

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04/22/2025

WW2 GERMAN OBSERVATION BUNKER DISGUISED AS CHURCH TOWER

Designed to look like a church steeple, this huge concrete construction is located at Oye Plage between Calais and Dunkirk in Northern France.

It was built in 1942 to be an observation post for nearby bunker sites and some of the largest batteries built in France are close by.

Prior to the liberation of the area and capture of the site in September 1944, German forces tried to destroy the building with explosives but the huge foundations stood up to the blasts and it now stands at a disturbing angle overlooking the beach.

Inside you can look up to see all four storeys - each with openings for observation and range finding.

The view from the top must have been incredible.

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04/22/2025

AMAZING AIRCRAFT MEMORIAL IN NORMANDY

This is one of our favourite memorials in Normandy. Located in Picauville near Sainte Mere Eglise it pays tribute to the airmen of the 9th Airforce’s Troop Carrier Command as well as paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions – all of which lost men in the surrounding area on June 6, 1944.

Standing next the village church, you can’t miss the scale replica of a C47 aircraft which stands proud on top of the post overlooking the stone memorial. The original aircraft which stood for many was replaced by a new version in 2024, in time for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Below the C47 are plaques which list the crews of four aircraft which crashed in the area as they attempted to deliver their paratroopers. An engine from one of the aircraft is also on display here – a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 with the serial number P133588 – which was recovered from a field near this memorial.

It belonged to C47 number 42-100819 which took off from Upottery airfield in England on June 5 and was hit by German anti-aircraft fire in the early morning. All sixteen paratroopers and the four airmen on board were killed.

In 2024, the village unveiled a new statue at the site in a tribute to the ‘courage and dignity of American women who lost loved ones who fought in World War II’.

Picauville was also the location for one of the Allies’ first temporary airfields – known as Advanced Landing Ground A8 - following the liberation of the area and initially supported US P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft and later RAF Mosquito night fighters until the site was closed in September 1944.

Which memorials have you visited in Normandy?

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04/22/2025

MASSIVE V1 FLYING BOMB FACTORY AND LAUNCH SITE

This V1 flying bomb storage and launch building in the village of Siracourt was one of the most heavily attacked V weapon sites in Northern France and due to this attention it was never completed and so never fired a single V1.

That doesn’t stop the 215m long, 36m wide bunker from being an incredible construction though.
Architect plans for the building were never recovered but it is believed that the bunker - codenamed Wasserwerk I (waterworks) - was due to feature possibly two Walter launch ramps located at the centre of the building, along with facilities inside for storage and assembly of the V1s delivered to the tunnel-like structure via it own railway line at one end of the building.

Siracourt was subjected to 27 bombing raids, the last one in late June 1944 seeing the use of Tallboy bombs dropped from RAF Lancasters which left the site inoperable. One of the Tallboys pe*****ted the roof and the damage can still be seen today.

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04/22/2025

TIGER TANK WITH AMAZING HISTORY

Enjoy a close up view of one of the most iconic tanks of WW2 - the German Tiger I - a vehicle with an amazing story to it.

Now a French historical monument, Tiger 231 was abandoned by its crew in August 1944 near the town of Vimoutiers in the Orne region, around an hour drive south east of Caen and the Normandy landing beaches.

It’s believed it was heading for a fuel supply but ran out of fuel on the outskirts of the town, causing the crew to abandon it next to the Route Nationale 179 road.

With the Allied forces closing in around them the crew set off two explosive charges before leaving it, rendering the tank inoperable.

When Canadian forces advanced through the area the Tiger was bulldozed down a embankment where it remained for over 30 years before being bought by the local community in 1975 and put on display in its current location east of the town - just a few metres from its original resting place.

Several small restoration efforts have been made over the years but the vehicle is prone to the weather and nearly 80 years in the elements haven’t been kind to its structure.

This rare vehicle is one of only seven remaining examples in the world and the Association for the Restoration of the Vimoutiers Tiger Tank in Normandy are trying to raise funds to protect this Tiger.

Was the Tiger the best German tank of the Second World War?

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04/22/2025

SAINT NAZAIRE U-BOAT BASE FROM ABOVE

Just look at the size of this U-Boat base - it’s massive!

Saint Nazaire is arguably the best preserved of all five of the German U-Boat sites in western France sites, possibly due to it not being an integral part of the French Navy’s plans and so was left to stand unused for many years.

It features 14 cells for 20 submarines, the eight cells on the right hand side for one boat each and the six wider cells on the left capable of protecting two boats at a time.

Today the site is in public use and so visiting is easy and you can access the large cells within the bunker.
Saint Nazaire was one of the most important ports for the Kriegsmarine and provided one of the largest dry docks for the repair of German ships. On March 28, 1942, aware that it could become the stopping point of Germany’s largest battleships including Bismarck and Tirpitz, the British sent 600 commandos to attack Saint Nazaire as part of Operation Chariot.
The aim was to destroy the lock gates which would protect the battleships and allow them to be repaired, forcing them to return to other bases in Germany where they would have to run the gauntlet of the English Channel or North Sea.
Whilst the commandos fought the German garrison at Saint Nazaire, HMS Campbeltown – a US destroyer transferred to the Royal Navy – rammed the lock gates. Packed with explosives on a timer delay, the ship exploded the following day causing the lock gates to become inoperable. In fact, it wouldn’t be until 1948 when the dry dock was operational again.

To those who seem to have a meltdown when we post from somewhere outside of Normandy we’d just like to say that yes, we know this isn’t in Normandy and we’re not claiming it is. Thanks.

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