Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Longues-sur-Mer artillery battery was built by the Todt Organization between November 1943 and May 1944 as part of the Atlantic Wall. Located on a 65-metre high cliff, it was equipped with four 150-mm marine guns, protected by regelbau M272 reinforced concrete casemates, and a Regelbau M262 Anton command post. These facilities covered the beaches of Omaha Beach and Gold Beach, as well as allied vessels at a distance of 20 km.

The site was the target of intensive Allied aerial bombardments prior to 6 June 1944, including 27 May and 2 June, to neutralize its offensive capabilities. Despite the damage sustained, especially on Casemate 2, the guns remained partially operational on D-Day. The battery came into action at 5:37 a.m., firing at the Allied naval forces, before being gradually neutralized by the French cruisers Georges Leygues and British HMS Ajax.

The German garrison, made up of 184 soldiers under the command of the Oberleutnant Kurt Weil, capitulated on 7 June against the British Devonshire Regiment. After the war, the site, classified as a Historic Monument in 2001, became a major memorial to the Landing. Today, it is managed by the Coastal Conservatory and attracts 500,000 visitors annually, thanks to its original bunkers and cannons, which are exceptionally well preserved.

The battery illustrates German defensive strategies, with trenches, minefields and tobrouks, as well as the sabotage of local resistors that weakened certain structures. His command post, equipped with an advanced telemetry system, was a setting for the longest film Le Jour (1962). However, coastal erosion is now threatening the M262 Anton bunker, which has been closed to the public since 2025 for security reasons.

Between 2021 and 2022, the site benefited from a tourist redevelopment (EUR 2.5 million), including a new reception building and an interpretation circuit. The battery remains a unique testimony of the German coastal fortifications in Normandy, with its four TbtsK C/36 guns still in place, a rarity among the sites of the Disembarkation.

Future

The site has been developed and has become a frequented transit point during visits to the landing sites.

External links