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Worth a look, V1 launch sites, pill boxes and lots more


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I'm sure many of you have been over there but a good few weeks mooching all the V weapons sites and especially the massive underground one near Mimoyecques......plus a good long mooch along the coast taking in the cross channel gun sites makes for a cracking holiday.........well..I thought it did.......

mind you .....

......my missus and her kids didn't seem as impressed as I thought they should have been :D

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Mimoyecques is OK, but a right mess. Eperlecques (or as Watten) is much more substantial and although the museum aspect with random vehicles is nutty, the overall experience is good. If you visit the Batterie Todt museum at Audinghem on the coast below Calais at Cap Griz Nez make sure to walk past the little café outside (great steaks and moules - plus a weird outside loo) and go down the road to see the other casemates.The road arches round to the left. Continue along and you will come to the wreck of one casemate on your right. There are three. One is a bat sanctuary in the woods to your left, but the gun port has a viewing platform. Amazing fungi in the woods around it as well. The one on the road was completely destroyed by a Tallboy bomb, worth looking at the destructive power. The third, reached down a path on your right, which is nearest to the coast; is amazing. It has original German graffiti and murals in the lower accommodation and magazines. This is quickly vanishing due to modern graffiti artists work - so don't delay. There is a picnic site as well. It's all free access in a country park of sorts.

 

MB

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If you visit the Batterie Todt museum at Audinghem on the coast below Calais at Cap Griz Nez make sure to walk past the little café outside (great steaks and moules - plus a weird outside loo) and go down the road to see the other casemates.The road arches round to the left. Continue along and you will come to the wreck of one casemate on your right. There are three. One is a bat sanctuary in the woods to your left, but the gun port has a viewing platform. Amazing fungi in the woods around it as well. <strong>The one on the road was completely destroyed by a Tallboy bomb</strong>, worth looking at the destructive power. The third, reached down a path on your right, which is nearest to the coast; is amazing. It has original German graffiti and murals in the lower accommodation and magazines. This is quickly vanishing due to modern graffiti artists work - so don't delay. There is a picnic site as well. It's all free access in a country park of sorts. MB
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That casemate was destroyed by an internal explosion. An unfortunate local decided to take a look inside, after the Germans had departed & managed to ignite the magazine.</p>

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There are 4 casemates in total, each mounted a single 38cm gun, the same type that were mounted on the Bismark & Tirpitz.</p>

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I took these photos from the ferry leaving Boulonge, long lens & magnified, so poor quality.</p>

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Interestingly, the three surviving guns, were shipped to Norway, post war, for use in a Norwegian coastal fortress, <font size="4">Battery Nötteröy</font>, staying in use until the late 1950s.</p>

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yep agree with you there mate ..the '3rd' blockhouse was definitely not blown up by a Tallboy.

...it was inadvertantly destroyed by some French roadworkers exploring the interior a year or so after the war...

.they had apparently found some magnesium type flares to illuminate their way and ....there still being an enormous amount of explosives inside the emplacements.... a lot of which were the propellants charges of the gun cotton type and.....(you can see it coming can't you ?:))......

..... somehow or other the poor fellas ignited one of the magazines..

......one almighty bang later the casement looked more or less like it does to this day......

....I have some photos I took in 2004 on a memory stick somewhere of the interior of the '4th' emplacement and the original German graffiti was in excellent condition back then ...shame if it's been ruined since...incidentally ...the lowest level of this bunker has been sealed off by filling the stairwell with concrete so what may or may not still be down in the basement no-one now will ever know...

now........ on the matter of the Mimoquyes V3 emplacement being a mess....now that was caused by Tallboys ....:D:D:D:D

PS:....when were your photos taken?....

Edited by RattlesnakeBob
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I took my photos (Why has that post come out all mangled?) from the (Now defunct?) Boulonge to Dover ferry, 2 years ago.

You're not getting into Boulonge's harbour without passing those guns!

That whole stretch of coast is still covered in concrete!

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I took my photos (Why has that post come out all mangled?) from the (Now defunct?) Boulonge to Dover ferry, 2 years ago.

You're not getting into Boulonge's harbour without passing those guns!

That whole stretch of coast is still covered in concrete!

 

yeah I know!...there's some kinda cubes of concrete there isn't there!!...

..and.... I've mooched inside or over the top and around a mighty lot of it from Calais all the way to Brittany in the last 20 years or so !...I absolutely love it..:laugh:

.I know a lot of folk (my missus included:D) struggle to see what the hell my fascination is with it all but......ah well ! there you go !

I haven't been over there now since 2006 and I must admit to getting a very strong urge to visit yet again.......time for a solo bike trip I'm thinking :)

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We found mooching about in bunkers to be a really good day out. One of my mates does geocaching and the two cross over nicely. I like photographing the things. Some of the engineering is amazing. The best thing is we can have a full day without a massive drive from Calais and still get back there in time for a decent meal at the Café de Paris before we get on the train. In fact the worst part of any trip is the drive from Southend to Folkestone.

 

 

yeah I know!...there's some kinda cubes of concrete there isn't there!!...

..and.... I've mooched inside or over the top and around a mighty lot of it from Calais all the way to Brittany in the last 20 years or so !...I absolutely love it..:laugh:

.I know a lot of folk (my missus included:D) struggle to see what the hell my fascination is with it all but......ah well ! there you go !

I haven't been over there now since 2006 and I must admit to getting a very strong urge to visit yet again.......time for a solo bike trip I'm thinking :)

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