Archive for the ‘France’ Category

Regelbau 648 discovered near Audierne

In September the remains of a 648 for Czech Einschartenturm were discovered in the Panzerstützpunkt at Lézongar, near Audierne, France. The Czech-gone-German cupola type 817P5 was already partly cut up, but the original three Czech embrasures can still be seen. Only three intact 648 exist, all of them located in the Festung Saint-Nazaire, so this is […]

Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:29 pm by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · 2 Comments
In: Demolition/Disappearing, France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Ar 36, Phare Cap Ferret

6202 a photo by félixlechat on Flickr. GRAMASA, the local bunker association in the south west of France has uncovered a fantastic 622 with all the camouflage paint still on the walls. The same paint was used to draw this man smoking a pipe. Must be original?

Posted on July 3, 2012 at 5:01 pm by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · One Comment
In: France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Bunker near Arcachon unearthed

Two years ago we mentioned the renovation of an anti-tank bunker in the south west of France. In May of 2012 the plans were finally put into action. The bunker’s armoured plate was behind bricks but still there including the protecting lifting plate in front. The ball mount for the 4.7cm Festungspak 36 (t) is […]

Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:44 pm by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bunkersite.com update: The story of a Marineflak veteran

Some weeks ago we came into contact with a Marineflak veteran which was stationed at Trégastel, south of Brest in Bretagne, France. Wolfgang Weber came in from the Flakschule at Misdroy at the Baltic Coast at the age of 19. His story combined with our fieldwork can be found here. I must say, you do know […]

Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:10 am by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Articles, Bunkersite update, France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bunker for sale in Audresselles

In Audresselles, on the sea wall, a 612 casemate is for sale. Attached is a house. http://www.immobilier-lariviere.com/456352/56862465/detail,sento.htm?lang=fr

Posted on May 1, 2012 at 11:02 am by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · One Comment
In: France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Practising inside Hitler’s old headquarters

French rescue teams use the tunnels of Margival to practise on emergency cases. http://www.lunion.presse.fr/article/aisne/lancien-qg-dhitler-devient-lieu-de-sauvetage

Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:23 am by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: France, News

Cupola 24P8 restored and on display

In June we posted about two ‘Kleinstglocken’ 24P8 found in the south of France. One of them was obtained by the Association de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine Historique Militaire in Le Wantzenau, near Strasbourg. And what they did was fantastic. They’ve meticulously renovated this turret to a mint condition and put it on display outside their museum, on […]

Posted on December 4, 2011 at 2:36 pm by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: France, News · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Karola from the air

Fantastic video by Olivier Benoit using a Canon 5d MkII and a drone (small remote controlled plane) of the Karola fire control tower on Île de Ré. More of his work on http://noibix.com/blog/                

Posted on November 28, 2011 at 9:44 am by Arthur van Beveren · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: France, Photography · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Save the tower of Saint-Marc, send this letter

The city of Saint-Nazaire is known for its ignorance towards World War 2 heritage, destroying many unique bunkers and truncate the U-Boot bunker. But all of this would be peanuts compared to the plans to destroy the Marineflak headquarters at Saint-Marc. The bunker, a huge and very rare Fl 250, consists of a big bunker […]

Stop the looting of Bt Karola

Looting bunkers of the Atlantikwall by so-called collectors has been the case since the eighties of the last century. However since less and less complete bunkers are present the rate of looting speeds up. This is especially the case with the heavy Marine Batterie Karola on Île de Ré. Alain Durrieu, writer of several books about the Atlantikwall, now […]