Merville Battery

After leaving the Carrefour Market at Cabourg the first destination was the former German WW2 battery at Merville.

It was part of the Atlantic Wall. Maybe better historians,  that I could ever be, explain why it was built basically from Norway to Spain. 

If the Nazis had built "the thousand year Reich", why in around a decade build defences?

We arrived and found the dedicated motorhome parking. It's free to park.

The battery museum comprises of the four casement where they housed the guns. 

The battery was there to defend the Orne estuary. It needed to be taken out before the D-Day landing on Sword Beach.

The story of what happened is one of endurance and bravery. Easily on a par with the capture of the "Pegasus Bridge" over the Orne. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Merville_Gun_Battery

Also on display is a Douglas DC3. This one was recovered from Bosnia Herzogovina and restored.

https://www.batterie-merville.com/en/the-museum/c-47-the-snafu-special/

Each of the four casements has displays and films explaining the events of June 5th and 6th 1944.

Admission for us was €9.50 each.