Coastal Batterie Hess – Regelbau 622 – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France


Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand - Dieppe Raid - Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France

Atlantic Wall Coastal Battery Hess

During the Second World War, the Commonwealth forces carried out a surprise attack on the French coastal city of Dieppe called Operation Jubilee. With various groups of commandos they attacked the German coastal guards. South of Dieppe No.4 Commando’s executed a successful attack on the coastal Hess Battery. They landed at Stp. Gr. St Marguerite, located around Sainte-Marguerite-sur-mer.
The Stp (Stützpunkt) consisted of Marg 01 near Varengeville, Marg 03 near Quiberville-Plage, the Luftwaffe school Flakschule Ramouville near Ramouville and Marg 05 near St. Aubin.
P.s. Marg means Wiederstandsnest, resistance point. To the north of Dieppe was coastal battery Goebels and Commando No 3 was to take it out of action, while the main force stormed the beaches at Dieppe itself. The raid carried out by No. 4 commando was so successful that it became part of the training for future commandos.

The names for the coastal batteries Goebels and Hess etc. are given by the British during the Dieppe Raid, the Germans never used these designations to their coastal defences.

Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand - Dieppe Raid - Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France

Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand

The Regelbau bunker 622 was the improved version of the Regelbau 502 bunker. The Regelbau 622 Doppelgruppenunterstand was meant for two German combat groups of 10 soldiers each. The twenty soldiers were divided over two rooms. In each room were three 3-story beds in one single bed. The Regelbau 622 was made with 660 cubic meters of reinforced concrete. The 622 had a length of 11,50 meters, a width of 12,50 meters and was 5,10 meters high. There were two defensible entrances with a gas lock (two doors) with a periscope point. The periscope was not always installed. On one side an tobruk machinegun stand was integrated in the bunker. The bunker was used to accommodate gun crews or functioned as group shelter. The Regelbau 622 was constructed by the Organisation Tod from 1942.

Regelbau 622 – courtesy Lexicon der Wehrmacht

The beauty of war – Regelbau 622 on the beach

This does not exist in the sense that war is beautiful, but in the sense that something is left behind from a war that over time becomes part of the landscape with exceptional views for us to enjoy. The Regelbau 622 is still part of the Atlantic Wall but has fallen off the cliff. Strangely enough, it stands upright on the beach and takes coastal surveillance very seriously.

Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand - Dieppe Raid - Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France
Coastal Batterie Hess Regelbau 622 Doppel Gruppenunterstand – Dieppe Raid – Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, France

 


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