History
On the opposite side on the Thyborøn peninsula from the German coastal Batterie Stützpunkt Tørring lies Stützpunktgruppe Thyborøn, named after the Danish town behind the dunes. The German army started construction on the coastal battery in 1941 with open gun emplacements at first. During 1942 they started pouring concrete bomb free bunkers to house the guns together with a Fire Control bunker and support buildings. During this period the 10,5 cm gun bunkers and the Fire Control bunker were situated in the dunes. A rail track was in front of the bunkers. Today the strong point lies at the Danish beach.
Stützpunktgruppe Thyborøn
Stützpunktgruppe Thyborøn spreads out over 2,7 kilometers of coastline. It covers the Thyborøn harbor and the entrance to the Limfjord. While Stützpunktgruppe Thyborøn lies at the North Sea and at the south side of the Limfjord waterway, Coastal Batterie Stützpunkt Agger-Batterie lies at the north side. Both coastal batteries with radar and anti-aircraft support seal of the entrance to the Limfjord. If a ship manage to get through the coastal batterie at Stützpunkt Tørring will be its next challenge.
The Stützpunktgruppe Thyborøn is a collection of strongpoints in and around Thyborøn itself.
The strongpoint group consists off:
– Stützpunkt Heeres Küsten Batterie 4./180 – Coastal Batterie, H.K.B. 4./180 short
– Stützpunkt Lama – Radar position
– Stützpunkt Flakschutz Saelhundeholm – Air defense position
– Widerstandsnest Hafen – Infantry / troop position
Camouflaged bunkers
During the same visit that Generalfeldmarschall Rommel made at Coastal Batterie Tørring to inspect defenses on the Atlantic Wall he mentioned the bunkers at H.K.B. 4/180 would be easily recognized at the beach and marked as target, he ordered them camouflaged. A Danish architect, Poul Morell Nielsen, aka the Turtle Spy, designed camouflage for the bunkers making the fire control bunker the only camouflaged Regelbau 636 at the whole Atlantic wall. Paul added concrete, paint and roof tiles to the bunkers to make them look like houses, but most camouflage has been lost over time due to corrosion.
Armament and Stützpunkt layout
There were four Regelbau 671 gun positions housing French 10,5 cm Schneider guns from WW1, made in 1915.The Germans designated these guns 10,5 cm Kanonen 331 (f). These guns had a firing range of 12 kilometers. Next to the gun positions was a Regelbau 636 fire control bunker. The complete setup with ammunition bunkers, personnel bunkers, Flak (anti-aircraft) support bunkers, search light positions etc. was manned by 130 men.
Visit
The bunkers are free to visit and can be found on the beach and in the dunes. A small map is added with the general location of the other strongpoints nearby.
Stützpunkt Lama the radar position lies to the north, Widerstandsnest Hafen and the Air defense Stützpunkt Flakschutz Saelhundeholm can be found near and at the harbor, see the map below.
