Villa Stella Maris, Bruneval
The original Stella Maris was a distinctive late-19th-century villa standing at the bottom of the Bruneval valley, close to the beach. Before the war it was a civilian building; during the German occupation it was incorporated into the coastal defence system.
By 1941 the Germans had fortified the villa. A 2.5-metre-high defensive wall, firing loopholes, barbed wire and nearby trenches transformed it into a strongpoint. A German section of approximately nine men, commanded by Unteroffizier Treinies, occupied the position when the British raid took place.
For Operation Biting, British planners designated the villa “Guard Room.” It was important because it overlooked the route to the evacuation beach. The British parachute force therefore had to neutralise it before withdrawing with the captured Würzburg radar components.
During the assault, Lieutenant Euan Charteris and his men attacked Stella Maris with grenades while other parachutists provided covering fire. The Germans resisted from their trenches and positions around the villa. Eventually the British reached the building and entered it, capturing Fusilier Georg Schmidt, who had been stationed inside near the telephone.
With Guard Room and the adjacent Beach Fort overcome, the British could descend to the beach and complete their evacuation. An important point for your research is that Stella Maris was not the Würzburg radar station. The radar was positioned up on the cliff; Stella Maris was a German defensive position protecting the lower part of the valley and beach.
The original villa no longer survives; the present building on the site dates from the post-war period, it was built in the 1950s. The Castel des Kroumirs was a distinctive seaside building at Bruneval, Normandy, built in the late 19th century by Henry de Conty as part of an ambitious plan to develop the area into a fashionable seaside resort. Its unusual architecture reflected the neo-Moorish style popular at the time, and the building was intended to serve as a casino. During the Second World War, German forces occupied the Castel and used it as a military position. Its location near the Bruneval landing beach made it significant during Operation Biting in February 1942. The Castel was later destroyed, and the coastline was dramatically transformed by the construction of the Antifer oil terminal in the 1970s.
Visit
The site where the original house once stood can be viewed nearby—just below—the Operation Biting memorial. Some information panels remain, though a few have disappeared over the years. The evacuation beach is located right next to the building.
