Bttr Malo Terminus (Zuydcote)

[dirk Peeters]

new to me Jos
Thanks

[myt1prod]

batterie zuydcoote.jpg (88.38 KiB) Viewed 746 times

Marine-Dienstvorschrift 903/2 "1. Marinebezirk Cherbourg" OKM 1940

[dirk Peeters]

Thanks Jean

[myt1prod]

first time I noticed this bunker at Malo Terminus... but how comes it was demolished?? On it's original location only a large debrisfield with small pieces of concrete and brick.. but it's impossible it has been destroyed by the sea leaving only small pieces of debris... so it had to be demolished by men... but why??

I'd love to see some photo's or more information on this bunker! (M270??)

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[JKernwerk]

Dirk isn't that the strange one.
Seen a picture somewhere but i do not know where.
JK

[Chazette]

Hello is not M 270 is very small
some picture and study are in my book

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AC

[myt1prod]

thanks Alain!

[dirk Peeters]

That bunker is made from concrete (roof) and brick walls and became unstable
It has demolished in the eighties by the french army
that gunbunker has also been transformed by the french army to an MG Stand (they bricked the front up)

[dirk Peeters]

a few years later they demolished the rear with the trenches

[myt1prod]

apparently also demolished post-war... this German addition on the French leitstand (photo taken at museum Fort Des Dunes... althought don't go there to see many photo's and objects, there are very few... the fort itself is considered the museum)

malo terminus french pdt.jpg (303.8 KiB) Viewed 550 times

[myt1prod]

About this French PDT...

since my childhood I wondered where the ladder in front of the French PDT leads too...
I haven't seen such a ladder before on German structures, nore can I remember seeing such thick climbingirons on German structures as the one on top of the protectionwall embrassing the ladder... so possibly this construction with ladder is also French.

But it doesn't lead inside the french PDT... (except perhaps if the French PDT has a second basement hidden under the rubble in the first basement)... so there must be an underground construction hidden under the sand; perhaps even the entrance to a subterain tunnelsystem.

Can we find information on this construction? Can anyone ID the structure as being 100% French or German?

The bunker can be entered by crawling under the metal fence which is placed in the entrance. The bunker has 3 levels; the entrance level with one large room, the observation room partially divided by a wall and the cellar divided up in 3 spaces.. the marking 'defenser de fumer' (no smoking) could perhaps indicate explosives/ammo were kept in the cellar...

a nice detail;
this hammer integrated in the wall; or the French lacked reinforcement steel, or it has something to do with superstition or making a statement or it reffers to the name of the bunker which would then be 'le marteau' (the hammer') hahah

[myt1prod]

Just did some aerial research on this French fort where later on the Bttr Malo Terminus was established... and yes the structure laying in front of the French PDT is French; it can be 'clearly' seen on the 1937 IGN aerial... still the question remains; who knows more?? where does it lead too?? (it seems it isn't connected to the French PDT unless the PDT had an second basementlevel... so it most possibly leads to an unknown underground French structure... nore is it connected to the Galleries of the French fort)

But I found another remarkable fact which I didn't know...
The fort has been re-armed during the Interbellum (between both WW's), also the French PDT, the underground structure and others have been build during the interbellum... possibly built shortly before this aerial was taken, as can be assumed in preparation for the possible event of another German invasion noticing the events going on in Germany at the time.

On this beautiful 1920 aerial we can see the fort in it's 'original' state; we see 4 round OB's on the right and on the left we have a telemetre in an open emplacement with an open MG or observationposition in front of it followed by 4 possible heavy MGpositions. Marked in red the location of the bunkers the Germans would built later on (the position of the bunkers is based on the 1957 aerial when they where still in place). We can assume that this was the arment of the fort during WW1.

For the stuctures marked with a red dotted line... it seems these where built by the Germans; the 1957 is to blurry but nothing seems to be there yet, and the 1920 aerial shows pristine lawns on this location and very little structural, therefore i assume nothing was there, unless these structures where still hidden under the pristine lawns... at least one structure here is French due to the masonry work which is identical to the rest of the fort, but it seems most other brick buildings are German).
The dotted square in the middle is a large observation block splitted in two... it seems to have been built on to the existing French Galleries by the Germans as both 1920 and 1937 aerials seem to show nothing on this location.

Left under on the aerial the Germans added some rooms to an existing French structure; the roof carries at datestamp proving it is German (photo will be posted later)

This second and blurry aerial shows the 1937 situation. We can clearly see the original OB's and possible MG postitions have been replaced by only four larger gunpositions in open open emplacements placed much wider apart from each other. The Firecontrolbunker (PDT) is built right on top of the location where the telemetre stood, possibly to re-use the cableconnections. The climbing shaft leading to the unknown underground structure can be seen in front of the PDT.
There seems to be a half round outline built on to the Southside of the fort, if so this means the half round brick chamber built outside the fort's wall has been constructed by the French in the interbellum... on this aerial we can also see a ramp leading to it from the mainroad... if not it must be German because this chamber wasn't there in 1920.

the post WW2-situation in 1957 shows all bunkers on their original location; the personelbunker is still well hidden in the embankment... only the chimney can clearly be seen.
Especially notice the bunker just under the first French OB on the left (purple circle)... now nothing is there but some rubble. It is shurely German and seems quite sturdy... for some reason it is gone and most remains seem to have been removed instead of scattered around it's original location. Anyone who knows more about this bunker????

and the last aerial showing the most recent situation;

[myt1prod]

Although the fort and the German bunkers have been vandalised since many years, some small details remain. Some parts are surprisingly clean compared to the larger part of the fort, also thanks to the fact that some of the constructions are sealed off with metal fences. Many fences have been cut so some of the structures can be entered again... never the less, it seems most people dare not enter because the inside remains reasonably clean and free of grafitti and taggs.

Let's kick of with the M162a;

built on to it a Sk-bunker with 3 rooms visible trough the fences; this bunker has no connection with the M162a itself. 2 in 3 rooms are connected, the 3 room has this strange niche... due to it's special shape it was probably custom made for some kind of appartus to fit... anyone seen this before??

in the doorway, instead of classically seen behind the corner past the doorway, this antenna-niche, the second one is symetrically placed also in the doorway.

The entraceprotection with some stange diagonal markings in the concrete...

in the gasschleuse, the text has become impossible to read but we all know what it says

[myt1prod]

the main room ... notice the unfinished uberdruckventil in the doorway to the leftside room

in the doorway to the rightside room it is even more visible that the uberdruckventil was never finished... it is written above it. In both doorways holes seem to have been made after the bunker was poored, but none of both connect to each other; the hole are just a few cm deep.
How would this bunker have been functional without it's uberdruckventils?? Or can we assume the interiourworks of the bunker were never finished? In any way it seems strange to drill the holes for piping after a bunker was poored??!
In the case of this hole for uberdruckventil in the rightsideroom doorway we can even see a cable sticking out, indicating it was used for electrics or communication purposes.

In the rightside room some pipes are still present and the room is pretty clean...

Again strange; one would think this was the place where the bunkerstove stood due to the typical chimney-exhaust... but seen how the pipes used to connect to each other it's clear this chimney-exhaust was used for a different purpose (or the stove was connected in a very strange way)

[myt1prod]

In the leftside room, another chimney-exhaust and of course the other side of the entranceprotection

another indication this bunker wasn't entirely finished... missing stairs.
There are no indications climingirons were present, clearly no concrete or brick stairs either... only possibillity left is a wooden staircase laying on the concrete slope... otherwise it would have been very difficult (as nowadays) for the personel to get up the second floor observationroom

Which door would have been used here?