A well preserved German bunker with a French cannon located on a British island

@ElentirENG ES 4·17·2023 · 23:46 0

The island of Jersey was one of the few British territories that was conquered by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The Jersey cliff where dozens of World War II German cannons were thrown
The interior of two well-preserved Third Reich batteries on a British island

This island was taken by the Germans in June 1940 along with the Channel Islands, a territory that has belonged to the British Crown since the Middle Ages, but is not part of the United Kingdom. The Germans built several coastal defenses on Jersey, including the Marine Peilstand 1 (MP1) we saw here in 2022.

Among Jersey's well-preserved fortifications is one of the bunkers located near the La Corbière lighthouse, on the southwestern tip of the island. Like many other German fortifications on the Atlantic Wall, this bunker was equipped with an artillery piece captured from the French, specifically a 105 mle 1913 Schneider cannon, used during the First World War. A similar bunker was built a little further north, but it is in ruins.

This German bunker has been very well restored, and its interior has been converted into a museum with all kinds of objects from the period. This Monday, Jersey War Tours posted a video showing this bunker inside and out. out:

You can see here some captures of the video. Here we see the exterior of the bunker. The wooden part and the cannon have disappeared in the northernmost bunker.

The inside of the bunker. The 105 mle 1913 Schneider cannon is like new. They have done an excellent restoration work.

The optics of the bunker. What we see is La Rocco Tower, built by the British between 1796 and 1801 to protect the island against French attacks. The tower was badly damaged during World War II, as the Germans used it for firing practice for their coastal artillery.

The bunker room. It looks as if the German soldiers had abandoned it yesterday.