{"id":47986,"date":"2022-07-12T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T20:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=47986"},"modified":"2024-07-12T00:03:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T22:03:42","slug":"fiemel-flying-over-an-old-anti-aircraft-battery-of-the-second-world-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2022\/07\/12\/fiemel-flying-over-an-old-anti-aircraft-battery-of-the-second-world-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiemel: flying over an old anti-aircraft battery of the Second World War"},"content":{"rendered":"

During World War II, Germany built a very long line of coastal fortifications in the occupied countries: the Atlantic Wall.<\/p>\n

Maisy: the German Normandy battery that was mysteriously buried by the US<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe interior of two well-preserved Third Reich batteries on a British island<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

This defensive line stretched from the southwestern coast of France to northern Norway<\/strong>, and was primarily intended to prevent an Allied landing. The Atlantic Wall was equipped with coastal artillery batteries, command pillboxes, anti-tank positions, machine-gun and rifle pits, and also anti-aircraft batteries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of these old anti-aircraft batteries is in Fiemel, in Termunten, province of Groningen, in the northeast of the Netherlands<\/strong>, near the border with Germany. Its mission was to defend the German port of Emden (located nearby) from possible air attacks. The battery was assigned to Marine Flak Abteilung 256<\/strong> (Marine Anti-Aircraft Detachment 256), based in the Dutch city of Delfzijl. According to the lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de<\/a> website, this unit was formed in March 1942 and was part of the 6th Flak Regiment of the German Navy.<\/strong> Its first commander was Lieutenant Commander Hans Erdmann, and the last, appointed in October 1944, was Lieutenant Commander Werner Wolters.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The anti-aircraft battery of Fiemel with its FlaK-40s at the end of World War II (Photo: Liberation Route Europe<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The Fiemel Battery was equipped with four 128 mm FlaK-40 anti-aircraft guns<\/strong>, being the only position of this type in the Netherlands. This German position offered considerable resistance to the Canadian Army<\/strong>, which was forced to take it with the help of tanks, finally being able to liberate the province of Groningen on May 2, 1945, just a few days before the end of the war.<\/p>\n

This battery was decommissioned after the war. It is currently owned by Het Groninger Landschap, which has restored it<\/strong>, putting up panels explaining its history in English, German and Dutch. Although it does not have its original guns, a sculptural replica of a FlaK-40 has been placed above the battery.<\/strong> You can see it in this beautiful video from LostintimeNL<\/a>, published a year ago and flying over it with a drone, accompanied by the overture to \"Egmont\" Op.84 by Ludwig van Beethoven:<\/p>\n