KVUGr Marcouf - Opěrný bod č. 104 (ex WN 5)

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Note on armament of WN 104 (WN 5)


In the WN 104 armament list, some sources also list an 88mm cannon and a 75mm field (anti-aircraft, anti-tank) gun. These weapons were probably first placed here in 1960 by Paul Carell in his book "Sie kommen! Invasion 1944", where a schematic plan of this strongpoint can be found (Appendix 1). Since in this plan something is missing here and there (e.g. the northern barracks for the 50mm gun) or missing (e.g. the southern open position for the 50mm gun), while the so-called "kitchen" (today's Roosevelt café?) is located on the opposite side of the road, it is probably necessary to take the author's other information with a grain of salt.


The fact that even a schematic plan can at least approximately show the actual position of the objects is evidenced by another, also schematic plan (Appendix 2), which can be found on the website www.d-daytoursnormandy.com and on which no guns of these calibers are plotted.


Perhaps the most detailed plan of WN 104 (Appendix 3) was published in 2000 by Alain Chazette in his book 'Le Mur de L'Atlantique en Normandie' (p. 66). Even here, there are no guns larger than 50 mm, but in the text of the same publication (p. 66), the list of armament includes a 75 mm FK 38 field gun, located even in the H 677 casemate. That is, in a building designed for an 88 mm anti-tank gun. The only artillery casemate in WN 104 was H 667, designed for a stationary 50mm anti-tank gun, which, due to its insufficient dimensions and "infantry only" entrance, precluded the placement of mobile artillery.


The arrangement of WN 104's armament is also shown in the plan (appendix 4) printed in Steven J. Zaloga's publication "D-Day Fortifications in Normandy" (p. 40), on which the number of the respective tactical markings corresponds to the number of 47mm and 50mm guns, while the table (p. 20) lists the 75mm FK38 field gun instead of the 47mm anti-tank gun, in its corresponding H 612 casemate. However, this is not drawn on any of the plans (not even Carell's generous one), let alone the fact that at least its remains survive in the still undeveloped terrain of the beach...


One possible explanation for the mystery of the 75mm field gun FK 38 could be its very distant resemblance to the 47mm anti-tank gun Pak 181 (f) and the resulting misidentification of the weapon shown on the period image (see Fig. 05 at the main table). In contrast, the placement of the 88mm gun - especially the anti-aircraft, almost 2.5m high version mentioned by Carell - in the open position on the beach is difficult to explain, if not impossible...


Sources:
Paul Carell: "Attack on Fortress Europe" (Prague 1995)
Alain Chazette: "Le Mur de L'Atlantique en Normandie" (Bayeux 2000)
Steven J. Zaloga: "D-Day Fortifications in Normandy" (Osprey Publishing 2004)
www.d-daytoursnormandy.com

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