Stp Bamburg
This field battery is situated behind the
centre of Westende village between the Bamburgstraat and the Schuddebeurzeweg.
The site has been a nature reserve since the 2nd of July 1982 and is called the
"Schuddebeurze".
It was the 16th strongpoint of
the sector to the west of Oostende. Note the bunker numbers : Ost-W 016.
Stp Bamburg was a field battery designed to
keep the beaches under fire. The battery did not only cover the beach but also
the port of Nieuwpoort. You can see that because the only gun casemate of the
site is pointed towards the city. The battery was equiped with 4 x 10.5 cm (t)
guns. In March 1943 the unit was numbered Geräte Batterie B 39. At that
time the battery was situated in the operational area of the 171th
Res Div , later converted into the 48th ID. (Geräte Batterie means reserve
battery at division level)
It can be said that it is one of the most
interesting field batteries of the Atlantikwall because it contains many
aspects of the general concept of defensive works : All round defence, gun
sites and emplacements and crew-accomodation and ammunition storage.
Description
Initially the guns stood on open
emplacements. Nowadays some of them are still there. During the
"Schartenbauprogram" of 1944 the Germans started building casemates
for all their guns, but they didn't finished the job. (The
"Schartenbauprogram" was an order from Hitler to protect each gun
with concrete). On the Bamburg site only one Regelbau 669 has been built. (Gun
casemate for field guns (60°) without annex rooms). The proof that this
casemate has been built later on is the bunker number. This one carries a
number in the 400 series while the other bunkers have 200 series numbers. The
669 was built in "A" strength and was constructed with "Formsteine"
except for the front. This was casted. Moreover it has a large concrete
basement in front of the embrasure to avoid the danger of bombs sliding under
the casemate.
The
669 of the battery
Behind the gun positions on both sides of
the dirt road are the passive bunkers of the battery. Note that all the
St-bunkers have been built in strength "A" (walls of 3 m thick),
probably because they were not built into the ground due to the extreme high
level of the water table. Unfortunatly all the internal equipment has
gone. The largest bunker is the battery command post. a Regelbau 610; command
post for a company or a battery. Remains of a trench are visible around the
bunker. The battery-crew stayed in crew bunkers, Regelbau 502,
("Doppelgruppenunterstand"). Behind one 502 stands a vf
toilet-bunker. The other Vf bunkers are a 2a with one room and a 52a with two
rooms. The battery has also two ammunition bunkers, Regelbau 134. One of them
is a complete ruin but the other is easily recognizable and accessible.
The
battery's command post, Regelbau 610
The all-round defence consisted of four
Tobruks for machine guns and various trenches. The latter attract your
attention by their well preserved condition because they were built in brick.
Moreover they have interesting machine gun pits. Of the other trenches built
without brick there remains only a slight rise of the ground.
View on the trenches with a MG-pit. In the back, a Tobruk.
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