Photographs of German defences and other installations

From Jerripedia

German defences and other installations

A map showing actual and proposed German installations. The network as originally envisaged was far from complete when the Occupation ended

Where possible we have grouped together photographs of individual batteries and other installations, but it has not been possible to identify the exact location for many of these images
Pictures of the main, and most photographed, defensive installation, Batterie Lothringen, at Noirmont, have their own separate page
This page only includes photographs of the major defensive installations, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and the troops who operated them.
Other photographs of troops manning various defences will be found in a separate gallery showing German soldiers on duty
We have used generic terms for many of the installations shown on this page, such as 'bunker', 'gun emplacement', 'command tower' etc.
We are conscious that every installation built by the occupying troops had an individual German name and specific identification,
and we hope in due course to enlist the help of experts on the Occupation to idenfity locations more accurately

German command tower at Corbiere

2006 conservation statement

Corbiere

Searchlight installation at Corbiere
An aerial view of Corbiere in 1942, before the construction of major defensive installations started
Corbiere searchlight
Corbiere emplacement
Demolition of Corbiere gun turret in 1953 from Illustrated London News
Corbiere searchlight
A camouflaged bunker at La Corbiere in 1944
A photograph taken during the Occupation at Corbiere
Corbiere 1948
Searchlight at La Corbière
The observation tower at Corbiere
The observation tower at La Corbiere
This tower at Corbiere formed part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall
The famous German command centre at Corbiere
Bunker tunnel at La Corbiere
Plan of Strongpoint Corbiere
A captured French gun installed to cover St Ouen's Bay

Gorey

The command bunker at Gorey which was demolished in 1972
Before removal ...
... the same view after removal and replacement by a car park

Batterie Moltke, Les Landes

A labourer at Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
A giant concrete mixer at Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
Working on Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
Batterie Moltke at Les Landes
Batterie Moltke at Les Landes restored
Batterie Moltke at Les Landes restored
Artillery at Les Landes

2017 pictures of restored installation Batterie Moltke

Batterie Fritzsch

Elizabeth Castle 1941

St Aubin's Bay defences

The first seven pictures show defences on and adjacent to the coastal tower at Beaumont

Gun position at Beaumont
Plans for a machine gun bunker at First Tower
Millbrook bunker restored
Millbrook bunker
Millbrook bunker

Bel Royal

Bel Royal pillbox
Bel Royal bunker
Bel Royal bunker

Miscellaneous

A harbour anti-aircraft gun installation
Batterie Endrass at Westmount
La Moye
Anti-aircraft gun
German gun in St Ouen's Bay
Rangefinder in St Ouen's Bay
Blanches Banques artillery
Blanches Banques artillery
Blanches Banques artillery
Blanches Banques artillery
Field gun at L'Etacq
Field gun at L'Etacq
Anti-tank obstacles photographed at L'Etacq in 1944
L'Etacq
Artillery at La Coupe, St Martin
Les Brayes
La Moye
Anti-tank field gun at Grouville
A searchlight at an unidentified location
Field gun at Mont Gavey, St Lawrence

Anti-aircraft gun

St Catherine searchlight
Fauvic gun photographed by Emile Guiton
A German gun emplacement at Belle Hougue
An anti-aircraft gun at Mont Rossignol
Luftwaffe crew at Mont Rossignol
A mobile field gun on a Jersey clifftop
A small field gun being moved at Elizabeth Castle
A field gun on the coast at First Tower
A gun emplacement at Fauvic
A large gun emplacement by St Ouen's Church

Noirmont gun emplacement

Anti-tank traps on the beach at La Haule
A French field gun in the Jersey countryside
A sound locator to detect British aircraft
This gun emplacement at St Ouen was a dummy
An anti-tank gun
Mont Rossignol
An ugly new addition to St Aubin's old fort
A gun emplacement on Victoria Tower, a 19th century defence installation
A lookout point at Westmount where the gallows once stood
A gun emplacement at Woodlands, Grouville
A field gun mounted on a concrete bunker at Fauvic
A German gun emplacement
Bunker at Fort Henry

A gun installation in St Ouen's Bay

Archirondel
Fort Henry
Fort Henry
La Haule
La Haule
La Haule
La Rocque
Le Hocq
Firing a field gun
Les Platons
Platte Rocque
A tank turret on the coast road near La Rocque
Les Platons
Verclut machine gun emplacement
La Haule
An anti-aircraft gun at Plemont
Barbed wire at St Aubin
Anti-tank installation in St Aubin's Bay
A gun emplacement
Anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft gun
St Brelade's Bay machine gun
St Brelade's Bay machine gun
La Moye
La Moye

Machine gun on Lewis Tower

La Moye radar installation, photographed after the Liberation
Havre des Pas gun turret
Havre des Pas gun turret
Havre des Pas gun turret
Preparing shells in a bunker
German field gun
Observation tower at La Hougue Bie
Building coastal defences
A bunker on the corner of Conway Street
Holidaymakers pose inside the gun embrasure at Greve de Lecq
St Ouen's Bay casemate in 1944
St Ouen's Bay casemate in 1944
St Ouen's Bay casemate in 1944
An unidentified bunker
A 1953Evening Post photograph of a gun turret being demolished

Gun battery in the grounds of St Ouen's Manor

German beach obstacles
Bunker M19 uncovered in the 1980s
Fort Henry
Mont Orgueil viewed from Fort Henry
Fort Henry
RAF aerial view of flak battery at Bras de Fer, Trinity, in 1945
Batterie Lothringen
Anti-aircraft gun
Work on the construction of a bunker
M10 La Moye
Anti-aircraft gun in St Ouen's Bay
88 gun
Anti-landing craft posts in St Ouen's Bay
Anti-landing craft posts in St Ouen's Bay
Some posts had mines mounted on them ...
... others had shells
A gun stored in St Mark's Lane
Machine Gun at La Rocque
A tank turret forming part of the defences at Green Island
Artillery at St Catherine
Artillery in Grouville Bay
Artillery in Grouville Bay
The seawall in St Ouen's Bay
A rangefinder in St Ouen's Bay

A tank turret on the slipway between Havre des Pas and La Collette

Artillery practice at St Ouen's Mill
St Ouen flak battery
Construction of a gun turret
Artillery at Les Brayes
Batterie Schlieffen at Verclut, Grouville
Map of Bouley Bay resistance nests
The jetty at Bouley Bay
Fort Leicester
Fort Leicester
Searchlight at Bouley Bay
The back of the searchlight
Machine gun at Bouley Bay
Bunker at Sorel Point
Sorel Pavilion in 1944
La Haule tank turret
Le Hocq tank turret in 1944
One of the substantial bunkers at Le Braye
Anti-aircraft gun in St Ouen's Bay
Gun crew
Resistance Nest Jasmine, Les Platons
Resistance Nest Jasmine
Resistance Nest Jasmine
Resistance Nest Jasmine
Sentry
Searchlight
St Brelade's Bay casemate

Rangefinder in St Ouen's Bay

Archirondel bunker
St Ouen's Bay rangefinder
German machine gun installation
Anti-aircraft gun at La Moye
Next to the coastal tower at Archirondel: a gun emplacement which was demolished after the German Occupation
Mont a la Brune
Mont Matthieu in 1944
Anti-aircraft gun in St Ouen's Bay
Fort Henry
La Moye observation post
Green Island
Rozel Harbour defences
A searchlight at Batterie Haesler
Gun emplacement at St Catherine
L’Oeilliere Point
Mont a la Brune
La Mare Mill strongpoint restored

Restored strongpoint

In the aftermath of the Occupation, most German bunkers were stripped of anything which would move, mostly to be sold as scrap or dumped, and then sealed as a safety measure. It was only in the late 20th century and in more recent years that historical organisations such as the Channel Island Occupation Society gained permission from landowners to access the bunkers and start work on restoring them. The strongpoint at Corbiere has undoubtedly been the most successful of these operations, as evidenced by these photographs from a Facebook group. Click on any image to see a full-size version