There’s a varied mix of structures to be found at this site in Ambleteuse where the 17th century Fort d’Ambleteuse artillery tower meets WW2 Atlantikwall defences.
Split by the La Slack river and marshland, the Widerstandsnest stands at the southern side of the village, and you can explore two R622 type personnel shelters and a huge R629 construction.
The R629 was built for sheltering an anti-tank gun which would be moved out into the open to fire on the beach area and beyond. The R629 was a bunker type which also features two Tobruks for observation and close quarters defence.
Next to it stands a rather ornate arch which once belonged to another, smaller brick and concrete built building attached to the rear of the gun garage.
At this site you can also see two type of beach defences with a Czech hedgehog and Tetrahedron either side of the river, although these were cordoned off at the beginning of 2023 to protect nesting birds near to the mouth of the river and dunes to the south.
A fallen Tobruk near to the fort gives you the ability to see what the foundation of even a small concrete build were like.
If you look carefully amongst the sand dunes near the R622 shelters closest to the river you can find spent cartridges, ammunition clips, and a lot of rusted lengths of German type barbed wire – be careful if you’re picking it up.