Located on the high ground north of Isques and overlooking the south eastern side of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Stp246 Ginster features four artillery gun casemates, two observation posts, and an ammunition bunker.
Two of the casemates are of the R669 type, small buildings for 10cm calibre guns, and both have been subjected to massive internal explosions. You can find many casemates in this state in the Pas de Calais region as they were used to either destroy left-over ammunition once the sites were captured or purposely destroyed to ensure they couldn’t be used again.
The R611 casemates are much larger and were designed for heavy calibre 15.5cm guns. These buildings featured a small crew room plus rooms for ammunition, and a rear defensive embrasure for a heavy machine gun. Today, both R611 casemates are in a poor state.
A R120a type artillery observation posts stands to the north of the casemates and would have provided target information for the four guns. It once features an armoured steel observation cupola on top giving protected vision of the surrounding area, but this was removed for its scrap metal value after the end of the war.
It can still be accessed, with care, and inside you can still see the commander’s room, a crew room, and a space where there would be a map table. It’s protected at the rear with a close quarters combat embrasure.
Behind the casemates is a single R607 bunker which was used to store the various ammunition types for the batterie.
Today the site stands on private farmland and cannot be accessed without permission.