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Heroes of Omaha

Small strongpoint with a lot of firepower

Stp12 Ravenoville St Hubert

What to see

Strongpoint Stp12 was a relatively small complex but boasted a strong defence with four Tobruks built for captured Renault R35 tank turrets, a now destroyed R612 casemate for a 75mm cannon, a R667-type gun casemate, and an R634 bunker which featured a six embrasure armoured steel cupola on top with 360 range of fire.

The most obvious building at the site is the R667 casemate. Adapted from the standard design, this structure has three fighting positions - the main embrasure for a 5cm KwK gun facing south along the beach plus a second aperture for a machine gun covering the north. In addition, there’s a ‘basement’ section looking south which has an opening for a second machine gun too, giving the casemate a lot of firepower.
However, this structure is best known for the painting of a peace mural on the road side of the casemate which has a poignant line underneath simply stating “Who changes the children changes the World”.
The painting both highlights and covers the multiple impact marks from high explosive rounds which smashed into the landward side of the concrete as the allies made their way up the coast after landing on Utah Beach just to the south of this strongpoint.

Just a few yards away, facing north along the beach, was the site's most powerful gun - a 75mm field cannon - housed inside the R612 casemate. This roof of this concrete casemate also featured a position for a 150cm searchlight.
While the main structure of the casemate has long since been removed, you can still see the foundations and base of the gun room, including the semi-circular structures which allowed the field gun to be positioned for firing.

The largest structure built at Stp12 was the multi-roomed R634 bunker which featured a bell-shaped, six embrasure armoured machine gun turret on top, giving this defensive position a full 360 degrees of fire.
The embrasure was removed for scrap value following the end of the war but the superstructure still remains in the field behind the beach.

Directions to bunker sites in this area...

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