Located around 55km south of Calais and Dunkirk in the Pas de Calais region, Flugplatz Merville was an existing French airfield taken over by the Luftwaffe following the occupation of France in 1940.
Established in 1937, it was used by both French and British RAF until May 1940 when it fell to German forces who extended the site with three concrete runways and associated infrastructure including hangars, fuel stores, observation posts, office buildings, bunkers, and anti-aircraft gun positions.
In June 1940, the site housed two bomber groups with a further group – operating Dornier Do-17 bombers - joining in November 1940. These were followed in early 1942 by fighter squadrons with Me109 and Me110 aircraft as well as a pilot training unit. In August 1943 the site was also used by pilots operating Focke Wulf 190 aircraft undergoing training.
Merville was liberated in September 1944 as the Allies pushed through northern France and the airfield was pressed into service by the RAF once again as an advanced landing ground site (known as ALG B53).
Today the airfield, now known as Merville-Calonne aerodrome, is in civilian use. It still has three runways and around the edges you can see remnants of the German occupation including several Kuver Unterstand buildings – heavy-duty concrete bunkers with additional brick buildings attached – and a series of steel-domed anti-aircraft gun bunkers.
The Kuver buildings have largely been replaced by modern industrial units but there are two examples which can be accessed, the largest of two located on the edge of agricultural fields to the east of the main runways and aircraft dispersal area.
This features a 17m x 17m concrete bunker with a single entrance, one room, and an escape shaft. It has been incorporated into a large brick and block building which features a thick concrete roof and two large internal rooms each with large windows, although the glass has long since been removed.
Inside the entrance to the bunker, in the gas lock area is an original German sign which reads: ‘Aufenthalt in der Gasschteuse bei Bombenangritten verboten’ which translates to ‘Staying in the gaslock area is prohibited during air raids’.
Just over 150m to the east of the Kuver understand is an L13 bunker – a concrete emplacement for a 2cm anti-aircraft gun mounted inside an armoured steel cupola.
The cupola – of the 857P7 type – could rotate through 360 degrees by use of crank handles in a similar way to a tank turret. You can easily access this L13 and inside there are three rooms, a main crew room, a smaller room for ammunition, and two steps which take you underneath the cupola in the gun room.
Looking up you can see the remains of the turret’s turning mechanism, the platform the gun was mounted upon, and several embrasures for observation.
On the walls and the base of the now heavily rusted steel are the feint markings of compass directions.
A second L13 bunker can be found to the west of the current runways. This is a lot more overgrown than its eastern counterpart and is difficult to access although once inside you can see clearer directional compass markings on the wall and inside, although the dome has been stripped of most of its internal mechanisms and gun platform.
A fascinating site to visit!