According to locals there isn’t much left to see in the woods on the high ground at Meuvaines inland of Asnelles and the Gold Beach landing area, but the site once had an important role to play.
Located here was a large Kommandostand building and as many as four Wellblech shelters – the former reportedly being the observation post for two nearby German gun batteries - Batterie Vera, at La Marefontaine, and Batterie Mont Fleury, at Ver-sur-Mer.
Mont Fleury was still under construction on D-Day, but Batterie Vera went toe-to-toe with Allied forces on June 6, 1944, as it sent around 100 shells in the direction of HMS Belfast, the British cruiser ship which pounded the gun bunker site with over 220 rounds on the morning of the landings.
Today, there's more to see than the locals let on, with at least four Wellblech shelters – two are accessible with care and are still in good condition for their age - and a small observation post at the rear edge of the dense, waterlogged, and heavily overgrown woods. It not a site recommended for visiting if you don’t like brambles and thorn bushes!