The scattered buildings at the aptly named Stp Bunker were once part of a formidable site which stood at the top of the dune system overlooking the wide, sandy beach 1km south of Merlimont-Plage.
Except for the ruins of two Wellblech personnel shelters in the dunes, the rest of the positions lie in clusters on the beach.
At the heart of the site is a R612 type gun casemate – which replaced an open emplacement as the main position of firepower. The circular concrete ruins of the emplacement can be seen near the rear of the casemate.
One of the most often built large gun casemates on the Atlantikwall, this R612 is in relatively rough condition with heavy damage inside from an internal explosion and evidence of poor quality concrete being used in the area around the embrasure.
Inside though, there is a sight worth seeing and that’s the remains of a gun carriage still in position. Although heavily rusted, it’s incredibly rare to find any remains of weapons inside casemates, especially in this area.
The carriage looks to be from a gun smaller than those normally associated with this scale of casemate though.
At the rear of the R612 you can find a lot of concrete include the debris of a collapsed shelter and open emplacement, and what looks like a short, covered tunnel which once linked a second, currently intact shelter with other positions on the site.
If you look closely at the slabs of concrete once used as the tunnel roof you can see original boot prints imprinted in them – the site foreman must have been delighted with his workmen/soldiers for that!
A Vf67 Tobruk – which once supported a captured French tank turret on top – can also be seen to the rear of the casemate.
In front of the casemate there are four more builds. The largest is a simple troop shelter which is fully accessible, but you can also see heavy duty ammunition storage bunker which is partially buried in the beach and usually flooded so not accessible.
Also resting at angles are two ringstand type open emplacements which would each have housed a 5cm KwK anti-tank gun, giving this strongpoint a defence against landing craft and armour on the beach.
This is a fascinating site which is well worth exploring – park in Merlimont-Plage and walk south along the beach for the easiest access.