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Wn10 Ouistreham

Beachfront bunker site which was part of massive complex

Wn10 Ouistreham site overview

What to see

Many people will have visited the Wn10 site at Ouistreham perhaps without even knowing it as the remaining bunkers are well hidden from view.
The most obvious one to find is the R644 six-embrasure turret bunker – a heavy-duty building which supported two heavy machine guns in an armoured cupola with a crew room, ammo store, defensive embrasure and Tobruk too.
Today it the base of the La Flamme memorial, a monument to the British and French commandos who landed here on D-Day.
Established 50 years on from June 6, 1944, and designed by artist Yvonne Guegan to look like an eternal flame, the monument stands on top of the bunker's cupola.
On the flame are the names of 177 French commandos who took part in the landings and surrounding it are 10 small memorials bearing the names of those who fell during the battle to liberate this part of their homeland.
The memorial is watched over by statues of two legendary figures. One is of Commander Philippe Kieffer who led his men into battle in this area and that of British commando leader Lord Lovatt who landed nearby and took his men all the way down to Pegasus Bridge to link up with glider-borne British forces.
A short walk to the west of the memorial brings you to a line of beach huts and behind them are two more bunkers, although they are almost completely buried in the dune scrub now.
The first you arrive at is a Beobachter observation post and only a few small pieces of the concrete building can be seen.
The second building is a R626 casemate of a 7.5cm anti-tank gun which was angled to fire along the beach to the west. Unlike other casemates for 7.5cm guns, this building received extra protection from above in the form of an armoured steel roof canopy, although this was removed following the end of the war.
Two Tobruks remain inland of the beach front but are no longer accessible due to being in private gardens.
Walking along the promenade to the east of Wn10 towards Wn08 there are lots of beach huts which are hugely popular in the summer months but if you look carefully near the Casino area, you can also see a line of dragon’s teeth anti-tank defences poking out of the top of the sand between the huts.

Gallery

Directions to bunker sites in this area...

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