Hidden away in a small residential street in the port town of Le Tréport is the entrance to one of the most extensive defensive and command headquarter sites built by German forces in this area of France during WW2.
On Rue du 8 Mai 1945 – named after the date of Victory in Europe - and located between two houses, is a simple concrete frontage with two entrance doors and a defensive machine gun embrasure.
Behind the doors are over 270 metres of tunnels and 225 steps linking four levels of observation posts, combat positions, guard posts, offices, personnel barracks, water storage, bathrooms, and a generator room.
Known as Kahl-Burg, construction began on this huge underground complex in 1942 – not long after the raid on nearby Dieppe – and continued until 1944 where it remained an active, but unfinished, project by the time Allied forces had liberated the town.
This complex gave the German commanders of the 245th and 348th Infantry Divisions a safe haven in the hillside where they could spot and directly fire upon any future attempted landings by Allied forces.
The scale of the complex is vast with some rooms measuring over 50 metres in length and there is a serious amount of brickwork inside, including arched ceilings and tunnel linings.
All the spaces were cut into the chalk and flint cliffs overlooking the port and English Channel by local enforced labourers while the brickwork was carried out by Ukrainian female prisoners of war.
For nearly sixty years after the war, it was left abandoned and was looted, damaged, and filled with rubbish until, in 2001, a local history association took over the care of the complex.
Inside they discovered a total of 32 different spaces, including a gun emplacement facing out of the cliffs which still had a 75mm field gun inside! This gun is still there – albeit in a heavily rusted state – but is currently not accessible as the fragile tunnels linking the position aren’t open to the public for safety reasons.
The cannon was a Belgian-made gun from 1907 which was captured during the occupation and faced north over the western area of the beach and town ready to intercept any craft entering the port.
In 2007, while working to restore the site, the Association found eight live shells for the gun within the complex, along with fuses, and a grenade. Those exploring the site in the post-war years were certainly taking a risk!
Entering via the main doors, on the first level you are first met by a guard room then a larger room which housed two electrical generators – one of which is still in place – and then a long corridor which leads to 12 rooms used as offices and for communications.
This long corridor takes you to two sets of stairs, one gives access to the highest level within the complex where you can reach an observation post and machine gun position.
Along the way are several other spaces you can visit including a second electricity generator room, toilets, and a concrete water storage tank as well as another defensive position.
The second flight of stairs takes you to living quarters – a massive 54 metre long corridor with fixings for foldaway bunk beds, more offices, a space for the air filtration system, officer quarters, and a small observation post and machine gun position at the conclusion of a short tunnel.
The lowest level of the complex was unfinished, and the brickwork seen in the other levels was never put in place, leaving the scars of the excavated chalk on show.
Even from the beach in front of the cliffs, it’s very difficult to spot any of the remaining defences, with the exception of a small observation bunker and the front wall of the casemate which held the 75mm cannon, although it takes a trained eye to pick them out in the huge cliff face.
From the public roads surrounding the entrance you can see a few glimpses of concrete – a R630 machine gun casemate and the outside of the SK Leitstand observation bunker. Neither are accessible from above ground but can be seen from inside the tunnels.
The Association which looks after the site offer guided tours of the Kahl-Burg complex over a small number of open days during the summer months. You can find out more on their website www.kahl-burg.fr