D-Day: The Gun Battery at Longues-sur-Mer | History Traveler Episode 45 

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The bunker scenes from the movie “The Longest Day” were filmed in that observation bunker!

The Firing Forward Control Bunker was not complete at time of D Day. There was a lot of soil still in front of it blocking the view to the sea. This was only cleared for the making of The Longest Day film. Great videos though. Very informative for people who will never get the chance to visit Normandy.

Honoured to walk in the footsteps of the greatest generation. Thank you for sharing. Excellent once again.

Thank you for showing us the remains of the atlantic wall. Great vidéo

Great job on these videos. Had a tour at the site at Longues-sur-Mer. Loving your Normandy series. Shivers just observing the beaches and the cliffs. The only other place I have ever been that was more spiritually overwhelming than the American Cemetery was the Arizona Memorial. You can certainly feel the weight of those that sacrificed at both. Keep up your great work. Wonderful job by the French maintaining access to these sites so all can remember.

I've been there a few times and its amazing to imagine the place teeming with Germans before the invasion. Imagine the noise and bedlam on the morning of the 6th.

My fave story about Longues-sur-Mer is the blind local lad who paced out the distances between the gun emplacements and passed the details to the ressistance. enabled the Royal Navy to place fire

Another fantastic trip back in time. Thanks for taking us along.

The holes you called damage on the top of the observation bunker are actually recessed holes with rings for attaching camouflage netting. Notice all the bunkers you see all over a Europe have them. Great work on your videos, we were at all those places from Normandy, Bastogne and Munich and the Eagles nest last June for D-day 75

Hello from Canada! Love your Utube videos! Planning a trip to France next year! Taking my 11 year old son with me! He's going to have a field day exploring all bunkers along the beach! We can't wait to visit Normandy 😍!

Another addition to this extraordinary series of video. To walk here and see this place and time in history is a phenomenal experience. I do however have to dock you some points for not carrying a flashlight😊 Thanks for providing these videos. Always wanted to travel there but these videos are a welcome and appreciated alternative.

Looks so picturesque and scenic and trying to imagine it being the hell-on-earth that it must of been that day.

First visited the battery as a kid with my parents in 72. At that time all of this stuff was just left as. To the rear of one of the casemates we found, still stacked, a whole pile of shells, transport rings in their nose ends, half buried in sand with but some broken chicken wire surrounding. Long gone, probably as part of the 84 celebrations clean up.

One of the many things I missed while visiting, and I knew it, there was just not enough time. Glad you show it!

Thank you very much for also visiting the British/Canadian sectors of the beach. I really appreciate your the videos thank you for sharing them. Talking of the naval bombardment it wasn't until I saw it on a map how close the brave sailors of the battleship USS Arkansas came close to Omaha, beach this was 1/3rd of the distance from the shore to the naval bombardment area to really rain fire down from her 12" guns to turn the situation around for the guys on the beach along with French cruiser Montcalm & French light cruiser George Leygues, it was a dangerous manoeuvre but it paid off!

That Video was awesome so fascinating. It appears so peaceful and yet such a huge contrast to 80 odd years ago. Thank you for sharing your journey.

Great job, sobering to think of all the lives lost that day & in the battles that followed. As a kid growing up my neighbour Neil MacEachern landed at Juneau beach. He passed away a few years ago. Wish now I had talked to him about D-Day. He never really talked much about his war experience. Thanks for doing this.

The holes in the observasionbunker are no damage. The Germans puth dirt in it so there can grow weeds in for natural camouflage. The bunker is also a location for the film "the longest day" a gide told me that the special roof was made just for the film... I like to see some pictures from the bunker in war time. Never found some. Sorry for my English 😉

I just randomly found your channel and love it!! Thank you for showing a s much as you can and the history behind it.

Wow! Amazing! Oh to have been a fly on the wall on June 6, 1944! Well done!

If anyone is visiting Normandy I IMPLORE you to go visit the Maisy Battery. It's still an active site, so the owners are digging up and unearthing relics from it constantly, as it was pretty much left alone and overgrown after WW2. Great collection of artefacts and you can walk through the entire labyrinth of trench systems and gun emplacements.

Wow! What an episode! I am truly impressed!

To my knowledge, on D-day communication between the command bunker and the 4 casemates was interrupted due to heavy artillery fire so the Germans were firing just out in the open without any precision

If I remember rightly, HMS Ajax supposedly hit one of these casemates, with the shell going right down the barrel of the gun that was housed there. When I went there, the back of the casemate was obliterated, so it made me think that this was possible. Great videos by the way. Keep up the fantastic work!

Imagine being stationed in the bunkers? You had to know you weren’t going to survive the day. And yet the fought. Amazing courage.

This has quickly become my favorite channel on RU-vid….thanks for this

Your adventures are the greatest! Thank you for taking us along.

The next time you come back to Normandy, you could start from the British sector to see the Merville battery. For me it's one of the most heroic feat of the D Day, but surprisingly little known, or may be because this has never been made into a film.

we were there today. a must stop in Normandy

at the first gun the entire back of the bunker has been blown away, all ammunition from the area was collected there until two canadians messed up miserably with some ignitions resulting in a large explosion

This was a naval battery constructed to hit ships! The FOP had advanced instruments to point out specifik targets with high accuracy but as you mentioned this capability was seroius damages thanks to the bombers the night before the landing. So when the battery open fire (about 0600am) after HMS Ajax had engaged them (0530am) they could not hit any ships (for example HMS Bulolo). At 0800am the battery was silenced by to British ships and casement No4 got hit and knocked out period because it had an AA-gun deployed on the roof and the ammunition exploded and many got killed. The german repaired the other pieces and open fire again about 1200am which the allied ships once again responded and that silenced the battery ”for good” except for one piece that continued to be active in the afternoon but caused little impact. As you sad the Bristish 2.Devonshire reach the battery the 7th of June and the old german crew surrended after only open fire with about 100 rounds… The construction of the casements are similiar to Point Du Hoc and I wonder somethimes if the germans had a plan to put two naval guns there also but the invasion stoppad them!? The other four was open casements mentioned for field artillery pieces (PDH). Anyway as always it is a pleasure to see your movies, so well done, and I like your thougts about casements, tobruks etc. The bunker for battlefield lightning was really interesting and gives a clue it was ment to find ships during darkness. This battery is really a great place to visit in so many perpectives.

It would take more than 2. You need one to load the shell, one to load the power and one to scrub or wash the tube. So you are looking for 4-6 per gun.

"If you have someone in your house who uses too much toilet paper...."- priceless. You've been married long enough to comment on such a travesty. Great videos- I'm very jealous of everywhere you've been. The closest I've been to WWII stuff in while stationed on Okinawa- went into some of the caves down by Shuri Castle and down to Suicide Cliffs. Very cool, indeed- please keep them coming and thanks.

I'm so glad I finally got to visit the WWII sites of Normandy France, I really cried when I visited the American cemetery, they are true heroes that never came home. I served 21 Years in the Air Force and saw many different battlegrounds in real time.

The toilet paper thing though? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 too funny!!

JD we were told by our escort guide that what looked like pock marked concrete were actually man made recesses used for foliage. It would make sense given the uniformity of the indentations. Have you been able to confirm this? Really enjoyed these visits and you make them come alive again for me and my sons as I always forward the videos. Thank you so much for the dedication to this on behalf of all those who fought and fell during this campaign.

observation bunker was used for film-the longest day..

You need to get over to Calais area, some superb bunkers there.

I could only imagine the bloody mess the soldier found after the took over the bunkers once the ships were done silencing them.

Thanks for sharing Buddy. I spent a day doing the beaches a week ago not knowing the effect it would have on me. I’m going back for a week this Thursday and plan to re visit and spending more time at each location. I’ve made the decision to wild camp along the coast , sleeping under my Harley. I’ve watched all your Normandy movies at least twice and feel a lot more prepared this time.. a great channel 👏👏👏

This one favorite video out of them all

For others that are thinking of visiting the site...Look closely in one of the gun bunkers and you will see the shape of a hob nail bootprint of when the concrete was poured

Ha ha ha the toilet paper dispenser though! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

loved it! especially the wet sock :)

The mighty thousands...!!🙏🙏

watching again! I love Normandy!

i had the honor to hear my grandfather's tell story's about the war. Until i fully understood the war and what they had to face,

Nice video, you are covering areas that I've never seen in doc videos. I really didnt need to know about the dog poo tho, lol. Focus man, focus! ;-)

Amazing!!

It’s kinda wild, how peaceful these locations are now. I visited this exact location as well, and what struck me..was how each of the bunkers, are just covered in shell craters. Very cool location. Great video. And in regards to the crew for the guns. This is what I heard. It took three. One to operate the traversing mechanisms; one to load the guns, and an ammo bearer.

Thanks.

Great video, man

Hello, thank you for your videos. I be there too on 2020. The cracks and holes you see on the obs bunker are NOT from naval damage, but are a sort of "structure" to put camo over. It is present in all other obs bunker you see in Europe.

In the week we were out there, there's so much we missed 😒🤦‍♂️🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

At 8:08 the ladder behind the piece of wood was the normal entry. Wood bridge and stairs were built after 2000 because of some tourist's leg broken... In the 'longest day', we can see germans using this original iron ladder... i used this many times when i was a kid 😊

Great video !! So well done 🤩🤩

Excellent. Thank you.

Bottom room was the map room, observers "Observed from the roof and the viewing room...Radio room was off to the side of the map room

My Grandfather was part of the 2nd Devonshires unit that was involved in the capture of this battery. Visited the battery last summer, took my mother, his oldest daughter, who was not aware that he had been involved. Thank you for showing this site.

The holes in the concrete of the observaties bunker are there to put green plaats for camouflage in, so they Will not be steen from the sea

Amazing video! Thanks

Great video and like your channel. Have been binge watching it for the last days. I have been countless times on all these spots and I always find new things. My first tour was with my grandfather who landed in August with the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade at Arromanches. There are so many hidden places. Go for example to the cigar shop in st Marie du mont and ask for a Willys ride. The driver is very knowledgeable and brings you on great spots you would never find yourself including his own 'operational' FLAK gun in his backyard. Keep up the good work. Maybe interesting to take a route around the filmping locations of 'the longest day'. A great way to have a different tour than the regular popular ones. Greetings from Belgium

Another great video!!! 🇺🇸

Hmmm interesting 🤔😉

Great video. I've been to these locations a couple times. Interesting info I heard when I was there, is that the observation bunker was used in the film the longest day. It's the bunker where col. Pluzkat was

JD, when I was there in 2019, besides the battle damage to the guns, I was awed to find hobnail boot imprints in the cement, inside the casemate, of the German conscripted soldiers who built the gun emplacements.

I don’t comment much, but do give a thumbs up. I noticed in a lot of your videos you don’t have lighting with you. You need to carry a flashlight/torch! And careful where you’re stepping, puddles and dog waste, etc, seem to be a common occurrence.

I stumbled across your videos and they’re so engaging and well presented. Just one small point I’d make about the fire bunker - the holes you said were caused by shell fire were actually made by the Nazi’s and then they put camouflage nets over the bunker. They didn’t use metal pins to secure the nets as they could be seen by the air so the Germans put holes in the bunker and secured the net with soil and rocks

Visited this site on a beautiful September day in 2008. So cool and what a nicely done video to re-live the visit. Superb. On a side note, how in the world can anyone give a thumbs down to this?

great video ... Thanks....

Thanks for posting. Need a head lamp for the dark area’s.

Awesome! I can feel ya man!

👍Longues was also the place for B11 advanced temporary airfield. RAF 602 sqdn use to operate from there. French Ace Pierre Clostermann mentions it in his book "the Big Show". If i remember well there must be a small stone monument about it not far away from the batteries.

Another great video God bless are coalition that fought for are freedom they really are the greatest generation we all owe the allies so now with all this Corona virus stuff going on let's all work together and beat this 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💪💪

I wish your videos were a little bit longer. I really enjoy your way of telling the story.

Chills.......I wonder if you went up enough with the drone you can still see the depressions where missed ship rounds detonated? Awe inspiring!

The observation bunker is actually the bunker used in the film "The Longest Day"

the holes in the bunker are not destroyed by ships, the metal rings used to be there for camouflage, the rings were knocked off after the war by farmers for money

This was one of the first "Atlantic Wall" bunkers that I visited about 25 years ago. Last time I came (2004 ish) they did a guided tour using a Golf Cart - if I could only remember the info the guide imparted - was well worth the cost of visiting (it was free to wander around the battery then) I haven't found it a vlog on it yet, but the Artillery Control Bunker in Ouistreham (near the ferry port) has great examples of the fire control equipment - including a fully working Range Finder optics which you can look through. Highly recommended if in the area.

A toilet paper dispenser? A square at a time. Elaine on Seinfeld could have used that!

The "Damage" you have described from Allied Naval Gunfire is actually built into the bunker face to allow vegetation to adhere to the concrete

A great video I have just discovered your channel and this is the second video I have watched, nicely put together, the indents in the roof were for placing soil for natural growth an locating sockets for hooks where they would also connect camouflage nets to hide the position, some of the holes have broken stud bases still in them.It was indeed the bunker used in the film The Longest Day where Pluskat was rumoured to have been. However there is a story that the story was made up by him to Cornelius Ryan for some artistic licence and was in fact further in land at an airbase at the time of the invasion, not sure how true that story is. Thanks for sharing the information and video.

I love your videos JD 👍. It is funny that you start by mentioning the rain. In France, we have a joke about that: « In Normandy it rains only twice a year (1st time between January and June, the second time between July and December :) » (It actually rains more in Brest, Brittany) When you filmed this in 2020 it rained even more than usual in Normandy compared to the last 30 years! When you showed the mortar emplacement near the observation bunker, one of the workers drew a horse with his finger on the fresh concrete back then and he even put the date : Dec 1942, did you see it?

As always..👍👍

Your channel is great! And you are not so damned over excited like you Americans sometime gets on TV. You are coooool! Keep up that great work! I so want to get back to Normandie!

I think that is not bomb damage on the observation bunker but rather designed that way to break up the surface in order to camouflage the Bunker from the air. They are too regularly spaced and the damage if it were from shells or bombs would have made it sloped on the inside sides and more irregular.

You need to up your flashlight game. Lol.

Wow!

It must be an amazing feeling walking and stamping on german and american maybe even british boot steps, the position your in right now, is were german soldiers were living preparing and had had confusion on D-Day, each step you take is you going back more than 70 years ago, waw man.. god bless you for the experience your giving the viewrs✌🏻✌🏻

I’m glad thi s background music is rare.

That's not damage on the outside of the control bunker, it was built like that and bits of rags and paper was used to break up the profile, btw that's the bunker featured in the film " The longest day"

I’m not sure if there is any truth but I was told when the film, the longest Day was made, part of the film was done from here.

Again another superb vlog. You have made the invasion that started the defeat of the Third Reich come alive. Please send us more to watch. I am Jewish and had relatives who died in the camps

How long ago was this? Is everything still right there to be viewed including the old gun that was taken out? Remarkable!

Pls come to Holland, visit the bunker complex at the isle of Terschelling where the Germans waited for the bomber planes with their radars to shoot them out of the sky

Perhaps you would consider featuring the apparent "latent" contribution of the Maisy Battery to the defense of Utah and Omaha beaches as well as the attacks of the 5th Ranger Battalion at Pointe du Hoc and Maisy.

You see a direct hit from Ajax on the 1st bunker after a duel, the other gunners said 'oh shit, they have our range' and ran away for a time.

7:38 thats not damage its camouflage, they created those little pockets in the concrete during construction and put plants in there.

Ah - I've read that that was not damage. Those relatively evenly spaced indentations were to plant greenery so that a natural camouflage would build up over time. The same feature is visible on other defence works.