Les trois Pierres

It was probably in 1942 that the battery of four guns stolen from the Belgian army was installed on concrete platforms in the dune.  In 1944, two were sheltered in casemates with the unusual facility of double embrasure, making it possible to orient the weapon to the north or to the south.  The bunkers were covered in sand as a defence against an attack from the air.  The personnel working the guns, which included Russian POWs, were housed in wooden huts and a few light concrete shelters.  Close defence was provided by machineguns and mortars housed in light shelters.

During the military reorganisation of the island in autumn 1944, the battery was regrouped with the batteries of Saint-Denis and the Chassiron headland.

Crédits
©Service Historique de la Défense
www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr
www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
©Stéphane Calonnec
©EPCAD/Défense / Auteur inconnu
©BAMA Bundesarchiv Militararchiv
©Thierry Richard/Oléron production