& drawings occupation ephemera photographic archives reference & miscellaneous sound & film archive bunkers 10.5 cm coastal defence gun casemate batterie moltke 15.5 cm gun emplacements & underground bunker 4.7 cm anti tank gun casemate m 132 underground command bunker m19 fortress mortar & heavy machine gun bunkers mp 1 coastal artillery observation tower sechsschartenturme heavy machine gun turret bunker links guernsey cios festung guernsey guernsey armouries jersey heritage la soci t jersiaise jersey war tunnels the channel islands military museum more ... shop visit a bunker bunkers jersey s german tunnels shop view our archives archives upcoming talk further adventures in aok20 details published friday 14 october 2016 10 29 the concrete evidence team have returned from their annual excursion this time to norway to hunt the lesser spotted tony pike who they were hot on the heels of by a matter of weeks and indeed found his business card pinned to a wall in a bunker somewhere in kristiansand unfortunately they didn t find him as an awful lot of concrete and metalwork got in the way . but both the team and tony will probably agree on one thing ... it s worth the trip next months cios talk picks up where the team of the mid 2000 s messers hamon costard letto and walton left off revisiting some familiar haunts which were also recently visited by tony pike ... and some completely new sites which should be interesting to all a visit to batterie vara details published friday 14 october 2016 10 22 having never been to norway but for many years wanting to i finally got myself organized for a really self indulgent ten day tour of german fortifications and museums . for others with the lure of the fjords and other touristy things to do not everybody s cup of tea or coffee i am sure but for me it was deeply interesting and the days just flew by . norway was given highest priority in the german fortification program . convinced that britain would want to seize the strategic port of narvik and deny hitler indispensable iron ore exports that was vital for the manufacture of weapons the third reich from the earliest days of occupation were making plans and set about a construction program that was one of the largest and intense the world had ever seen . situated near the town of kristiansand at m vik fort in southern norway is batterie vara . here you will find one of the most complete gun & turret still in situ preserved with the rest of the infrastructure to support and store ammunition and 52 personnel . the 1940 vintage fredrich krupp skc 34 statistics are impressive with a calibre of 38cm the gun barrel alone weighs in at 110 tonnes there were intended to be four of these mighty guns but by the wars end only guns two three and four were emplaced . where the number one gun actually ended up is a mystery some reports say it was sunk on a boat in transit but this has never been confirmed . the only certain information we have is that number one gun never arrived in norway . kristiansand was chosen as the site for these massive artillery pieces so that they could control access to the skaggerak sea passage between norway & denmark . also at hansholm in denmark four of these 38cm guns had been emplaced in similar fortifications . with a maximum range of 55 000 metres 34 miles with the lighter 500kg seigfried shell it left only 18 kilometres that could not be protected by these guns . so this gap was extensively mined in april 1940 1642 mines were laid out and these were constantly maintained throughout and further reinforced in the last year of the war . last week i was fortunate to be given a guided tour by the museum s director arlid andersen who in turn was very pleased to welcome cios jersey . my first impression was how intact the whole emplacement is original fittings abound in fact it looks like the gun could be made ready for action in just a few hours the diesel deutz generators that can power the traverse and elevation of the gun still work the sinks and toilets are still there while a full interpretation of the batterie and a fortification trail map that make up batterie vara is available . even a new 60cm railway line and train following the original path from the ammunition bunkers to the emplacements is available in the summer season to ferry the thousands of tourists that visit every year . artillery guns two three and four were mounted in open emplacements which meant they could engage targets in any direction . however the downside to this was that they were very vulnerable despite the turret s 5cm thick armoured plate which gave some protection to the crew from bombs and artillery fire . only the number one gun emplacement was given the full treatment and received a reinforced concrete roof the only one of it s type to be found in norway which was eventually finished in early 1945 . the dimensions of this bunker are truly of immense proportions . it is 18 metres wide 8.5 metres high while the roof is 4 metres and the walls are 3.5 metres thick . the ironic fact remains that for all this work and considerable expense carried out on this monumental bunker the gun never actually arrived on may 12th 1945 the norwegian flag was finally raised over batterie vara now renamed m vik fort . the three emplaced heavy guns and all the bunkers were still intact . work started to clear the various 10 151 mines that surrounded the area . this was carried out by the german prisoners of war which were under the control of english and norwegian military . in order to prove that the areas were properly cleared they were made to walk over the area in line arm in arm which focused the mind on doing a thoroughly good job somewhat . guns and turrets for emplacements three and four were scrapped in 1959 . it was wisely decided to preserve the number two gun and bunker complex for future generations so that we can learn and discover about batterie vara s unique history . one other fact which is worthy of note is in the batterie s name vara . very often german gun batteries on the atlantic wall and in the channel islands are named after a general or a fieldmarshal of note or high reputation . in my research of this batterie i have discovered a channel islands link . on the 3rd november 1941 general major felix vara was on a visit to the channel islands to inspect and advise on the positioning of naval batteries to be constructed . he was travelling by sea from guernsey to alderney in the company of kapit n mirus and other high ranking officers when at 3.15 pm their boat was attacked by raf 234 squadron with rockets and machine gun fire . also this attack was followed up with a solitary spitfire . this action resulted in the death of general major felix vara and kapit n mirus which then carried in honour his name in guernsey for the krupp reconditioned 30.5 cm russian guns while the batterie in kristiansand norway was named batterie vara . editor s note society press officer tony pike recently travelled to norway and sent in this report and images . to learn more about this area please visit the vest agder museum website . ww2 shell detecting in the royal bay of grouville details published saturday 06 august 2016 21 21 ww2 german shells on the beach photo shane boschat mr shane boschat our bunker team leader for batterie moltke writes in with an interesting tale of his day going metal detecting in the royal bay of grouville . myself and my good friend tony went metal detecting . tony is an avid detectorist i am a casual onlooker but i had to give it a go too . we went to a part of the beach that tony and many other detectorists know very well . this part of the bay was used as targeting for all the weapons based in the bay of grouville and beyond . the germans took practice shots at landmarks to check their range and direction these were noted in case any invasion took place in the bay . often some of the rounds mostly mortars and 3.7 cm anti tank rounds would miss their target and land in soft sand failing to detonate . shell as it first appeared photo shane boschat shell after debris removed photo shane boschat they would stay there until local detectorists dig them up . digging these items up isn t too easy either the sand behaves like wet concrete the sides of the hole you are digging soon collapse and fill in ... hard work the rounds are not always that easy to recognise as over the years a covering of crud a techinical term i m told forms on the outside of the piece . after a few taps with a hammer to the side the crud breaks off to reveal the live round . never try to defuse any live rounds you may find they are over 70 years old and very unstable . always call the police on 612612 when you find anythng suspicious they will contact stuart elliot our local edo explosives disposal officer who will remove the rounds . also be aware of the rising tide its easy to get cut off out there . tail fins visible on a recovered mortar shell photo shane boschat the crater after safely detonating the shells photo shane boschat we had arranged to meet stuart before hand to hand over any pieces found today these were added to some found before see top photo the live rounds were all put together with charges and safely disposed of ... boom this shell was simply too dangerous to handle we left it alone photo shane boschat page 1 of 24 startprev12345678910nextend 2016 events calendar january cios archives evening wednesday 13th 8.00 pm soci t jersiaise members room february the soldatenheims part 1 with colin isherwood wednesday 10th 8.00 pm soci t jersiaise members room march annual general meeting wednesday 9th 8.00 pm soci t jersiaise members room april heritage festival guided walks 3rd 23rd and 24th various locations see here for details repeat visit to st. malo citadel saturday 16th led by this email address is being protected from spambots . you need javascript enabled to view it . may concrete in the frame winners announced monday 2nd 6.00 pm harbour gallery st aubin islands war memorial service sunday 8th 12 30pm noirmont point liberation day slave workers memorial service monday 9th various locations see press flyer for details august day trip to normandy saturday 6th led by this email address is being protected from spambots . you need javascript enabled to view it . cost 65 visit to samar s manor saturday 13th led by this email address is being protected from spambots . you need javascript enabled to view it . cost 5 september jersey international air display thursday 8th october coastal defences of jersey pre ww2 with ian ronayne wednesday 5th 8.00 pm soci t jersiaise members room november norway further adventures in aok20 with neil walker wednesday 9th 8.00 pm soci t jersiaise members room trinity commando raid memorial service friday 11th at 2pm petit port near egypt december no meetings bunker leaflets download a free copy of our 2016 season bunker leaflets which have visitor info and opening times for all the bunkers we open to the public . free bunker leaflets join the cios please download