The Maisy Battery is a group of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to faci ...

constructed in secret by the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

near the French village of

Grandcamp-Maisy Grandcamp-Maisy () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Geography Grandcamp-Maisy is located on the coast, northeast of Isigny-sur-Mer and west of Pointe du Hoc. It is an active fishing port, ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. It formed a part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

coastal fortifications and was the principal position of defence for that area. It was responsible for the defence of the sector between the

Longues-sur-Mer Longues-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandie region in northwestern France. The Longues-sur-Mer battery is nearby, part of the Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados d ...

and the St Marcouf (Crisbecq) batteries. It could target the sectors around both

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

and

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

, two of the five landing sites for the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in June 1944.

Pre-invasion planning

Anticipating an Allied invasion of

Nazi-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during

, the Germans built an extensive system of defenses. The Maisy Battery was built in particular secrecy, under strict security, using forced labour brought in from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Poland. This avoided any local involvement that might reveal the existence of the site to the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and, through them, to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. By the time of preparations for

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, the

-run battery was marked on the Allied D-Day maps as a Rangers D-Day target - confirmed in records found in the early 21st century. Prior to D-Day, the Nazis had drawn significant attention to the gun battery at nearby

Pointe du Hoc La Pointe du Hoc () is a promontory with a cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados '' department'', France. Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and machine gun posts. P ...

, a cliff top site overlooking the beaches, as compared to the slightly inland site of the Maisy battery. By the time of the invasion, Pointe du Hoc was manned by a token force of Wehrmacht troops, and the artillery pieces had been moved to other sites, replaced by dummy guns. Maisy Battery (11)

The Maisy site actually consisted of three batteries, Les Perruques, La Martiniere and Foucher Farm, labeled as Allied targets 5, 16 and 16A respectively. The battery at Les Perrugues, which was designated by the Germans as WN83, ''Widerstandsnest 83'' (Resistance Nest 83), included six 155 mm First World War French field howitzers. The battery at La Martiniere, designated WN84, included four 105 mm pieces. Four 150 mm pieces were located at Foucher Farm.

Normandy landings

The battery is located from

, a key objective for the

US Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, US Army Ranger Sch ...

during D-Day. The battery was garrisoned by elements of the 352nd and 716th Infantry and Artillery Divisions, plus Flak Regiment No. 1 consisting of twelve 88-mm anti-aircraft artillery pieces sent to protect the battery shortly before D-Day on 5 June 1944. Fouchers' Farm was destroyed by naval shelling from the on 7 June 1944. The other two sites remained operational until they were assaulted by the US 2nd Rangers and the US 5th Rangers on 9 June. The batteries at Maisy were D-Day mission objective Number 6 as given to Colonel James Rudder in his

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

intelligence and US 1st Infantry Division orders. However, he did not brief his men to carry out the mission to Maisy. Historian Gary Sterne, in a book published in 2014, suggests that Rudder disobeyed orders calling on him to continue to Maisy after taking Pointe du Hoc. The Rangers stayed at Pointe du Hoc for some days until relieved, which kept them from completing their D-day orders and away from the Maisy site - as well as the D-day Phase Line which was their main target for the evening of 6 June. This allowed the guns at Maisy to continue to shell troops in both the

and

sectors for three days after the landings. Rudder always claimed that his orders called on him to hold the highway against a possible counterattack against Pointe du Hoc, but Sterne and subsequent historians could not find any such order in the

US National Archives The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

Rediscovery

British military historian Gary Sterne rediscovered Maisy Battery in January 2004, based on a hand-drawn map in the pocket of a US Army veteran's uniform he had bought. The battery was about inland from the sea near

, marked on the map as an "Area of high resistance". Prior to

, the battery had been recorded as the second highest D-Day target in the Omaha Sector group of fortifications, but the exact location had been lost from later records. Using the old map, Sterne was able to locate a bunker entrance amongst the undergrowth. Sterne then investigated further and found additional fortified buildings, gun platforms, and a hospital. Over 3 kilometres of trenches were uncovered. In June 2006, the site was opened for the first time to visitors, with the battery site at Les Perruques an ongoing tourist attraction.

References

External links

Maisy Battery Official SiteGuide to visiting Maisy Battery
{{Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord Atlantic Wall Buildings and structures in Calvados (department) Military history of France during World War II Military history of Normandy Fortifications in France World War II sites in France Tourist attractions in Calvados (department)