The pointe du Grand Gouin is a rocky promontory with vertical cliffs to the west of the inlet of

Camaret-sur-Mer Camaret-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in northwestern France, located at the end of Crozon peninsula. Sights Camaret-sur-Mer is home to the ''Tour Vauban'' or ''Tour dorée'' (lit. "Golden Tower"), a historic fortificat ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It protects a port which, in Vauban's era, was vulnerable to possible landings. It is divided into the Grand Gouin (the top of the cliff) and the Petit Gouin (mid-cliff).

Grand Gouin

In 1693, Vauban began to organise the defences of Brest with batteries and fortifications all along the Camaret bay, from the pointe du Gouin to the

Quélern Quélern is a hamlet in Roscanvel, in the department of Finistère (Brittany), in western France. Fortifications Fortified lines The Quélern lines defended the entrance to the goulet de Brest against capture from behind the defences of the Rosca ...

lines (

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

had been warned of an Anglo-Dutch attack in the area, but did not know its precise landing point). In 1695 a mortar battery was set up on the Grand Gouin, though its location is now unknown. These mortar batteries could be directed towards the Cameret inlet and crossed their field of fire with those at

Tremet Tremet is a hamlet on the Roscanvel peninsula in France. The gun batteries located here are part of the defences of the goulet de Brest, forbidding ships from entering the bay of Camaret-sur-Mer. The site had been occupied by the military since 1 ...

, as well as covering the

goulet de Brest The Goulet de Brest is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide, the is situated between the Pointe du Petit Minou and the Pointe du Portzic to the north and the îlot des Capucins and th ...

to harry an approaching enemy. The Germans built a platform for four 220mm Schneider guns on a new site here between 1942 and 1943, known as Camaret battery and manned by the 1/1274 HKAA (''Heeres-Küsten-Artillerie-Abteilung''). This had a range of 22 km and formed the most important coastal defence for the

Crozon Crozon (, ; br, Kraozon, , ) is a commune in the department of Finistère and the administrative region of Brittany, northwestern France. As well as the town of Crozon, the village of Morgat is part of the commune. Crozon is located on the Cr ...

peninsula. It was made up of four batteries (one gun each), each accompanied by four bunkers, as well as a fire-direction point and many anti-aircraft guns.

Petit Gouin

A battery was built here in 1813, and reorganised in 1859 (during the reinforcement of coastal defence begun in 1841) as a model-redoubt (1846 type, number two). In 1941 the Germans added 2 barrack-casemates on a platform, both armed with nearby 105mm guns. There is also an underground magazine on the site.

Notes

External links

batteries du Petit Gouin
(photos) Inventaire général des monuments et des richesses artistiques de la France
pointe du Grand Gouin

pointe du Petit Gouin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pointe Du Grand Gouin Fortifications of Brest, France Landforms of Finistère Headlands of Brittany