Hillman fortified site

by , KilroyTrip

Site Hillmanis a German command post built during the World War II and located on the coastal commune of Colleville-Montgomery in Normandy. The site was captured with difficulty on June 7, 1944, the day after D-Day, by the 1st Battalion of the British Suffolk Regiment.
From 1942, south of the commune of Colleville-Montgomery, which was then called Colleville-sur-Orne, the Germans built a fortified site of 18 underground concrete emplacements, the Widerstandsnest17, better known by its code name given by the Allies: Hillman. The Hillman site was the command post for the coastal defenses commanded by Colonel Krug and Major Hoff, for infantry and artillery respectively. On this site, some sixty men of the 736th Grenadier Regiment lived and worked in blockhouses buried and covered with 2 meters of concrete. Some of these blockhouses were fitted with 20-30 cm thick armored domes used for observation and tobrouks equipped with machine guns for site defense. These blockhouses were also equipped with mechanical ventilation and heating systems. Outside, a complex network of trenches linked the various underground positions, which contained headquarters control rooms, signal rooms, radio rooms, the dining hall and rest quarters. All fortified points were interconnected by telephone lines buried two or three meters below ground. Situated 61 m above sea level, the entire position was strategically well placed, giving a view over a large part of the landing beaches and the mouth of the Orne. The zone of fire thus extended to 600 meters and more in several directions. Hillman was a veritable fortress, comparable to parts of the Maginot Line (Source Wikipedia).

Site Hillmanis a German command post built during the World War II and located on the coastal commune of Colleville-Montgomery in Normandy. The site was captured with difficulty on June 7, 1944, the day after D-Day, by the 1st Battalion of the British Suffolk Regiment.From 1942, south of the commune of Colleville-Montgomery, which was then called Colleville-sur-Orne, the Germans built a fortified site of 18 underground concrete emplacements, the Widerstandsnest17, better known by its code name given by the Allies: Hillman. The Hillman site was the command post for the coastal defenses commanded by Colonel Krug and Major Hoff, for infantry and artillery respectively. On this site, some sixty men of the 736th Grenadier Regiment lived and worked in blockhouses buried and covered with 2 meters of concrete. Some of these blockhouses were fitted with 20-30 cm thick armored domes used for observation and tobrouks equipped with machine guns for site defense. These blockhouses were also equipped with mechanical ventilation and heating systems. Outside, a complex network of trenches linked the various underground positions, which contained headquarters control rooms, signal rooms, radio rooms, the dining hall and rest quarters. All fortified points were interconnected by telephone lines buried two or three meters below ground. Situated 61 m above sea level, the entire position was strategically well placed, giving a view over a large part of the landing beaches and the mouth of the Orne. The zone of fire thus extended to 600 meters and more in several directions. Hillman was a veritable fortress, comparable to parts of the Maginot Line (Source Wikipedia).