• The only part of the Atlantic Wall that Rommel visited three times (6th March, 6th May, 27th May 1944) during the 3 months preceding D Day.
• A strong point listed as a priority target and whose neutralisation by D Day was ordered by the Allied Headquarters.
• The most intensive bombing (in excess of 1,000 bombs dropped by 109 Lancasters) of the night of 5th/6th June.
• A complex plan of attack by an elite unit, exceptional training and preparation, rotten bad luck, success - but at a terrible cost.
• The incredible assault which resulted in the neutralisation of the Battery was undertaken by the 9th Battalion the Parachute Regiment whose strength at the outset was some 700 men but, due to parachute and combat losses, numbered only 150 for the attack.
• A memorial site covering around ten hectares, owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral, classed as an historic monument and managed jointly by an Anglo-French Association.
  

• An educational trail that threads through the site, explaining the role of each bunker, the way the Battery functioned and the stages of the attack at dawn on 6th June 1944.
• A complete rearrangement of casemate no1, resumed to its original state as at dawn on 6th June and where, thanks to odour diffusers, special lighting and digitally spaced sound effects every half hour, it will be possible to experience the minutes that preceded the neutralisation of the Battery. Combining the three senses, sight, sound and smell will immerse the visitor into a deluge of combat, the hell that unfolded at dawn on 6th June, replicated.
• The opening to the public for the first time of casemate no2 as a memorial dedicated to the 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment. Inside the visitor will find wartime objects and articles, the history and the photographs of the 700 brave young men who, on the night of 5th/6th June parachuted into this corner of France. Sadly for the majority of them, this would be their final resting place.

Several times per hour:
A siren will announce the commencement of a show (sounds, lights, odours) recreating vividly what took place here on the night of 5th/6th June 1944:
- intense bombing (109 Lancaster bombers at 0030 hours dropping more than 1,000 bombs) of the Battery.
- the German gunners firing their howitzers on the canal locks at Ouistreham.
- the assault of the 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment and the neutralisation of the Battery.

This is a highly realistic experience of a battle scene and is not recommended for infants less than 8 years old, persons of a nervous disposition, suffering from heart problems, or claustrophobia.

The Place was inaugurated on 5th June 2006 in the presence of veterans of the 9th Battalion, the Mayor, Monsieur Olivier Paz and friends of the Museum of the Merville Battery. In the photograph below, Gordon Newton lends a firm hand to the Director of the Museum, Madame Pascaline Dagorn, to unveil the new sign…..

Such was the mission given to Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway and his 700 airborne troops of the 9th Battalion. On the Eastern flank of the fighting on 6th June 1944, the Merville Battery and Museum are the entry point to the historic battle of Normandy, an unavoidable site for those who wish to understand and appreciate what actually happened as dawn broke on the longest day…

You will discover one of the most important sites of 6th June 1944, an historic site covering almost 5 hectares, totally preserved since the end of the war. In addition to a command post and ten other structures, it contains 4 reinforced casemates whose enfilade fire covered Sword Beach and jeopardised the Eastern sector of the Allied landings...

You will learn all about the unbelievable assault on the Battery on the night of 5th/6th June by only one fifth of the manpower originally planned, by these men fortified by their own courage. Despite heavy losses during the parachute drop, despite having lost their communications and heavy equipment, they nevertheless accomplished the mission that had been assigned to them...

This preserved site is complemented by an educational trail that enables you to understand how an artillery battery worked, the part played by the Merville Battery in the Atlantic Wall, the stages of construction, the importance Rommel attached to it, and the daily life of the soldiers who were stationed here…

This historic site forms the Eastern limit of Operation Overlord. This sector, the responsibility of the British 6th Airborne Division, formed the left flank of the Allied invasion forces.