Essentially it was the biggest of the reinforced concrete casemates
of the Merville Battery, the type 611, which persuaded Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) to classify the Battery
a priority D Day Objective.
Why? Because ordinarily the Germans did not normally build such casemates for ordinary artillery pieces, for example the 100mm guns that were housed here. Generally the 611 casemate housed 155mm guns that had an average range of 17km.
Also the invasion beaches in the Sword opposite Ouistreham Riva-Bella to the West of the Orne were directly threatened by the Merville Battery. This threatened to set back Operation Overlord. It was imperative therefore to silence the guns of the Merville Battery before the invasion of 6th June began at 0600 hours precisely. Accordingly a priority classification was given by SHAEF to Leutenant Steiner’s battery.
Terence Otway himself was not sure of the actual calibre of the guns of the Merville Battery, because none of the aerial photographs was able to identify them precisely. He came to the same conclusion as SHAEF that the Germans would not have poured so much concrete if what was housed inside did not justify the effort.
In any case, no risk should be taken with the greatest land-sea-air operation ever conceived or realised.
Moreover, in keeping with other batteries, it is imaginable that the Germans had planned to install heavier, more powerful guns.
This question was posed by Leutenant Steiner during the visit of General der Artillerie Erich Marcks, and was told that new guns would be arriving in the near future…
French version
