Festung Quiberon 2008

interesting photo's skipper.......any small finds found that you did / could have brought home ? (militaria/relics)

 

No small finds Andy.

Probably the weirdest looking bunker I have seen. A huge five story high watch tower. It was surrounded by 4 pits housing 340 mm guns. Also it supervised the depots and all the other facilities on the penisnsula.
After the war the French used it for target practising , so the damage is post war.

ps: did you see the humoristic tag in English ?











Note the anti bomb sticks, also I wonder how royalists kids managed to tag such a huge "Dieu le Roi" after the war (God and the King) tag.

 

Excellent photos Skipper!

I wonder what hidden relics were sealed off in that buried bunker..... Hmm.....

 

Not too many actually , over the years this place has been visited over and over again, there was even a ladder added outside at one point. I beleive relics are stil lhidden in severla bunkers, but not this one, it's too big and too obvious. Relics would be buried in the sand . However just around the place are still the original Gemran trenches which are still visible and barbled wire and cables are still around here and there.

 

Some of the old WWII fortifications, some of the underground chambers were used as a Youth Hostel (Auberge de la Jeunesse) in around 1952. We stayed there during a visit to Brittany , from the UK.

The underground dormitories were dark and damp so we had to put our mattresses out in the morning to air them.

 

Really, this is interesting to hear, thanks Jean and welcome to the forum by the way

 

I'm due to take a holiday in Brittany at the end of this month so I've been most interested to browse back through this thread.

I was thinking that Brittany would be relatively 'boring' to visit ( compared to Falaise, Arnhem or the Ardennes, that is.... ) but maybe there will be one or two interesting things to see.

( PS : I haven't told my wife about this thread ! )

 

What? Boring ? Martin Britanny is THE place to be !

Just a few names Quiberon, Brest, Crozon , Lorient with the U Boot base (Kerroman) , Belle Isle with countless bunkers, some of them not visited since 1945.... Then near Saint Malo you have the famous Cezembre Island that is still partly forbidden because so many shells fell on it. I have many more interesting places if you are interested

 

Skipper, any location suggestions will be gratefully received !

I've already started 'Googling' for any WWII-themed museums in the area. Hopefully I shall be able to work out some driving tours along obscure roads with my wife.....gently motoring along when suddenly....Quelle surprise ! What's that ? Of course, we must stop to look.....sorry, my dear - I had no idea !

 

Mrs Bull will probably kill me! There is so much to see I do'nt know where to start but crozon near Brest is an awesome area for bunkers. Quiberon has a small museum which has a surprising quantity of WWI and WWII items, including a relics found in the sea, such as canons and German mines. Near Quiberon I suggest the Penthievre fortress and the Chouans museum which is a bunker and was the former Lazerett of the Festung. There you will see a memorial where over fifty Resistants were murdered by Germans. The center of Lorient still has a huge air shelter which cn be visited.
Bell Ile (ferry at Quiberon) has a great Citadelle which was used by the Wehrmacht.
Quidel (East of Lorient has many kriegsmarine officer villas still intact (Some of them are pubs) and Dönitz villa can still be seen from outside (it is still government property) . I love Quidel because some of the bunkers are still shops or sheds.

 

Many thanks, Skipper ! And tomorrow, I will be looking through my library of 'After The Battle' magazines.

Maybe it won't be such a boring holiday, after all......

 

Getting bored in Britanny is impossible. You may be interested that in Vannes and in Penthievre, some of Vlassov's soldiers terrorised the poulation making raids on their little horses, plundering farms and brutalised civilians. The germans had the hardest time to controls those fellows. If history is not enough:
The food is excellent there. Local specialties are of course Crepes , cider , Far ( flan cake) , Kouing Amman (sugar and butter cake) , Breton cake , lambiq (liquor) , Chouchenn ( Hydromel) and much much more like sea food for example.

 

This seems a good place to put in my favourite quote from any battlefield guidebook. It's from William C C Cavanagh's 'A Tour Of The Bulge Battlefield' where in the introduction he describes much wonderful food available in the area and then says : -

' A warning : long drawn-out lunches take up time ; which can be better spent visiting the battlefield '

When I read this out to my wife, she was and it has become a long-standing joke between us.......

 

Hmm , skip a banket to dug relics? That's a hell of choice . What about digging during the day and go out when it's dark?

One tip: take a nice lamp with you, you may need it in the dark bunkers.

Mrs Martin will love Brest and Lorient there are great shopping centers there , even Quiberon has a fair amount of shops. Saint Malo has more shops than you could dream off and of course you will give her unlimitted credit to buy those nice French shoes , clothes , pefumes and food to bring back.

 

The invasion fleet sails today - see you in two weeks.....

 

Good luck Martin beware of the mines!

 

Hi

I visited Quiberon last week and knew nothing about this! -- I stumbled on this network of bunkers by accident on my last evening -- And this forum came up when I was searching for more information -- I will be visiting again in a few weeks and will do some exploring; Took a few photos - but not the best quality! -- I'll post a couple of the observation tower if OK with you --- The graffiti has been added to I think!

Thank you for this thread and encouraged me to join the forum!

 

Hi skipper... I m French living in Florida but originally from Normandy and Brittany close to quiberon... I know those bunkers but can't see your pics...

 

Hi jp pav, it's not Skippers fault that you can't view his photos. You have the greedy individuals at Photobucket.com to thank for that!

 

Yes I"m affraid I'll have to get a new picture hoster and load all those pics again.