Emplacement Number Two is More Like It

This complex of four major gun emplacements was home to four 152mm artillery pieces that could fire miles out to sea. Along with the big guns, the clifftop was also occupied by machine gun emplacements to defend the complex along with a command post, barracks, ammo dumps and vehicles. Almost 200 men were deployed here. This particular battery was battered intensely by Allied naval gunfire prior to the landings on Omaha and Gold Beaches. However it was largely undamaged and when the landings started it opened fire on the naval armada and landing craft getting off 170 shots during the day. British cruisers Argonaut and Ajax eventuallyput three of the 4 guns out of commission by mid-afternoon. The last gun continued to harass the navy into the early evening. The next day 184 German survivors surrendered to the advancing British. Most of the German troops were older than 40.