There was a serious amount of concrete and firepower at this site near to the southern outskirts of the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer at Le Portel.
This was one of the ‘ring of fire’ anti-aircraft gun positions surrounding the port and city with three 88mm flak cannons in open emplacements on the outer edge of the site and around a dozen smaller buildings behind.
Now an industrial storage location, service yard, and former plant nursery, there is very little visible from outside but there’s a lot of buildings which can still be seen with permission from the site owners needed to gain access.
We enjoyed a full tour of the site - and a nearby location where one of the original Skoda cannons from one of the Boulogne batteries was being stored - thanks to our friends who run the companies based here.
Surprisingly, some of the original officer’s brick-built buildings are still in good condition and have been adapted so are still being used today, although now for storage for machinery and, strangely, many of the town’s illuminated Christmas decorations!
Inside one of the modern warehouse units is an almost untouched personnel shelter – possibly a R501 type – although access is difficult at is stands beneath storage racking and industrial meterials.
The site’s R658 water supply bunker is now almost completely buried in a field used for horses, with only the edges of the roof now visible but we’re told was still in good condition when it was covered over.