An extensive site around the tiny village of Fringhen, Stp269 Heliotrop was a defensive position protecting the southern outskirts of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
It’s a site which features a wide variety of bunkers, some of which are rare examples on the Atlantikwall.
The largest buildings here are a R117a Battalion and Regimental HQ and a R118b dressing/first aid station, both of which are in woodland on private property and are impossible to access without permission. The R118b is currently being excavated by an archaeology team.
Surrounding them were a series of machine guns casemates with armour plated embrasures including a R630 and R105 to the north and a R105 to the south which stands near to a R505 casemate for an anti-tank gun.
A R634 six-embrasure turret bunker - which has been removed - once stood to the west of the site.
Stp269 also featured around eight Vf2a personnel shelters – some which contain original German artwork - plus a Vf7a ammunition storage bunker.
The rarest of all the builds here though is the special construction Mehrkammer-Wasserbehalter multi-chambered water tank bunker, one of only two of these mid-war bunkers ever built.
We our indebted to our friends who own the land for allowing us permission to visit and film - thank you!