Perched high on a hill on the northwest coast of the Cotentin peninsula, Wn346 was an extensive bunker site built for a long-range radar installation.
It features one of the largest, and rarest bunkers constructed on the Atlantikwall, a V143 type of which only four were built in France – the other three at Fecamp, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Cap Gris Nez.
This huge construction – with 18 rooms inside and two defensive Tobruks – was a control and comms centre and supported a huge Mammut Gustav radar system on top of three large concrete pillars.
The large array measured 10m by 30m and was known by the Allies a ‘hoarding’ due to its scaffolding-like appearance. It was capable of detecting target up to 300km away. In early 1944, when the site was photographed by Allied aircraft it was still under construction.
A few metres away you can see the remains of a structure built to support a FuMO 51 Seetakt antenna, used for detecting shipping in the channel.
Today the main bunker and Seetakt position are almost completely overgrown with just the tops of the three plinths showing of the V143 and a few glimpses of angled concrete where the antenna once stood.
It’s the same story for the smaller, surrounding buildings – a mixture of field shelters, defensive MG posts, and open emplacements for 2cm anti-aircraft guns – which are dotted around farmers’ fields, usually with cattle on site.