20 May 1944 Part 1

20 May 1944 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

Weather: wind from 90°, 3 metres per second. 04:35: Guernsey Group alerted because of an action between German patrol boats and enemy motor torpedo boats in BF 2696, upper right. 05:20: alert ended.

Following replacement of the metre-elevation arcs on Nos. 1 and 2 guns, all Batterie Elsass guns have regulation metre-elevation arcs with emplacement-height correctors.

Construction, Naval Artillery Battalion 604, Batterie Mirus: Würzburg set, transformer station and anti-aircraft-landing stakes near the airfield continued. No. 4 gun and Rebeplatz [uncertain place-name] camouflaged; searchlight Bremen camouflage complete. Barrage-fire fixtures begun at Gotenhafen, Hamburg and Köln anti-aircraft positions. Two 7.5-cm embrasured positions and the Rötenstein searchlight garage remain suspended for lack of cement.

Batterie Steinbruch: electrical and technical cabling continued; searchlight doors fitted at A and B; dummy position begun. Work on 7.62-cm positions, searchlight B shelters and anti-aircraft positions 5 and 6 suspended for lack of cement.

Batterie Lothringen: earth removal before the old fire-control post, battery camouflage, roofing and relocation of shelter holes continued. Outside workers continued heating installation in the new fire-control post. Work on the 7.5-cm position suspended for lack of cement.

Batterie Strassburg: second 7.5-cm position, Brown House demolition, alternative 7.5/7.62-cm position and infantry-position development and camouflage continued. Camouflage of searchlights A and B and work on a dummy position begun. Embrasured positions for two 7.5-cm guns and two searchlight shelters remain suspended for lack of cement.

Naval Artillery Battalion 605, Batterie Annes: both searchlights continued. Excavation for the charge projector continued; shuttering removed from the position itself. A new position for the light-beam telephone (Lichtsprechgerät) built at the fire-control post. Several air-raid shelter holes made; position trenches improved in places; levelling and camouflage continued.

Batterie Elsass: Organisation Todt built the fire-control post. Battery laid dummy minefields; wired anti-aircraft-landing stakes; built an anti-aircraft position; made shelter holes and overhauled existing ones; constructed searchlight Bruno position, J.'burg.

Batterie Rosenfeste, Organisation Todt: cartridge-case shafts, earth banking over bunkers, painting in gun bunkers and cable trenches. Battery work: excavation for an accommodation bunker; ammunition stored; galley and office complete; accommodation-bunker roof concreted; bunker-bed installation begun; water pipe laid. Artillery command post: levelling and masonry before its entrance. Naval radar: splinter protection poured. Battalion headquarters: infantry-defence installation and makeshift air-raid bunker developed.

Roll 2422, scans 0839–0841, original pages 51–53.