9 December 1943 Part 2

9 December 1943 Coastal construction delays and Alderney forced labour

Top secret. To Seventh Army. Discussion with Organisation Todt senior construction manager Cardinal at Cherbourg established that priority work on special installations is being carried out at the expense of coastal construction. Hundreds of French workers flee after each air raid on the special sites; replacements are taken from coastal works. Under these conditions the winter coastal programme cannot be completed. Sites left unfinished for lack of labour seriously impair the defence of resistance nests, strongpoints and batteries.

Examples: Organisation Todt work has entirely stopped at 1/Artillery Regiment 656 near Merville on the Orne, and at 8 and 9/Army Coastal Artillery Regiment 745 near Videcosville and Azeville. Completion by 1 April 1944 is impossible under present conditions, so none will be under concrete by then. Excavations, material and unfinished work make their main positions unusable; the batteries must winter in inadequate alternative positions. Strongpoint 39 near Arromanches and Cherbourg’s large Osteck and Westeck works are unfinished. Work has stopped; construction huts, equipment and materials leave them less defensible than before. The same applies particularly to several resistance nests and strongpoints on the Cherbourg sea front, now only partially defensible. Work on Fort du Roule’s gun tunnels has stood still for two months; at the present rate it will scarcely be possible to install even two guns by 1 April.

Organisation Todt has requested 6,000 forced labourers, described as prisoners, for the special sites. Corps asks Seventh Army to support the request with Commander in Chief West to prevent further withdrawal of coastal labour and to return the diverted workforce in increased strength.

Contrary to Organisation Todt’s previous assurance, Engineer General Weiss intends to remove the 700 workers of the SS Construction Brigade from Alderney without replacement for special construction in the Cotentin. Alderney’s planned winter programme, about 2,000 cubic metres monthly, must urgently continue. Given the island’s tactical importance and its previous construction backlog, the remaining work on batteries, landing defence guns and infantry strongpoints is essential. Experience shows that the forced labourers of this SS Construction Brigade exploit every opportunity to escape; this is much harder on the island than on the mainland. Signed Marcks.

T-314 Roll 1604, T314_R1604_English_Translation.docx. 9 December 1943 | Source PDF pages 1274–1275. Selected island-related text; document or report date governs placement.