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Batterie de Longues-sur-mer

(France - Basse-Normandie - Longues-sur-Mer)

Built in the first few months of 1944, the naval battery at Longues was equipped with four 150-mm guns, housed in casemates, and a range-finding post embedded in the cliff face.

Thanks to the range of its guns, the battery could fire on both the Omaha (American sector) and Gold (British sector) beaches.

Although it was heavily bombed prior to D-Day, it was still capable of opening fire on the invasion fleet in the morning of June 6th 1944. At daybreak, it engaged in a duel with several Allied cruisers before being silenced in the evening. The next day, it was captured by the British without a fight.

Longues Battery is the only one in the region to have kept its guns, and because of its excellent state of preservation, it is well worth a visit.