Grand Havre find could help restoration of Jersey bunker
AN OBSERVATION turret found at Grand Havre in Guernsey could help recreate one of Jersey’s Occupation fortifications.
The Channel Islands Occupation Society has applied for planning permission to fit a concrete and fibreglass replica of the turret to help restore Jersey’s resistance nest Millbrook, an anti-tank casement bunker in St Aubin’s Bay.
Regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind in Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, the fortress has been missing its turret since the end of the German occupation.
‘This turret will also be the only example of its type in the Channel Islands on display in its original position,’ the society said in its application document.
Guernsey’s 90P9 infantry observation turret was discovered by a member of the public at Grand Havre Bay in 2011.
It stands at around 6ft tall and weighs in excess of six tonnes.
The turret would have protruded from the top of the bunker and soldiers would have sat inside it, with five slits giving them a panoramic view.
There was also a small armoured periscope which would have been used for long-range observations.
Restoration group Festung Guernsey’s project co-ordinator Paul Bourgaize said the discovery at Grand Havre beach had been unique.
‘It’s very rare to find something so complete, there isn’t another example in the Channel Islands. All others would have been used for scrap,’ he said.
The found turret is currently positioned outside the Guernsey Occupation Museum, where it is on permanent loan from the Festung group.
Museum owner Richard Heaume said it was not known whether or not it was actually used. ‘The original turret may have never been installed as all German construction on the island ended after the events of D-Day in June 1944,’ he said.
In its Jersey application, the society said the reinstatement of the turret would mean a better visitor understanding of how the Germans defended St Aubin’s Bay.
‘It will also be the final part of a restoration programme to replace the few parts which were removed post-war from the near “time-capsule” bunker,’ it said.
‘It will be constructed from reinforced concrete with an outer shell made of GRP fibreglass which has been cast directly from the identical turret in Guernsey. The use of a GRP outer shell has been chosen because the cost of casting the replacement in steel would be hugely prohibitive.’
