‘Spectacular’ firing of replica WW2 gun draws the crowds

PEOPLE put their hands to their ears as a replica Second World War gun was fired on the Pleinmont headland yesterday afternoon.

The Batterie Generaloberst Dollman adjacent to the motocross track originally contained four 22cm guns.

Though they were scrapped after the German Occupation, a similar gun was discovered in Jersey in 1995 and installed in one of the emplacements which Guernsey Armouries restored in 2001.

The gun is fired on about two days each year when the emplacement is opened to the public and dozens of people were there to see it happen yesterday.

Guernsey Armouries coordinator Ian Brehaut said opening the emplacement, firing the gun, and arranging the German soldier re-enactment was not easy.

‘We’re only a small team and there’s quite a lot of work involved,’ he said.

‘The bunker gets very damp due to condensation when the warm air gets in in the summer so a lot of things cannot be kept there,’ he said.

‘We have to bring them out each time to give that extra detail and take them away again when we are finished. But on days like today, when the weather is fine and we have a lot of people here, it makes it all worthwhile.’

Chris Wood, 30, girlfriend Coral, and their son, Alfie, 4, were there for the firing.

‘We came around here yesterday [Saturday] and saw people working here,’ said Mr Wood.

‘We saw signs saying that the gun would be fired today so we came back and we didn’t know it could still be fired.’

Alfie said it had not been particularly loud but his father said that that was probably because he put his hands over his son’s ears.

Vic and Daphne Saville, from Swanage, Dorset, take a holiday in Guernsey for Liberation week most years. They first came to the island about 50 years ago when their children were young and after a gap of about 40 years have been regular visitors ever since.

‘We thought the firing of the gun was very spectacular,’ said Mr Saville. ‘We didn’t expect to see people wearing German uniforms and it was very nostalgic.’

The couple said they had not been able to visit Guernsey last year and had suffered ‘withdrawal symptoms’.

‘We love the place,’ said Mr Saville. ‘We bring our car and can drive just about anywhere. We are keen bird watchers so we can park at coastal locations without having to pay and eat and drink at the various lovely kiosks that are dotted around.’