During the Second World War the site at housed three kinds of radar — the Wassermann, the Freya, and the Würzburg Riese radar — an example of which remains to this day It was built in 1942 and operational in 1943. The site was large, around 10 hectares (25 acres), with several hundred staff. It had 30 bunkers and 5 radars. Try switching to satellite mode and zooming in a bit on the map below to get an idea of the size.
Today the site is 3 hectares and there are 6 bunkers remaining, two of which are open.
After the war the Würzburg Riese radar was taken to the UK to be studied. It was later brought back to France, and used for civilian purposes as a radio telescope. It was restored to its former location for the 50th Anniversary of D-Day in 1994.
1500 Würzburg Riese radars were built during the war, but just three examples remain today – the others are in Nançay and Bordeaux.
The Musée Radar is situated near Douvres-la-Délivrande but it isn’t terribly easy to find. There are some sign posts for “Musée Radar” but they are easy to miss. However, below is a map of the exact location of the museum. It is situated off the D404 road. If you have a satnav you can try navigating to latitude 49.286203, longitude -0.403302.
- Center of map
- map
- Musee Radar
This trailer is post-WW2 and formed part of the COTAL (Conduite de tir d’artillerie lourde) system.
Equipment inside the COTAL trailer.
The Würzburg Riese radar.
Würzburg Riese radar rotation mechanism.
Würzburg Riese radar mechanism to alter the angle of the dish.
Inside the radar’s hut.
One of the remaining bunkers.
The machine gun hole has a novel new use as a ventilation system.
Another of the remaining bunkers, this one isn’t accessible.
Wide angle view of the site.
Nice shots!
May I note: ” Würzburg Riese radar mechanism to alter the angle of the dish”
This particular angle is called “elevation” or “site angle” ?
Re. radar COTAL: (I was a Cotal maintenance technician then…) you state: “This trailer is post-WW2 and formed part of the COTAL (Conduite de tir d’artillerie lourde) system”
I would say: This post-WW2 trailer was an Antiaircraft gun laying radar for US made 90mm batteries until late 1950’s. Very versatile, it was later used as anti personnel detector in Algeria, as ground control for telemetry (aircraft) in France and in Brazil, as weather radar in the Kerguelen Islands, in the Sahara, in French Guyana and more recently in India for the UN, etc…
Regards.
G D
Comment by G De Sorne — August 24, 2009 @ 6:44 pm