After the fall of France in June 1940, the Germans turned their attention to the English Channel and the south coast of England. To target Dover and other coastal locations Krupp K5 280mm rail guns were brought to the French coast and firing positions established between Boulogne and Calais.
To protect the guns, the German labour organisation ' Organisation Todt ' built reinforced concrete shelters to protect the guns. They were termed Dombunkers.
Calais Dombunker 2019
A battery would consist of two K5 guns. The Dombunkers were big enough for two K5 guns and a WR360C14 diesel locomotive.
Krupp K5 Railway Gun
WR360C14 diesel and Krupp K5 Railway Gun
A Dombunker remains on the outskirts of Calais near the Rue De Verdun. The location was the base of Eisenbahnartilleriebatterie E710 (Railway Artillery Battery E710) during World War Two.
Following the fall of France in June 1940, the Germans began deploying rail guns to the Pas de Calias to support Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain. In addition permanent coastal batterieswould be built between Calais and Boulogne to control the English Channel.
English Channel Gun Batteries
The Germans established five main locations for 280mm Krupp K5 rail guns in the Pas De Calais area. The batteries consisted of four two gun batteries and a single one gun battery. Normally only one gun would be firing, the other undergoing maintenance.
Calais Grables (2x Guns) Sangatte-Cement Factory (2x Guns) Les Alleux (2x Guns) Hydrequent-Le Carre de Marabee (1x Guns) Wimereux-Les Oiles (2x Guns)
Pas De Calais - German Rail Gun Locations.
The guns were housed in Dombunkers, reinforced concrete shelters, or in railway tunnels to protect the guns when they were not firing. The guns would be brought from their shelter, prepared for firing, the mission carried out, then return to their protected shelters.
Krupp K5 Railgun emerging from Dombunker
Twenty five Krupp K5 Rail Guns were produced, but only two remain today. One of the remaining guns is located at the Atlantic Wall Museum, Audinghem, 20 km (12 miles) north of Boulogne.
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Atlantic Wall Museum Audinghem
The development of the K5 began in 1934 with the first testing following in 1936. Eight guns were available for the invasion of France in 1940.
The K5 had a range 64 km (40 miles) firing a 255 kg (562 pounds) high explosive shell.
The time taken to prepare for firing and the low rate of fire (15 rounds per hour) limited the guns to land based targets.Dover and the South Coast were targeted.
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Firing on Dover
The guns had a limited traverse consequently to set the bearing required, the gun needed to be rotated on a railway turntable or moved along a curved track.
A small gauge railway track was laid from the ammunition storage to the gun in order to move the255 kg (562 pounds) high explosive shell and cartridges. The shell and cartridges would be lifted by the gun's hoist onto a small ammunition trolley at the rear of the gun.
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Ammunition Hoist
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Cartridges being hoisted onto the gun
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Atlantic Wall Museum Audinghem Ammunition and rear of gun
Krupp K5 Atlantic Wall Museum Audinghem Shell hoisted on to ammunition trolley
Krupp K5 Atlantic Wall Museum Audinghem Ammunition loading trolley
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Cartridges and Shells
The ammunition trolley moved along rails on the loading platform to position the shell onto the loading tray. The shell and then the cartridges would be loaded into the chamber and the breach closed.
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Loading platform
Krupp K5 Atlantic Wall Museum Audinghem Shell on loading tray
The gun was prepared for firing, then fired by means of a lanyard attached to the firing mechanism.
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Ready to fire
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Gun being fired
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Fire !
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Schuss über ...Shot Over
Krupp K5 280mm Rail Gun Schuss über ...Shot Over
Once the run had been fired the empty cartridge cases would be removed.
Two Krupp K5s were sent to Italy to target the Allied bridgehead at Anzio. The guns were nicknamed Leopold and Robert by the German Gunners, to the Allied soldiers under their distinctive fire, they were termed Anzio Annie and Anzio Express. The two guns were abandoned when the Allied forces broke out of the Anzio Beachhead.
Leopold has been restored and located at the Atlantic Wall Museum, Audinghem in the Pas de Calais.
The K5 was the result of a crash program launched in the 1930s to develop a force of railway guns to support the Wehrmacht by 1939. K5 development began in 1934 with first testing following in 1936 at the Firing Test Range Rügenwalde-Bad (German: Schießplatz Rügenwalde-Bad) in Farther Pomerania at the South coast of the Baltic Sea. Initial tests were done with a 150 mm barrel under the designation K5M.
Manufactured by Krupp the K5 mounted a 21.5 metres (71 ft) long gun barrel in a fixed mounting with only vertical elevation of the weapon. This gondola was mounted on a pair of 12-wheel bogies designed to be operated on commercial and military rails. This mounting permitted only two degrees of horizontal traverse. The carriage had to be aligned on the rails first, with only minimal fine leveling capable once halted.
Three guns were installed on the English Channel coast to target British shipping in the Channel, and proved successful at this task.
