Op Normandie - Caen Command Bunker

In 1943 Generalmajor Wilhelm Richter, commanding the German 716th Infantry Division, decided to base his headquarters in a former quarry on the outskirts of Caen.

A tunnel measuring 70 metres long and 3 metres high was dug in the limestone rock, together with command posts and communications rooms.

Caen Command Bunker - Tunnel

  A small garrison was in charge of defending the structure. Each of the three entrances on alternate sides was defended by a machine gun. Armoured doors with two leaves completed the defence system. On the plateau overlooking the quarry, a buried tank and minefields protected the immediate surroundings

 
      German Command Bunker - Caen  
 
From the HQ   Generalmajor Richter was in contact with Regimental locations, coastal batteries and the  Carpiquet aerodrome.
 
  
         German Command Bunker  - Communications Equipment

The 716th Divisional Area of Operation covered the area of what was to become SWORD BEACH, part of JUNO BEACH the port of OUISTERHAM and the right bank of the RIVER ORNE., as well as CAEN,

 On 6th June 1988 the Memorial du Caen museum was inaugurated and built on top of Generalmajor Richter's command bunker.

Memorial de Caen Museum - General Richter's Bunker

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