RESISTANCE NEST MILLBROOK ANTI-TANK GUN CASEMATE
This bunker is located on St. Aubin’s Bay promenade opposite La Motte Ford next to the ‘Old Station Café.
An example of a flanking anti-tank gun casemate mounting an ex-Czech 4.7cm PakK 36 (t) anti-tank gun with a coaxial MG 37 (t) machine gun which was built into a Victorian slipway to both block access off the beach to an attacker and camouflage the bunker behind a granite sea wall, the bunker largely escaped post war stripping out and scrap drives and today boasts a near time capsule appearance from original panelling with original pin up posters still attached to rare complete examples of the ventilation equipment used to protect the bunker’s crew from gas attack!
The bunker is also unusual for mounting a small observation bell, which a replica now replaces the original removed for scrap in c1948, and the bunker’s lighting still uses the original German cabling! Details of the bunker’s wartime operation are provided thanks to Herr Henkel who commanded the bunker in 1943/44.
Admission £3 -accompanied under 16s and CIOS members free
The Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey) arguably boasts some of the best-preserved fortifications today that originally formed and defended part of Hitler’s much vaunted “Atlantikwall” which stretched from inside the arctic circle of northern Norway to the French/Spanish boarder with about 10% of the fortifications constructed found in the Channel Islands! Today, thanks to the work of the CIOS, these structures attract both experts and those with a general interest in the Occupation with displays including first-hand accounts of soldiers of both sides, the forced labours used to build the fortifications through to civilian life and the Allied battles that took place to help Liberate Europe and those who sacrificed their lives for this goal.
But the CIOS is not just about bunkers! With a reputation as the ‘go to’ Society for information regarding the Occupation, the CIOS also has an extensive archive, which is held with Jersey Heritage, and we welcome new members from all backgrounds to join our volunteers to help open and maintain sites. So if you’re interested give us a shout.
As a volunteer Society, we can’t open as much as we would like too. But we do work with Jersey Bunker Tours (who have the bonus of a superb online resource regarding the Occupation!) as well as History Alive who both offer ‘out of hours’ tours of all our sites. With tours available for all budgets and tailored for requests!
