Hillman Site storyConstruction site of the site was started by the Germans in 1942. It seems it was not fully completed by D Day. A single ramp had been dug in the rock as a shelter with two sockets each designed to contain a gun. Similarly, it is possible that one of the two blockhouses had not received a complete interior.
The sites close defence system was already in place June 6, 1944, primarily based on the belts of barbed wire / mines and the network of trenches linking gun nests. The presence of at least one gun is certain but it seems not to have fought a tank during the assault by the British.
The attack on June 6, 1944:
The air and naval bombardment suffered by the site does not appear to have seriously damaged the defences nor sapped the will of the defenders. The shells and bombs that did fall near the site was not sufficiently effective to “soften” the site.
Hillman was able to repel the first assault infantry but was taken by the second attack with tanks aiding the infantry. The site was virtually left to itself without coverage for other units except artillery fire which intervened after the attack by the Suffolk Regiment. The fact remains that, by its strategic location, it was a serious obstacle that the allies were forced to completely neutralize before being able to leave the coastal strip. Taking “Hillman” cost precious time that should have been devoted to the liberation of
After THE WAR :
After the war, the site was cleared and ammunition destroyed on site (a large explosion left a crater near the well). Metal parts were removed for scrap (bells, shields, watertight doors, fans, pipes etc). Some bunkers have been temporarily inhabited by civilian refugees deprived of housing by the war. The site was then used as both a store and a dump: the debris and rubble gradually filling the underground spaces, thereby maintaining the state of the interiors.
