 The Wellblech bunker at WN 62, Omaha Beach. |
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14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France Coordinates: 49.360472, -0.847135 An historic site to visit and just steps away from the beautiful American Cemetery at Colleville. This is a fairly easy site to visit and I strongly recommend getting here early. If you have visited the cemetery which I also highly suggest and is documented on this web site here then you can just walk down the bluffs to WN 62. There are two 669 type bunkers here, the lower 669 and the upper 669 both of which can be accessed in our prior sections on this web site. This section will focus on the photographs I took of the Wellblech bunker at Omaha Beach, the two mortar emplacements .5cm and .8cm, tobruk, ammo niches, trenches, VF Observation bunker and a few photographs of the beach itself. In case you missed the directions in the prior section here is how to get to Omaha Beach in Normandy: If you are coming from the south you can take one of two roads, it doesn't really matter each one as they both intersect and lead directly to ample parking areas. However in 2016 I was here shortly after 9:30 a.m. and by 11:00 a.m. both parking areas were completely full. This is a big tourist draw and there are coaches that bring tour groups in. So if you are coming from the south take the Route du Capitain Joe Dawson or the Moulins road, again both lead to parking areas, if you are unsure just type in the coordinates above into your GPS and it will take you straight there. But if you want to make a full day of this and take it all in I highly suggest parking in the American Cemetery above the bluffs, visit the museum and the grounds both are which are incredibly moving, afterwards walk down to visit the two 669 bunkers and the sandy beach known as bloody Omaha. |  Click map to enlarge  Looking towards the stairs from the inside of the Wellblech of WN 62 at Omaha Beach, Normandy.  The corrugated iron inside the Wellblech now rusted but still intact after almost 75 years! |
I used three different cameras on this visit in 2016. The Nikon Coolpix 35mm, the Apple iPhone Six Plus and the GoPro Hero 4 camera. |
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 The entrance to WN 62s Wellblech or personnel shelter. |  The stairs leading down to the Wellblech of WN 62. |  And then down into the corridor which connects the rooms. |
 The corrugated iron of this room has seen little rust over the years. |  A room with a view, the escape hatch to the concrete hallway. |  The opposite entrance or exit depending on how your day started at this Wellblech bunker in Omaha Beach. |
 A bricked trench and leading to an ammo niche at the end. |  A close-up shot of the ammo niche here on Omaha Beach. |  And lets take a peek inside the ammo niche, I am sure it was well stocked for the impending onslaught of June 6th, 1944. |
 A corner shot of the trench. |  A tobruk and it's adjacent 61a 5cm mortar emplacement. |  Trench and mortar... |
 The 7.62 cm gun emplacement here at WN 62. |  Overgrown in the summertime but still visible the 7.62 cm field gun emplacement. |  With a view of bloody Omaha Beach. |
 There was an extensive open trench network at WN 62 that to and from the beach, what is known as the draw. |  And as you can see here the trench network zig-zagged its way up the bluffs. |  There is now a safety grill over the 61a 5 cm mortar position here at WN 62. |
 Another shot of the mortar position. |  Barely visible now the concrete mortar and tobruk emplacement. |  The opening to the tobruk now has a safety grill. |
 The tobruk and the ammo niche in the background. |  One last shot of the tobruk. |  A look down from the bluffs at Omaha Beach from WN 62. |
 The entrance to the VF Observation bunker at WN 62. |  This observation bunker suffered little damage from the U.S. Navy offshore prior to the landings. |  What a view the crew of this observation bunker had on D-day, terrifying I am sure! |
 The small door that leads out to the dunes. |  And on our way out... |  Another look at the entrance and exit to this VF Observation bunker at WN 62, Omaha Beach. |
 The shores of Omaha Beach, Normandy. |  Looking east on Omaha Beach, Easy Red sector. |  The beach was empty when I was here in July of 2016. |
 A great number of men died trying to take this beach on June 6th, 1944. |
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