About 165 miles to the East, the British Army’s 9th Battalion Parachute Regiment was dropping on the Merville Battery, which was perceived as a major menace to the landings at Sword Beach. It was therefore vital that the four 150 mm guns, embedded in 12 feet of concrete and soil, heavily protected by mine fields, anti-tank ditches plus pill boxes, were quickly disabled. The strength and defences of the Battery meant it could only be silenced by a direct assault and hand to hand combat.
The plan to land three Gliders with their troops and equipment went badly wrong, missing the drop zone due to low cloud and errors in navigation. The attackers reduced from 650 to only 150 men and with no heavy armaments, none the less stormed the gun emplacements, overcame the defenders and destroyed the guns.
The Merville Gun Battery was understood to house four 150 mm guns which posed a very grave threat to the forces landing on the beach; furthermore it was not open to air attack.
It was therefore decided to neutralise the Battery by direct assault which was undertaken by the The Parachute Regiment. The fighting for the Battery was fierce and bloody but successful. The guns which were found to be obsolete 100 mm guns instead of the 150 mm expected were destroyed and many lives were saved as a result.
The assault upon the Merville Battery, by a small and wholly ill-equipped force, is still regarded as one of the most outstanding achievements in the history of the Parachute Regiment.
The Merville Battery museum has detailed displays and interactive video screens in the actual concrete casements that housed these guns. In the last battery a siren sounds every 20 minutes which is the signal for the start of a show, which with clever use of light and sound gives a very realistic insight into the conditions, tension and atmosphere of the Battery,  leading up to and including the ‘D’ Day assault . The show is so authentic that admittance is prohibited for anyone with heart problems.
You can find part 1 and 2 in the D Day archives section to the right
Download all of the D Day landing story and over 180 original photos here
More information about the D Day Landing Museums
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