Battle of Merville Gun Battery 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 June 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Tonga | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 49.2700, -0.1964 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Merville Gun Battery was a series of British assaults beginning 6 June 1944, as part of Operation Tonga, part of the Normandy landings, during the Second World War. Allied intelligence believed the Merville Gun Battery was composed of heavy-calibre 150 mm (5.9 in) guns that could threaten the British landings at Sword Beach, only 8 miles (13 km) away.
The 9th Parachute Battalion, part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade attached to 6th Airborne Division, was given the objective of destroying the battery. However, when the battalion arrived over Normandy in the predawn of 6 June, their parachute descent was dispersed over a large area, so instead of over 600 men with heavy weapons or equipment, only 150 with neither arrived at the battalion assembly point. Regardless, they pressed home their attack against an estimated German force of 130 engineers and artillerymen. Reduced to 75 men, the British succeeded in capturing the battery, only to discover that the guns were World War I-era Czech M.14/19 100 mm field howitzers, which only had an effective range of some 8,400 m (9,200 yd), just over 5 miles. Still, using what explosives they had been able to recover, they attempted, with only partial success, to disable the guns.
The see-saw action saw the battery change hands several times.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Merville Gun Battery (revision 1370449619), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Action of 30 May 1798 1798 · 8 km
- Battle of Douvres Radar Station 1944 · 15 km
- Battle for Caen 1944 · 15 km
- Battle of Caen (1346) 1346 · 16 km
- Siege of Caen (1450) 1450 · 16 km
- Siege of Caen (1417) 1417 · 16 km
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War II era battles