Amfreville battery
It formed part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications and protected the western entrance to the port of Cherbourg.The battery had originally been a French artillery position dating from 1898 constructed to protect the port of Cherbourg.Concrete casemates (based on the Regelbau M271 design) were constructed to house four First World War-era 17 cm SK L/40 guns which had a firing range of over 27 km (17 mi).Cherbourg, with its deep-water port, had been designated as a strategic target by Allied planners during the preparations for the invasion of Normandy.Following the successful Allies landings in Normandy in early June 1944, American forces headed north through the Cotentin Peninsula towards Cherbourg.