TOUR 3
This tour begins by tracing the line of the German assault on the French held Fort de la Creche on the high ground overlooking Boulogne to the north and then follows the German advance down into the town via the French positions near the Tour d’Odre on the cliff top overlooking the port. It ends at the harbour itself which was the scene of the evacuation of 20 Guards Brigade on the evening of 23 May and the final stand of a small mixed force under the command of Major Jim Windsor-Lewis, 2 Welsh Guards, which held off the Germans from 24-25 May until finally overwhelmed.
From the Tourist Office at 24 Boulevard Gambetta drive south past the Pont Marguet, along the Boulevard de la Poste and take a left turn opposite the next bridge, the Pont de l’Entente Cordiale. Drive up the Grande Rue heading towards the Haute Ville and, keeping the ramparts to your right, follow signs for St. Omer at the traffic lights near the Porte de Calais. At the next major set of lights bear left along the Avenue Charles de Gaulle which, after a short distance, becomes the Route de Calais. After a little over one kilometre turn left at a junction on to the Rue de l’Aiglon. Turn right after a further 375 metres onto the Rue Napoléon and you will see the Colonne de la Grande Armée eventually come into view on your left. Park the car near the column.
The Colonne de la Grand Armée.
This column topped by the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte rises to a height of fifty-four metres and commemorates a famous page in the history of Boulogne when the Emperor chose the town as the base for his Grande Armée intended for the invasion of Britain between 1803 and 1805. The Camp of Boulogne was in fact divided into two huge camps: the ‘camp de droite’, here, in and around the valley of Terlincthun and the plateau above the port near the Tour d’Odre, and the ‘camp gauche’ on the left bank of the Liane towards Outreau.
Look to your right down the long, tree lined Avenue de Colonne. It was in this avenue that Oberleutnant Durkes commanding 3 Platoon of the German 2 Motorcycle Battalion, 2 Panzer Division, woke up on the morning of May 23 under the shadow of Napoleon’s column. He and Oberst von Vaerst, commanding 2 Schü Brigade, climbed the 265 steps of the column to view the ground towards Fort de la Creche, Durkes’ objective that morning. At 10.00 am German time the German artillery which had been brought into position in this area, had opened fire on the fort and under cover of a smoke screen Durkes’ dismounted motorcyclists had ridden down the open 1000 metre slope to the railway at Terlincthun on the back of panzers. The park around the column is open to the public but do check times with the tourist office in advance. Opening times are also posted on the gates to the park.
Return to the car and retrace your tracks. Turn right at the main road and follow the D96E towards Terlincthun. You are now moving in the direction of the German tanks carrying the dismounted motorcyclists as they advanced towards Fort de la Creche. Note the slope and imagine the German infantry hanging on to the tanks for dear life as they bucked and reared over the ground. At least one man was seen to fall off and one tank shed a machine gun mounting.
Terlincthun CWGC military cemetery is to your right just before the junction with the D96. Turn left onto the D96 and after some 500 metres park on the wide verge opposite the high grassy bank to your right. Look back towards the Colonne Napoléon and the slope down which the German panzers came. Oberleutnant Durkes and his men had made an assault on the fort the previous evening. On that occasion the attack had been repulsed but on the morning of 23 May Durkes’ men had dismounted from the panzers at the railway line which runs along the valley bottom and advanced under machine-gun fire across the field which slopes away to the south below you. Durkes and nine of his comrades took cover in a concrete well in the middle of the field, still marked on the IGN map although access is difficult as it is on private, cultivated land. Advancing behind a panzers Durkes was up to the fort and one of his men, Ascheraden, was cutting away the protective wire on the other side of the road from where you are now standing, within fifteen minutes of the start of the attack. Minutes later Durkes, Unteroffizier Weber and the rest of his men were inside. The French were so surprised by the speed of the assault that the Germans were waiting for the French gunners as they queued on the stairways of their bunkers trying to get out. All the officers were captured together and the rest of the fort was then ‘combed out’ and the position consolidated. Durkes estimated that they had taken sixteen officers and about 300 men prisoner. General Guderian later visited the captured fort to see it for himself.
This, the site of the original French fort, was the German Creche I position codenamed ‘Blucher’ during the occupation. The bunkers of the Creche II position – ’Arnika’ – stud the cliffs on the other side of the D940 towards Wimereux, whilst Creche III was sited on the Pointe de la Creche just across the D940. The German Marine Artillerie Abteilung 240 (MAA 240) held the entire Creche position.
An eerie atmosphere pervades this rather remote spot today even in broad daylight. Spread over a large, roughly rectangular area it is possible to wander around the older brick built parts of the fort constructed by the French (note the date 1879 above one of the doorways) and see the concrete structures added by the German engineers and used by 3 Company of MAA 240 under the command of Korvettekapit㬠M A Fritz Diekmann who held this site. As you circle the three immense concrete casemates, note that after 1942 those gaping mouths were filled with large calibre coastal guns. The original French guns were of 194mm but the calibre of the German guns is in dispute. Some researchers claim that the German guns in the casemates were also 194mm whilst others argue that they were of 220mm. Other researchers claim that neither a 194mm nor 220mm gun would fit into this type of ‘SK bunker’. The argument is ongoing with researchers still checking the data. Whatever the calibre these huge pieces were augmented with four 105mm guns in open emplacements (three of them in the fields behind the fort), one Bofors 28mm Flak and four 75mm Flak guns. In some accounts it is claimed that two Vickers 94mm AA heavy canons were situated in open positions on the cliff. Four MG 34 machine-guns were sited around the site to enfilade the access routes. The old fort, and its associated positions was perhaps the toughest nut of ‘Festung Boulogne’ – the town having acquired fortress status in Hitler’s list of January 19 1944 – and was one of the last to fall to Canadian forces at 7.50 am 22 September 1944 during ‘Operation Wellhit’, the struggle to liberate the town. The impact marks made by bullets, shells and the damage from bombs dropped by seventy-eight medium bombers of the RAF on 21 September 1944 are clearly visible on the concrete emplacements.
(Please note that whilst the German ‘Creche 2 and 3’ positions are supervised by a French organisation named Eden 62, the ‘Creche One’ site is owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral, and at the time of writing – January 2002 – is a restricted area for security reasons, however, a group of French and Belgian historians led by team leader Robert Dehon, have joined forces to launch The Project la Creche (PLC) and are hoping to research the site and eventually establish it as an open air museum. Discussions between the project members and officials from the town councils of Boulogne, Wimereux and Le Portel have already taken place and a field survey has been completed to establish the site. ‘Creche One’ is scheduled to be open to the general public in July 2002 as a ‘promenade’ museum and the PLC team is working towards a full ‘open air’ museum to be opened in July 2004. The two dates chosen for the ‘grand openings’ are closely related with Boulogne’s Napoleonic heritage. The project members are still concentrating on mapping and researching the history of the site. If all goes to plan the esplanade behind the German bunkers will be used for military re-enactments. If readers want to get a ‘feel’ of what La Cr碨e was like in the nineteenth century, they should visit Fort d’Alprech in Le Portel which has been renovated during the last few years. Fort d’Alprech is a twenty minute drive from La Creche over the Liane through Outreau to Le Portel – take the Rue du Cap off the D 236 Boulevard du General de Gaulle – and although not covered in detail by this guide Fort Alprech was held by French forces and finally fell to the Germans at around midday on 23 May. The area around the fort had in fact become untenable the previous day and the garrison had withdrawn to positions near the Casino. There are spectacular views over the Channel from Fort d’Alprech and many concrete German bunkers can be seen in the surrounding fields.
Look south towards Boulogne from Fort de la Creche and the port and note how the old Fort would have dominated the seaward approaches to the harbour. Note also that although the French had tried to spike their guns in 1940, a veteran German Hauptfeldwebel known as ‘John’ managed to bring one of them back into action on the evening of 23 May and used it to join other German artillery in firing on HMS Venetia as she came into port to evacuate 20 Guards Brigade. The Venetia was hit and set on fire and had to leave the harbour stern first without taking a single man on board.
Fort d’ Alprech in Le Portel. A twenty minute drive from Fort de la Creche.
Return to the car and drive on to the roundabout. Turn left along the D940 and head downhill towards Boulogne. After approximately 600 metres turn left onto the road leading to the Monument de la Légion d’Honneur and park the car near the monument. The stone obelisk marks the exact site of the throne on which Napoleon sat on August 16, 1804 for the first open air distribution of the Legion of Honour. Look north-east and note the vast natural amphitheatre created by the Terlincthun valley and how Napoleon’s throne would have been at the very heart of the proceedings. 80,000 French troops were drawn up in an immense semi-circle on the slopes to the north-east – the same slopes traversed by the German panzers in 1940 as they attacked Fort de la Creche – and crowds of spectators joined them to witness 2,000 men receive their decorations from the Emperor himself.
Retrace your tracks back to the D 940 and turn left. After some 250 metres take a left turn onto the Rue d’Ambleteuse and then turn right after 800 metres onto the Rue de la Tour d’Odre. Park the car. You are now on the cliff top plateau with commanding views of the harbour and the village of Outreau on the opposite bank of the Liane. On a clear day the English coast can be seen clearly. The road is named after the Tour d’Odre an ancient lighthouse which collapsed in the Seventeenth Century due to the crumbling of the surrounding cliffs. Look seaward and note the squat building in a small depression surrounded by a low wall and fence. This is the restored Napoleonic Poudriere, the powder room or magazine in which could be stored up to 12,000 kilograms of gunpowder during the time of the Camp de Boulogne. Along with the column of the Grande Armée and the obelisk commemorating the Legion of Honour the Poudriere is one of the last vestiges of Boulogne’s Napoleonic and Imperial heritage.
Walk a little further towards the large cross ahead. This is the Calvaire des Marins which now stands next to the sailor’s chapel built in the shape of a ship. Both the cross and the original chapel also suffered at the hands of cliff top erosion but the cross was saved and now stands next to the mariners’ chapel which was rebuilt in 1996. The spot where you are standing is now known as the Place du Premier Maitre l’Her. During 23 May 1940 this area was the scene of bitter hand-to-hand fighting as the Germans tried to wrest control of this key position from a small French force of 200 men under Commandant Henri Nomy. Premiere Maitre Jean François L’Her was defending the position, still marked as the ‘semaphore’ on the IGN map, a little way back along the cliff top towards the Poudriere. Premiere Maitre L’Her, along with six other marines and one soldier, was killed during the fighting after he had himself shot a German soldier who had been trying to remove the French flag from the building. The entire position was finally taken at around 5.00 pm on 23 May, Commandant Nomy being taken prisoner with his surviving men. It was here in front of the Calvaire des Marins that a German officer is alleged to have threatened to shoot the survivors along with some French civilians who had been sheltering in the cellars of the semaphore building.
Look down from the platform of the post 1940 German bunker onto the harbour and note how the taking of this position gave the Germans almost total command of the harbour entrance and observation of movement on the quays. Note also the large and rather futuristic looking building below you on the Boulevard Ste Beuve. This is the French National Centre of the Sea – Nausicaa – which stands on the site of the old Casino. Look down and think of the small force of 200 French marines under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau de Saint Remy, which, with a lone 75mm gun, had blocked the coast road at the Casino. They managed to hold out all day on 23 May but by the evening were almost out of ammunition and albeit surrounded. They continued to resist until after 1.30 pm on 24 May when they at last tried to withdraw to the Haute Ville. Think also of the fifty men of Lieutenant Colonel Deane’s AMPC on the extreme left flank of the British line astride the coast road a little way in advance of the Casino who, along with the remnants of 5 Buffs commanded by Major Penlington, had erected roadblocks using abandoned lorries and cars and the furniture from bombed out houses. The Germans probed their positions during the early hours of 23 May but withdrew only to return shortly afterwards with light tanks. With no anti-tank weapons the mixed British force watched as the leading tank climbed the first barricade which had been drenched in petrol. As soon as the tank’s nose rose to an angle at which it could not fire its guns the defenders set the roadblock alight, at which point the tank reversed out of trouble. Under cover of the pall of smoke the Buffs and the AMPC hurriedly constructed a new barricade and fortunately for them the attack was not repeated. Note that these men were also being fired on from the quaysides to their rear as nervous and inexperienced troops from a variety of regiments and AMPC personnel awaiting evacuation on the opposite side of the harbour fired at anything that moved in the town. This was a problem which also plagued 20 Brigade during the final scenes of withdrawal.
Return to the car and take the left turn onto the Rue de Baron Bucaille at the calvary and drive to the junction with the Rue du Campe de Droite. Turn right again and drive towards the town until you reach the junction with the Rue Faidherbe. Turn right and park the car on the quayside in the parking spaces along either the Quai Gambetta or south of the Pont Marguet. Walk across the Pont Marguet towards the old Hoverspeed ferry terminal at the harbour station, the Gare Maritime. You are now following in the footsteps of the men of 1, 2 and 4 Companies of 2 Welsh Guards between 7.00 pm and 8.00 pm on 23 May as they crossed the bridge under the watchful eyes of both Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stanier and Brigadier Fox-Pitt after Fox-Pitt had received the order to evacuate. 3 Company which had not received the order to withdraw, had not appeared and so Fox-Pitt ordered the bridge to be blown, albeit rather unsuccessfully. Those men of Colonel Dean’s AMPC holding eight road blocks in the town were also left on the other side. Colonel Dean’s car engine was riddled by bullets as he crossed this bridge before it was blown on the afternoon of 23 May to visit Brigadier Fox-Pitt to try to get him to stop the promiscuous firing from the ‘odds and sods’ milling around the Gare Maritime.
Note to your left front the church on top of the hill in the village of Outreau and the slope down which the Irish Guards withdrew to the harbour. As you reach the other side of the bridge note that the railway lines still run up to the Gare Maritime as they did in 1940. Cross the road and then cross the railway (there used to be a blue sign guiding ‘Seacat – pedestrians’ in the right direction). Go through one gate, making sure to look both ways, cross the line and turn right after passing through another gate on the opposite side. Walk towards the old terminal (cross-Channel ferry traffic has now ceased) and reflect that here were sited a number of sheds in which the Welsh Guards assembled after crossing the bridge.
As quiet as it is today it is difficult to imagine the crush and confusion on the quays in 1940 with the scream of Stuka dive-bombers and explosions adding to the chaos. It was here that Captain Duncan, 2 Welsh Guards, was killed by a bomb which fell yards away from Lieutenant Colonel Stanier and the Padre as all three scrambled for cover under a railway carriage. Such were the numbers of military personnel and civilians crowding onto these quays on the evening of 23 May that Lieutenant Colonel Stanier lost touch with two entire companies of his battalion (2 and 4) which had sheltered in sheds on what is now the Quai Thurot. They, too, were left behind and, after trying to make a break out in the direction of Etaples at midnight on 23 May. Many were captured over the following two days. Guardsman Syd Pritchard and a comrade left 4 Company to make their way back here at dawn on 24 May and joined Major Windsor-Lewis of 3 Company, 2 Welsh Guards who had also withdrawn to this position.
Looking from the top of the ramp above the Gare Maritime towards the Pont Marguet with the line of Windsor-Lewis’s sandbagged defences.
Cross the tracks again where you see a blue ‘sortie’ sign and follow the eastern quay, keeping the wooden fence to your left, until you pass under the blue and white ramps and enter the station itself. It was here that Major Windsor-Lewis collected together a small mixed force of Welsh and Irish Guards, AMPC, RE, stragglers from other British regiments and 120 French troops who had been left behind after the evacuation on the night of 23 May. He determined to make a final stand here. Putting civilians on the lower levels of the station building itself he organised his defences.
Cross carefully towards the terminal building and walk back along the platform with the rail tracks to right and left, passing a small white kiosk until you reach the very end of the raised platform. Look back towards the Pont Marguet bridge. You are now standing on almost the exact site of the ‘snout’ of Major Windsor-Lewis’s sandbagged defence line which enclosed the entire station. In 1940 two trains were drawn up on the tracks to either side of you. One of them, a hospital train, was to your right and both Syd Pritchard and Doug Davies took cover behind the bogey wheels of its carriages as the Germans on the opposite side of the Bassin Napoléon to your right poured fire into the train. In their accounts written for the home audience and neutral parties after the fall of Boulogne, the Germans took a dim view of the use of the hospital train as a defensive position although there were no patients on board at the time. Imagine a German tank directly in front of you positioned near the Pont Marguet firing in your direction and another three across the Bassin Napoléon to your right doing the same as countless mortar rounds and a hurricane of small arms fire comes at you from buildings across the water to both your right and left. It was from across the Bassin to your right that the Germans attempted an assault by boat on the evening of 24 May which was repelled by Windsor-Lewis’s force. It was only a matter of time however, before Windsor-Lewis was forced to accept the inevitable. After withdrawing into the station proper behind you – with only glass cover overhead – at noon on 25 May under terrific fire and with civilian lives at stake and many wounded being ‘knocked about’, the Major finally surrendered at around 1.00 pm on 25 May in order to avoid a ‘massacre’. The German troops swept past the spot where you are now standing and into the station where they treated the survivors with professional courtesy.
It is possible, with care, to access the western side of the old Hoverspeed terminal and walk up the vehicle ramp to the upper level from where, looking south, you will have an excellent view of the location of the final sandbagged position and the quays on the opposite side of the Bassin to the west on which the German panzers lined up to take pot shots at the garrison. Note the steep hill to the east up to the Haute Ville and St. Martin beyond and pick out the communications pylons on the heights of Mont Lambert between the apartment blocks on the Boulevard Gambetta. From this final position it is a sobering thought to reflect again on the enormity of the task given to two battalions with no transport to speak of when one considers the distance out towards Mont Lambert to the east and Outreau to the west.
Retrace your steps back towards the Pont Marguet, again watching out for any rail traffic when crossing the tracks at pedestrian crossing points, re-cross the bridge and return to the car parked on the opposite bank.