The planners of the D-Day Invasion decided early on that logistics would prove the success or failure of the endeavor. Supplying hundreds of thousands of ground troops would require massive amounts of supplies, not just ammunition. A deep water port would be required near the landing zones and beaches. Ste. Malo on the Brittany coast offered just such a place: a deep water bay with a large river basin in the center. This could be one of the solutions to this requirement. As a result, Gen. George Patton's 3rd Army was assigned the task of capturing the city and port of Ste. Malo.
Intelligence gathered warned that the port was over seen by a well placed fortified position the Nazis had been building since their own invasion in 1940. The site of a medieval fort was remade to be a "modern" gun emplacement complete with underground living and working spaces. German engineers did a credible job ensuring that the fort would be a difficult if not impossible to defeat strongpoint as the southern anchor of Hitler's Atlantic Wall on Europe's West Coast. One of the features of the fort was the overhead protection of massive concrete rooftop structures. In some places, the concrete was 18'(6m.) thick, thick enough to offer protection from large aerial bombs.
The engineers drew on current design engineering, including steel rebar reinforcement. Heavy steel doors secured various entry ports, and all observation posts offered secure closures against gas attacks. Mechanical ventilation systems were built throughout to exhaust fumes and to circulate air electrically. In event of electrical failure, all venting could be done by hand cranking.
In addition to exterior antiaircraft guns, well-placed cannon offered significant capabilities in the defense. 105 howitzers offered substantial arms and were mobile. The underground system allowed men to be shifted where need was most urgent during an attack, which more than likely would come from the south and east section of the city below. Strategically placed were machinegun 'pill'boxes of a unique design. On the surface was a steel cap, approx. 8'/3m. in diameter and 9" thick cast steel. The caps weighed 47 tons each. They had gun ports every 60 degrees around the circumference. Below the cap were two floors holding positions for interior support crews and equipment. The machinegun itself could be hydraulically rotated to the optimum position during the defense. Expended shells were collected and disposed downward to a subfloor.
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| Diagram of the machine gun position |
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