Coastal battery headquarters

The Germans constructed their coastal artillery section headquarters between the boulevard along the beach and Kleinzand road, due north of the Vineta battery. Its function was two-fold: to monitor any possible targets at sea and to evaluate surveillance data from other coastal observation posts. The information gathered was used to formulate commands for several coastal batteries that together made up a coastal artillery detachment. A type M152 command bunker was at the core of this rather small compound. Almost completely buried in the dune, only a single corner of this structure containing a survey room with an observation slit protruded above the sand. For added information gathering, the bunker featured open rooftop observation posts on the front and the back. Inside there was a large data processing room and a number of work areas to handle communications with other observation posts and coastal batteries. The entrance to the structure and passages that lead to three troop quarters are located in the rear. The three type M151 troop quarter bunkers each had room for one officer, three non-commissioned officers and twenty-four enlisted men. The commander resided in a type 656 personnel bunker adjacent to the command bunker entrance. All these structures were linked by zigzagging, underground passages and a tunnel shaped storage area was part of the system. A large above-ground masonry office building was located next to the bunkers. A generator building, a telephone exchange and a searchlight emplacement for nocturnal observation were in the immediate vicinity. Next to the residence at #25 Kleinzand was a large canteen with a dining room and a kitchen. None of these are open to the public.