HKB 20/972 Ansnes

Today I made the first tiny forest trip after I moved one and half week ago. It was so nice being out on a little expedition again. Not far from where I live is the remnants of an Atlantikwall fortification, the Heeres Küsten Batterie 20/972 Ansnes, which sorted under Atilleriegruppe Senja.

The position was equipped with four 10,5 cm guns of the type K332(f) with a range of 12000 m. The fort was operational by june 1942.

It had rained hard all yesterday and all night but by lunchtime today it cleared up and it soon was a decent summers temperature and all blue sky. I found my camera and forest clothes and drove along the fjord until I found a place to park near the site. I followed a small trail and soon spotted the first pieces of concrete. It looked like a small bunker but sadly the entrance was filled up and blocked by old farming equipment and rubbish. The little trail led me to an opening in the mountainside and of course I hadn`t brought a strong torch, but with the help of the flash on the camera and the little flashlight on my phone I managed to stumble through the rather short tunnels. It ended in a stairway leading out to the forest and a position in the end of a narrow ravine.

Back out in the forest I found position after position, ammo- and personell shelters, trenches and cable ditches all over the place, and tons of wire and barbed wire. A few of the bunkers I found between the greenery were possible to enter, although one have to be careful. I crawled into a observation post and there the wooden cover in the roof was still intact but the floors were full of large rocks and some garbage. A bit further away I found what I think was one of the gun emplacements with a ammo or personell shelter in rather good condition.

As I was going to pick up Girlfriend from the busstop I had to cut it short but I spent a few minutes checking out the kommandobunker before I left and it looked very kool, but I couldn`t find a way into it, the two openings I found had no ladders and it was pretty far down so I am not sure I d be able to get out again. I will visit this place again a bit later into the autumn when it is less vegetation to take more pics, and also to check out a cluster of bunkers on the oposite side of the road down by the shores. (Edit) : I was back here a few days ago and found the entrance to the Kommandobunker and made some pics and video from the insides, you ll find them below.

Photogallery :