This German Army battery is situated in the north-west of Jersey on Les Landes Common. Moltke’s main armaments consisted of four 15.5cm guns which the Germans had captured from the French and which were now deployed in open emplacements. These had a range of 18.6 kilometres but being relatively old field pieces, could only 3 or 4 shots per minute. More modern turret guns had been ordered, which were to be emplaced in specially built positions supported by extensive underground bunkers, and which would have replaced the aged French guns. They never arrived after the German garrison in the Channel Islands was cut off by the Allies after the D-Day Landings and so this battery never realised its full potential during the German Occupation.
On Jersey Military Tours’ visits to the battery, we will discover that close quarter and anti-aircraft defence was provided by an assortment of smaller calibre 3.7cm field guns, 3.7cm flak guns, pillbox mounted tank turrets as well as machine guns and flame-throwers. Also standing about half way up Les Landes Common is MP 3, a Naval Artillery Direction and Range-finding Tower which is one of iconic structures in Jersey in all its brutal architectural beauty.
