Les Blockhaus

Ponte Saint-Gildas: a military past that cannot be ignored

Pointe Saint-Gildas, located in the commune of Préfailles, became a military site in 1937, co-owned by the French Navy. The Navy took up position there, installing 105mm cannons and a command post.
On 18 June 1940, before the arrival of the Germans in the Second World War, the French military sabotaged the cannons and left. The Germans arrived on 21 June but really took possession of the Pointe in August 1940. The whole of Pointe Saint-Gildas formed an entrenched camp to which access was forbidden by minefields and barbed wire. The perimeter was known as the "Pointe Saint-Gildas Battery" and was manned by around a hundred soldiers.

During the Second World War, blockhouses were built on Pointe Saint-Gildas, and their cannons were pointed out to sea. They formed part of the Atlantic Wall. On one of the blockhouses, the one closest to the Pointe car park, irons are sticking out. A little further back in a small valley, at La Raize, two 240mm cannons were hidden. The whole area was protected by barbed wire and mines. This was, in fact, an important stronghold in the German defence of the entrance to the Loire estuary; its replica on the other bank is Fort d'Eve.

The strategic role of Pointe Saint-Gildas predates the 2nd World War, since from the 17th to the 19th centuries, two batteries defended the coast here. These were armed with naval guns on a wooden mount, with ramparts built of earth and dry stone.


The little extra :


You can discover the site's blockhouses by following the Pointe Saint-Gildas hiking trail
or by following the heritage interpretation trail Les défenses de la côte.




Did you know?
You can explore the history of the Saint-Nazaire Pocket, an authentic Atlantic Wall command post in the département, at Batz-sur-Mer, with the Grand Blockhaus.