A chance to see Guernsey's hidden fortifications

Thursday 16 January 2020

A special partnership between a tour business and Festung Guernsey will give people the chance to take an in-depth look at some of the island's more hidden-away German fortifications.

From April, Tours of Guernsey will be offering walking tours around the Scharnhorst Battery, the bunker network on the Fort Hommet headland, and the not-seen-before site at the Mirus Battery.

Each of the fortifications have been, or are being, restored by Festung Guernsey, but they decided to work with Tours of Guernsey to open them up to the public to celebrate the 75th year of Liberation from the German Occupation. 

"Last year we got together to start looking at what we could do for Liberation 75, as it is a big year," Steve Powell, Project Co-ordinator at Festung Guernsey, said. "We have been working with tour guides for years now over a number of our sites, and this seemed like a natural partnership to look at some areas we do not normally open up."

 

 

 

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News Alert! Tours of Guernsey are delighted to announce that we will be partnering with @festung_guernsey in providing exclusive visits to some of Festung’s private WWll fortification sites. These tours are completely unique and will only be available to book by contacting us directly. Whether you are visiting Guernsey or you live on the island, and are looking for a truly one of a kind experience, then this is definitely for you. Suitable for families, friends, social and corporate groups, why not join us and learn about this important part of Guernsey’s history. #guernsey #guernseylife #island #islandlife #portofcall #cruise #cruisevacation #tourguide #tourguidelife #besttourguide #exclusive #exclusivetour #exclusivetours #ww2 #ww2history #visitguernsey #besttour #besttours #privatetour #privatetours #privatetourguide #channelislands

A post shared by Amanda Johns (@toursofguernsey) onJan 10, 2020 at 7:13am PST

Amanda Johns, from Tours of Guernsey, said: "The tours will be at the demand of groups, so if and when we get interest from family groups of groups of friends, we can organise them to maybe look around one or two of the sites, or all three. 

"At each site guests will be taken on a private tour inside where they will have the opportunity to view these amazing fortifications that are not usually open to the public.  Information regarding the construction and use of the different fortifications will be provided, together with more detail on what can be seen as we walk through the sites.  Festung have an extensive collection of photographs of these fortifications during the Occupation, and I will be showing just some of these as visual aids to enhance the experience."

The Mirus Battery bunker is a very large site, consisting of a number of fortifications, but this specific one has been being worked on by Festung Guernsey. Paul Bourgaize, Festung's other Project Co-ordinator, said they had had the Mirus site in their sights for years, but had only just secured access to start to work on the restoration. The bunker has 20 rooms to look around, and is part of the biggest network of fortifications in the Channel Islands. 

Pictured: The entrance to the Mirus Battery. (Image from Festung Guernsey)

The Fort Hommet network consists of four bunkers, one of which housed an automatic mortar, which has been restored by Festung's volunteers. Finally, the Batterie Scharnhorst is a site consisting of four open gun emplacements, and personnel and ammo bunkers. 

Ms Johns and Mr Powell estimated that the sites each would take about an hour to look around, with the Mirus battery likely to take longer. 

The tours will first be available from the 18 April, but people can contact Ms Johns to prebook them now on amanda@toursofguernsey.com.

Pictured top: The sites people will now have the chance to look around on the new tours. (Images from Festung Guernsey)