Source: Paul Cooper on X™
Situated along the coast of northern Norway near the village of Kongsfjord resides the remains of Veinesodden Batteri (Gun Battery Veinesodden). Built in 1942 by occupying German forces, the battery consisted of five captured World War One era French Canon de 155 L Modèle 1917 155mm howitzers. Each gun was emplaced in an open, circular pit with a center ring to which the entire gun (carriage and all) was mounted, allowing it a 360 degree rotation. The howitzers were capable of lobbing shells out to 11 miles. Bunkers blasted into the bedrock behind the gun positions housed ammunition and billets for the 140 man strong battery unit.
The battery was expanded, to include ex-French Renault FT-17 light tanks (which had the German designation of Panzerkampfwagen 17R 730(f)) of which one remains to this day, situated in a position overlooking the sea. Left to rust and be picked over by souvenir hunters and scrappers, little was left. As a side note, the round parts just behind the turret is the clutch and brake assembly. Fortunately, preservationists received permission from the Armed Forces Museum located in Oslo, Norway to preserve and restore the tank. Missing parts were reconstructed by local metal workers and the FT-17 was given an external restoration where it rested. By 2008, the restoration was complete but not long after, scrappers vandalized the tank and removed several of the rear plates.
As for the battery, it was abandoned in October 1944. Four of the guns were removed but the fifth gun and other parts of the battery’s emplacements were blown up by the retreating Germans. The remains of the battery, along with the FT-17, can be visited to this day.
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