Guernsey World War II Battery-- Part 2

The fortification housed more than 300 German soldiers. Their mission was to attack Allied shipping in the English Channel and secure convoy routes for German ships.

The 12-inch guns came from the Russian battleship Inperator Alexandr Trety, commissioned in 1917. The 27,300 ton warship had its name changed to Volya, meaning liberty, after the Russian Revolution and it served with the German Navy in the Black Sea. It was renamed the General Alekseyev when it became a part of the Russian White Navy.

It was broken up in 1935 and its 12-inch guns placed in storage before being sold to Finland in 1939. The German Navy captured a steamer carrying the guns and they were reconditioned and installed in Guernsey.

The battery was operational in 1942 and named after Naval Captain Rolf Mirus, who was killed traveling between Guernsey and Alderney.

Fortification Architecture. --GreGen