1. Introduction
The map Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen (Figure 1) (Henoff, 2023) of 14.8.43, among some WWII German military bases in South Finistère (FR) studied in past publications and others not yet studied, discloses the presence during WWII of the German base Friedrich near Mont Saint-Michel de Brasparts, this last, during WWII, hosting the German base Bernhardt B2 (Tomezzoli & Dupont, 2007; Tomezzoli, 2019).
Information about Friedrich is also provided by other different sources:
Y8 FuSAn 357, Friedrich, La Feuillée (Finistère department), 1 × Wotan II (Y-
Figure 1. Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen map, on the right are the German bases Friedrich and Bernhard B2 at Mont Saint-Michel de Brasparts.
Zweistrahlbake), 42 - 48 MHz (Lippmann, 2023);
Target V/2 on the same ridge as the COMMANA station (Target V/1) (Rhubarb Operations, 1941);
Y8 EMIL, La Feuillée (S.-O./Morlaix—France), 1940-1944, decoy station (Salles, 1995);
Ruffian (X) station, Schirach 1, La Feuillée, Morlaix—Schirach 2 (possibly a Y-station) Commana (The National Archives, 1941).
2. Historical Context
La Feuillée, although today a minor municipality in Finistère (Bretagne, France), boasts a glorious past. Founded, probably in the first half of the 12th century, by the Ducs of Brittany in favor of the Hospitaller Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, it was originally a hospice. The Charter of Conan, Duke of Brittany, dated 1160, mentions this establishment, under the name of “An Folled” (the madmen), among the possessions of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. At the end of the 16th century, eight commanderies, originally independent of each other, were grouped into a single commandery named La Feuillée, and it persisted until the French Revolution (de Corson, 1902).
On 14th July 1910, a telephone line was inaugurated connecting La Feuillée to Huelgoat (Faucon-Dumont & Cadiou, 2008) and from 1912 to 1932, La Feuillée was a station of the Chemins de Fer Armoricains narrow-gauge railway line linking Plouescat to Rosporden by crossing the Monts d’Arrée (Fleitour, 2001).
After the defeat of France, from 26th to 28th July 1940, the 3rd Battery of the German Schwere Artillerie Abteilung 102 under the orders of the Hauptmann Kempken and two other officers, including a Stabwachtmeister, was stationed at La Feuillée.
The Unity L21 080 (Luftnachrichten—LN) of the 251. Infanteriedivision, belonging to the Flughafenbereich Morlaix, was quartered from 25th August to 31st October 1940. The personnel were lodged at the Hôtel Martin. A detachment of this unit was stationed at Roc Trévézel, the second highest mountain (about 380 m) in the Monts d’Arrée.
The 3rd Section of the Leichte Reserve Flak-Batterie 16/XII (Unity 31 824) was quartered in September 1940. The personnel were lodged at the Hôtel Martin and at the owner’s house. It secured the Roc Trévézel.
The 2nd Kompanie (Unity 07 522C) of the Ausbildunglehrgang 251 of the 251st Infanteriedivision was briefly quartered from 22nd October 1940.
The 3rd Kompanie of the LN-Versorgung-Regiment (Unity L03 732) of the 251st Infanteriedivision was present during the fourth trimester of 1941.
Four German soldiers were killed in La Feuillée on 29th July 1942.
The 113th Battery (Unity 40 515B) was quartered here provisionally from 23rd March to 14th April 1943 before being transferred to Telgruc (Floch, 2012).
On 17th May 1943, at around 1 p.m., an air battle took place over the towns of Plonévez-du-Faou, Scrignac, and Berrien. A British plane in flames crashed east of the town of Plonévez-du-Faou, and fires, caused by falling tanks or projectiles, broke out in the territories of the municipalities of La Feuillée, Plonévez-du-Faou, and Scrignac (Rondel, 2011).
The headquarters of the 371st Panzer-Jäger-Abteilung (Unity 40 841A) of the 371st Infanterie Division was present from June 1943, under the orders of Major Herbst (Floch, 2012).
Marcel Clédic, a La Feuillée inhabitant, at the end of 1943, created and led several actions of the Francs-tireurs et partisans français (FTPF) “Bir-Hakeim” company. He was wounded during the combats for the liberation of the Crozon peninsula (Le Télégramme, 2019).
On 26th December 1943, François Thos, a La Feuillée inhabitant, accused of being a Germans’ collaborator, was killed by a revolver bullet shot by an unknown person (Archives départementales du Finistère, 1943).
The headquarters of the IInd Bataillon of the 8th Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment of the 3rd Fallschirm Division were quartered in La Feuillée from March to June 1944 with a Bataillon Kompanie.
One Kompanie of the Ist Bataillon of the 7th Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment of the 2nd Fallschirm Division was quartered from June to August 1944. In August 1944, the Division withdrew to the defensive sector of Brest.
On 5th August 1944, the 6th U.S. Armored Division, in several groups, arrived at Huelgoat, where combats took place to the east of the town. The Combat Command A (CCA) group, grouping six battalions, settled for the night in La Feuillée: the Command grouped at Kerbran, the troops grouped at Kerberou. The groups suffered fighting the next day to the northwest of the town, which immobilized it until 7 p.m. (Sixth Armored Division, 1945; Gruber, 1945).
Two German soldiers were killed in La Feuillée in August 1944.
La Feuillée, Locmaria-Berrien, and Scrignac were freed on 6th August 1944 (Floch, 2012).
On 16th August 1944, La Feuillée FTPF company took part in the Irvillac combat to prevent the retreat of a German convoy to Brest after the liberation of German prisoners held by resistants in Brasparts. During the combat, seventeen resistants were killed, deceived by the camouflage of the convoy as an American convoy (Crenn & Kerdoncuff, 2000).
3. The Wotan II system and the Baedeker Blitz
The deployment of the Wotan II system emerged from a deciphered Enigma message of 6th October 1941 directed to a newly deployed Wotan II ground station located northwest from Cherbourg on the Hague peninsula. The Y system was coded Wotan II as the successor of the X system coded Wotan I and, probably, because it operated only one beam in analogy with the German monocular god Wotan. The British called it Benito because Mussolini was reckoned as the one-eyed end of the Axis.
To drive a bomber to a desired target, a Wotan II ground station determined the bearing and range of the target. Then, it drove the bomber along a beam directed to the target until it reached the range for releasing its bombs. In addition, the station radiated to the bomber a sinusoidally modulated signal. The modulated signal, received by the bomber, was transferred to an onboard transmitter which radiated it back to the station on a slightly different frequency. The ground station then calculated the distance of the bomber by the delay of the returned signal with respect to the radiated signal. The frequencies of the Y beam and the ranging system of each Y ground station were comprised between 40 - 50 MHz. The turntable of the beam transmitting device was the same for both Wotan I and Wotan II systems. The beam transmitting device was formed by an instrumentation cabin with a superimposed horizontal antenna mast carrying dipoles with or without reflectors.
In spring 1942, the Luftwaffe launched the Baedeker Blitz, a series of air raids against historic towns and cities in Great Britain in reply to the R.A.F. bombardments of Lübeck and other historic towns in Germany. The name “Baedeker” was assigned to the Blitz after the famous Baedeker German travel guides.
Bombers He111 of the 3/KG 26, under the orders of Major von Lossberg, were equipped with the onboard components of the Y system (Jones, 2009). They were based in Rennes (Ille et Vilaine) and carried the unit mark 1H. A short aerial mast behind the cockpit, identified the Y-Gerät He111. Other participants in the Blitz were: the Kampfgeschwader 2 codename Holzhammer (Wooden Hammer), based at Soesterberg (The Netherlands), equipped with Do217; the Kampfgruppe 106 based in Dinard, equipped with Ju88, one of its squadrons was temporarily transferred to Leeuwarden (The Netherlands) for attacking York; the Erprobungs-und Lehrkommando 100 (Trials and Evaluation Command), equipped with He111, as pathfinder and target marker, dropped incendiary and small high explosive bombs; the 3. Fernaufklärungsgruppe 123 based in Lannion (Côtes-d’Armor), equipped with Ju88, it led many attacks marking targets by delivering flares, but not on York; the Kampgeschwader 30 equipped with Ju88, it led many attacks marking targets by delivering flares (Brooke, 2025).
Exeter (23rd-25th April 1942, 4th May 1942), Bath (25th-26th April 1942), Norwich (27th April 1942 and end of June), York (28th-29th April 1942), Canterbury (31st May-1st June 1942) were severely damaged during the Blitz (IWM, 2025).
The B.B.C. television transmitter at Alexandra Palace was used as a Domino countermeasure for jamming the Y system. Domino radiated back to a bomber its own reflected signal at the same frequency used by its ground station. This signal interfered with the sinusoidally modulated signal coming from the ground station, and the interfered signal was sent back by the bomber onboard transmitter to the ground station, causing false bomber positioning and inappropriate orders for the bombing run. As a consequence, the Y system was withdrawn (Jones, 2009).
4. The WWII German Base Y8 Near La Feuillée
The Rhubarb Operations (1941) describe Y8 (Figure 2, Figure 3) as follows:
“1.ii) Pin Point 48˚24’ 55’’N. 3˚53’ 22’’W. Grid ref: 395984.
3.i) Target is approximately 24 miles from the coast South by Last from ST. POL DE LEON, on the top of the MONTAGNE D’ARREE ridge, about 1207 feet above sea level. It lies 500 yards N.E. of the point of intersection of two roads and a railway.
This target is on the same ridge as COMMANA station (Target V/1) and about 1 miles [sic] E.N.E.
4.i) Target consists of a hut supporting an aerial array similar in appearance to the attached diagram No. 1.
4.ii) Layout and immediate surroundings are shown on the C.I.U. Plan No. 1055.”
The examination of early post WWII French air reconnaissance images (Figure 4) permitted the identification of many of its components.
5. The Visit
The visit of Y8 site took place on 6th September 2025. The site was located near the fenced area of the TV Relay Emitter of Roc’h Trédudon (Figure 4 A). The site was uniformly covered by fern vegetation which covers practically all the Y8 components; therefore, their positions are not very precise. The identified components were the following (Figure 4).
A railway line 1 (48˚24′42.51″ N, 3˚53′36.24″ W, h. 347.79 m) disappeared, only its path parallel to the department road D764 remains visible;
Figure 2. Y8—9/43 20 - 9 - 41 N˚655 Neg N˚4216 (Rhubarb Operations, 1941), point of intersection of two roads and a railway.
Figure 3. Y8—Diagram N˚1, C.I.U Plan N. 1055 (Rhubarb Operations, 1941).
Figure 4. Y8—detailed view: 1 railway line, 2 access road, 3 road loop, 4 - 6 emplacements, 7 Wotan II turntable, 8 - 9 emplacements, 10 emplacement, 11 - 12 emplacements, 13 - 16 emplacements, 17 - 19 emplacements, A fenced area of the TV Relay Emitter of Roc’h Trédudon.
IGNF_PVA_1-0_1952-05-23_C0816-0031_1952_F0216-0816_0043
An access road 2 (48˚24′49.93″ N, 3˚53′07.69″ W, h. 365.65 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
A road loop 3 (48˚24′53.6″ N, 3˚53′07.39″ W, h. 364.52 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 4 (48˚24′53.02″ N, 3˚53′16.76″ W, h. 362.83 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 5 (48˚24′53.38″ N, 3˚53′16.13″ W, h. 360.87 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 6 (48˚24′53.51″ N, 3˚53′15.59″ W, h. 360.61 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
A 4 × 4 × 2 m Wotan II turntable concrete basement 7 (48˚24′54.4″ N, 3˚53′06.63″ W, h. 365.03 m) located on the top of a protruding rock (Figure 5), covered by moss and lichen, appeared to be in a good state of preservation without damages due to combats or bombardments. Its concrete surface preserved traces of the construction formwork;
An emplacement 8 (48˚24′54.94″ N, 3˚53′05.75″ W, h. 362.99 m) was covered by vegetation, therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 9 (48˚24′55.22″ N, 3˚53′05.31″ W, h. 362.91 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 10 (48˚24′59.03″ N, 3˚53′01.04″ W, h. 350.1 m) was partially covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 11 (48˚24′41.58″ N, 3˚53′03.66″ W, h. 348.76 m) (Figure 3, AA) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 12 (48˚24′43.02″ N, 3˚53′03.69″ W, h. 356.77 m) (Figure 3, AA) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 13 (48˚24′51.22″ N, 3˚53′53.67″ W, h. 372.67 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 14 (48˚24′52.96″ N, 3˚52′51.28″ W, h. 373.77 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 15 (48˚24′53.1″ N, 3˚52′51.76″ W, h. 373.67 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 16 (48˚24′52.59″ N, 3˚52′52.73″ W, h. 372.85 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 17 (48˚24′59.58″ N, 3˚53′24.26″ W, h. 320.3 m) was covered by vegetation;
Therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 18 (48˚24′58.3″ N, 3˚53′26.35 W, h. 322.25 m) covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
An emplacement 19 (48˚24′58.14″ N, 3˚53′24.34 W, h. 325.81 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
A circular emplacement 20 (48˚24′55.18″ N, 3˚53′57.94″ W, h. 370.94 m) was covered by vegetation; therefore, it was not possible to determine its preservation state;
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5. Y8—Wotan II turntable concrete basement 7—(a) view towards the north; (b) view towards the north-west; (c) view towards the west, in the background, antenna of the TV Relay Emitter of Roc’h Trédudon; (d) turntable concrete basement, detailed view.
The fenced area of the TV Relay Emitter of Roc’h Trédudon A (48˚24′48.25″ N, 3˚53′22.25″ W, h. 359.9 m). Commissioned in 1961, the TV Relay Emitter, on 14th February 1974, was the target of an attack claimed by the Front de Libération de la Bretagne (FLB), which destroyed the antenna, depriving part of Brittany of radio and TV emissions for several weeks. According to another version, the antenna was destroyed by the French army, which conducted military exercises on the Crozon peninsula. Commissioned in 1975, the new antenna is 225 m high. (Bretania.bzh, 2020).
6. Discussion
The Y8 construction period is unknown, but, because Y8 appears in the Rhubarb Operations (1941) of 20.9.41, it was anterior to that date. Therefore, because the turntable of the beam transmitting device was the same for both the Wotan I and Wotan II systems (Jones, 2009), it could be possible that Y8 was initially a Wotan I ground station (X system) upgraded successively to a Wotan II ground station (Y system) to participate in the Baedeker Blitz. In this case, it could be possible that Y8, as X system station, could have participated in the Battle of Britain at the end of 1940. Having regard to its western position in the Finistère, it is possible that Y8 was involved, during the Baedeker Blitz, in the bombardments of Exeter, Bath, and Canterbury in the south of Great Britain. Its possible function as a decoy station (Salles, 1995) is not clear.
The Unterstellungsverhältnis (Subordination relationship) (Figure 1) shows that on 14.08.1943 Y8 was subordinate to the Flugs. Regt. West.
Figure 6. Y8, Wotan II turntable—hypothetical reconstruction.
Tentatively, the purpose of some Y8 components can be described as follows:
* It is not certain if the narrow-gauge railway line, inactive since 1932 (Fleitour, 2001), but passing close to the Y8 site (Figure 4), was reactivated for routing materials and workers for the construction of Y8. It is possible that French workers and companies under the control of the Organisation Todt (O.T.) contributed to the construction of Y8.
* The road loop 3 was constructed to facilitate the return of vehicles arriving at Y8 through the access path 2, as those of the train station area of Vezot (Sarthe) (Tomezzoli & Pottier, 2015, , n. 9) and of the Stützpunkt on the Menez Hom (Finistère) (Tomezzoli, 2017, , n. 34).
* The components 17 - 19 were probably wood or concrete barracks, comprising kitchen, canteen, and hygienic services, for lodging the Y8 personnel.
* The circular emplacement 20 probably hosted an antenna for radio communications.
The above information allows to proceed to a hypothetical reconstruction of the Y8 Wotan II component (Figure 6).
7. Conclusion
The visit to the Y8 site permitted the determination that practically all its components are actually covered by vegetation, abandoned, and forgotten. Therefore, for the moment, their preservation is assured. As usual in this kind of archaeological search, further issues remain to be investigated: the construction phases and their upgrades, the Y8 missions accomplished both as Wotan II ground station or as a decoy station, the electrical power and water supply, the units and commanders in service during WWII.
It is hoped that this article can stimulate further studies by interested people and form the basis for a more certain legal status and cultural recovery of the Y8 site.
Acknowledgements
I express my gratitude to Mr. Frédéric Henoff for having provided me with the map Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen 4318-631 and to Mr. Frank Döremberg for his explanations about the system Wotan II (Y-Zweistrahlbake).