1. Introduction
The French name Plougourvest comes from the association of the two Old Breton words “plou” meaning parish and “Gourguest” the name of an obscure Breton saint. In Breton, the town is also called Gwikourvest which come from the association of the two Old Breton words “gwik” meaning bourg and “Gourguest” the name of said saint (Bretagne Découverte, 2025).
The development of the town in the first half of the XXth century was marked by various events and activities.
A meter-gauge railway line, initially operated by the Chemins de fer Armoricains (Armorican Railways), opened in 1912 running from Plouescat to Rosporden and serving, among others, a station in Plougourvest. This railway line crossed that of the Chemins de fer de l’Ouest (Western Railways) in Landivisiau. The train in service was nicknamed in Breton “An tren patatez” (the potato train). The line was taken over in 1921 by the Chemins de fer départementaux du Finistère (Finistère Departmental Railways) before the line closed in 1946.
On 22nd November 1925, the Plougourvest Municipal Council voted in favor of the electrifying of the town, but a cost estimate was not drawn up until 1938, and the electrification was carried out after the WWII.
Horse breeding, particularly of Breton post horses, was extensively practiced in Plougourvest and several stallions were awarded with prizes and sold to various stud farms.
During the WWII, the Plougourvest boys’ public school was occupied by the German Wehrmacht and had to relocate to a shed near the station.
Forty-nine citizens from Plougourvest were POW (prisoners of war) in Germany during the WWII (Wikipédia, 2020).
During the WWII, the 6. Kompanie of the II. Flieger-Regiment 13, a battalion for the formation of the Luftwaffe infantrymen and parachutists, was in Plougourvest from 21st August to 2nd September 1942 before leaving for Dinan.
The Generalstab of the Marsch Batallion 353 was constituted on 11th May 1944 with units of the 353. Division was in Plougourvest and its 2. Kompanie was in Plougar (Floch, 2012).
2. Historical Context
The situation in the Plougourvest sector during the WWII can be assessed through various witnesses.
During an interview to the newspaper Le Télégramme (2014), Mr Kerscaven reported that in the year 1940, his father, who ran the family farm, was taken prisoner by the Wehrmacht and sent to Germany. At that time, practically no men worked in the farms, and they were run by women, youngers and elders.
Many people in 1941 were surprised that the Germans settled in Plougourvest. Two hundred meters from the village of Guerruas (1.7 km from Plougourvest), in the Quillivouden district, they set up a military camp covering several hectares. The villagers were not allowed to approach the camp, but, from the exterior, it was possible to see a long 102-meter-tall tower. It controlled the Léon coast.
The camp was a communications base. Several buildings were constructed in the camp, including guard posts and shelters. The camp garrison numbered 120 soldiers. Many houses were requisitioned in the nearby villages to house German soldiers and at his house, some soldiers slept in the granary. Horses and carts were also requisitioned. Despite the war, the German soldiers were kind. They integrated into the community and, in the neighborhood, on Sundays, they played skittles with the villagers.
Even though it was a very difficult period, the local population never had to fight the occupants because the camp was never attacked. The Germans abandoned the camp with much to the delight of the residents who made use of the remaining equipment.
On 8th May 1945, day of the German capitulation, the people were happy and cheerful. The American troops were in the sector since several months and have built a base camp at the hippodrome of Croas-al-Leuriou, founded in 1911 and located northeast from Landivisiau.
In 2014, a few vestiges of the camp were still visible, such as a barn, an old guardhouse and the location of the tower.
During an interview to the newspaper Le Télégramme (2024a), Mr Derrien, one hundred three-year-old, reported his hides in the forest to escape to the STO (Service de travail obligatoire) and the arrival of the American troops. On 6th June 1944, at the time of the D-Day landing, he was twenty-two years old and lived in Plougourvest. The Allied landing was communicated via TSF (télégraphie sans fil = wireless telegraphy). Listen it was forbidden by the German administration, but the neighbors often came for receiving information.
During the summer of 1944, three resistance fighters were arrested in Plouvorn, 4.5 km from Plougourvest, by the Germans and shot in Brest in the following days (Le Télégramme, 2024b).
During an interview to the newspaper Le Télégramme (2024c), Mr Gallic, local historian, reported that during the WWII in the sector around Plougourvest the food was heavily rationed, especially in Morlaix, where it was scarce. The people bartered at farms in Léon, the North side of the Finistère, for meat, but they were also in Roscoff for fish in exchange for tobacco stolen from a tobacco factory. German soldiers requisitioned food under threat of reprisals. In Plouvorn, 4.25 km North-East from Plougourvest, at the school, the 60 boarders were forced to send 100 kg of wheat, 100 kg of potatoes, and 2 kg of butter to keep the canteen running. In Roscoff and Saint-Pol-de-Léon, there were numerous requisitions of workers to dig trenches. In 1944 summer, the people of Léon, was waiting for several months the D-Day. On 6th August 1944 the American troops finally arrived by road in Plouvorn and liberated Plougourvest.
3. The WWII German Military Station Near Plougourvest
The map Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen,1 of 14.8.43 (Figure 1), is silent about a WWII German military station near Plougourvest.
The station is identified by the Rhubarb Operations, 19422 (Figure 2) as Target V/25 and described as follows:
1) Map References:
a) Map No. G.S.G.S. 4040B. Sheet 58 S.W.
b) Pin Point 48˚32'48''N. 4˚06'00''W. Grid ref: 253143.
2) Photographs:
P.R.U. Sorties: O/32, No.50. 3.9.42. Neg. No. 1457.
3) Position:
Target is situated on high ground, about 380 feet above sea level and approximately 17 miles from the Channel coast.
Just South West of the village of PLOUGOURVEST about 20 miles West of MORLAIX; it lies between and almost equidistant from the towns of PLOUZEVEDE and LANDIVISIAU.
Figure 1. Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen.
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Plougourvest German station—(a) C.I.U. Plan No. G.62; (b) Target V/25.
4) Description
a) The target is the central and control station of an ELEKTRA type beam installation.
b) This type of transmitter has three single masted stations in a straight line, the outer masts being equidistant from the central station, the distance in this case being approx. 3200 metres.
c) Target consists of a tall parallel sided mast with a capacity ring about 35 ft. diameter at the top, the mast is stayed by three guys.
d) A short distance from the foot of the mast are the station buildings.
e) The station is made rather conspicuous by the number of hedges in the vicinity which have been cleared away.
f) The whole site is encircled by a belt of wire.
g) Layout and immediate surroundings are shown on the C.I.U. Plan No. G.62.
4. The Visit
The Pin Point, the image (Figure 2(b)) from the Rhubarb Operations, 1942, and the IGNF air reconnaissance image of Target V/25 (1948) (Figure 3) permitted its localization at about 1.4 km South-West from Plougourvest and to prepare the visit which took place on 20th March 2026.
The North side of the station area is occupied by a grassland and borders a cultivated field and a farm; the South side is occupied by a grassland with some embankments. The identified station emplacements were the following (Figure 2(b)):
The entrance (1) (48˚32'34.14''N, 4˚5'58.06''W, height 111.93 m).
The disappeared wire belt (2).
The emplacement of a 7 × 7 m construction (3) (48˚32'35.27''N, 4˚5'57.1''W, h. 111.44 m) (Figure 4). Its roof disappeared, and its facade presented two large openings. The peeling walls allowed to see the bricks used for its construction. On the pediment of its facade there were hooks for attaching camouflage nets. The absence of imprints of the wooden bars of the formwork on the concrete walls, typical of German masonry, suggests that it was built by a French company.
The emplacement of a 14 × 14 m disappeared construction (4) (48˚32'35.7''N, 4˚5'55.74''W, h. 111.23 m).
The emplacement of a 16 × 14 m disappeared construction (5) (48˚32'35.92''N, 4˚5'54.17''W, h. 111.01 m).
Figure 3. Plougourvest German station on 16th April 1948, on the upper side of the station: antenna base and antenna fixing blocks a-f along 120˚ spaced straight lines.
IGNF_PVA_1-0__1948-04-16__C3639-0431_1948_MISSIONBRETAGNE9_0246.
The emplacement of a 7 × 7 disappeared construction (6) (48˚32'36.37''N, 4˚5'53.09''W, h. 110.47 m).
The emplacement of a 10 × 7 m disappeared construction (7) (48˚32'36.85''N, 4˚5'51.97''W, h. 110.44 m).
The emplacement of a 7 × 7 m disappeared construction (8) (48˚32'38.17''N, 4˚5'52.81''W, h. 109.78 m).
The emplacement of a 7 × 7 m disappeared construction (9) (48˚32'38.77''N, 4˚5'54.91''W, h. 109.1 m).
The emplacement of a 17 × 7 m disappeared construction (10) (48˚32'38.09''N, 4˚5'56.67''W, h. 109.51 m).
The emplacement of a 7 × 7 m disappeared construction (11) (48˚32'37.25''N, 4˚5'55.53''W, h. 110.5 m).
The emplacement of a 10 × 7 m disappeared construction (12) (48˚32'37.62''N, 4˚5'58.28''W, h. 109.9 m).
The internal road (13) disappeared.
The emplacement of the disappeared antenna (14) (48˚32'42.2''N, 4˚5'59.33''W, h. 106.65 m) (Figure 5).
The emplacements of the disappeared antenna fixing blocks (Figure 3):
a: (48˚32'41.16''N, 4˚5'59.92''W, h. 107.27 m);
b: (48˚32'40.38''N, 4˚6'0.26''W, h. 107.98 m);
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4. Plougourvest German station: (a) Entrance; (b) Construction (3); (c) Separation embankment, on the background the farm; (d) Internal road (13).
c: (48˚32'42.41''N, 4˚5'57.08''W, h. 106.75 m);
d: (48˚32'42.25''N, 4˚5'55.96''W, h. 106.83 m);
e: (48˚32'43.37''N, 4˚6'0.26''W, h. 105.75 m);
f: (48˚32'43.98''N, 4˚6'0.87''W, h. 105.19 m).
The emplacement of the separation embankment (15) (48˚32'38.34''N, 4˚5'56.19''W, h. 109.41 m).
(a) (b)
Figure 5. Plougourvest German station: (a) Emplacement of the disappeared antenna, on the right the farm; (b) Metal pieces found on the site.
5. Discussion
The Plougourvest station was a Sonne-Funkfeuer FuSAn 700/701 of the Luftwaffe (Wikipedia, 2026). It was identified (Lippmann, 2023a) also as:
ID F3 Typ Tarnname Ort Ausstattung
356 FuSAn E4 ELEKTRA Morlaix West 1 × FuSAn 700 Elektra.
The construction (3), because of the two large apertures on the facade and its position close to the camp entrance was probably a garage for two trucks provided with sensors for testing the force of the signals delivered by the antennae at different distances as in the case of the antenna Knickenbein of the German Radio Guidance Station K11, Stp Mo 44c near Saint-Fiacre (Lanmeur-FR) (Tomezzoli, 2023). Two trucks were necessary for ensuring redundancy in case of reparation or maintenance of one of the two.
The constructions (4), (5), (10), (11) were probably personnel lodgments comprising: offices, kitchen, canteens for officers and soldiers, hygienic services and sleeping rooms.
The constructions (6), (8), (9) were probably three VF bunkers hosting light anti-aircrafts (A.A.) guns; the construction (7) was probably an ammunition depot.
The construction (12) was probably a local power supply because the municipality of Plougourvest was not electrified.
The surface between the constructions (4), (5), (10), (11), (12) was the parade ground for gathering and training exercises.
The antenna is no longer visible on the image of 1948 (Figure 3) therefore it was dismantled shortly after the end of the WWII. The emplacements of the two single masted stations each displaced approx. 3200 meters along a straight line from the station (Rhubarb Operations, 1942), have been searched on various images and maps but not found. In particular, it is not known if the straight line was oriented North-South or East-West.
Because the station was not provided by water pits, the water supply was assured by requisitioned post horse-drawn carts each equipped with a tank or by auto-cisterns.
The air recognition image IGN Image (2018) shows that:
The constructions (6), (8), (9) were still existent and each one has an access provided with protection walls;
The foundation surface of the construction (10) was still existent;
The construction (11) was actually a ditch as those of the Flak batterie of Kerziou (Dupont & Tomezzoli, 2007), of the German base “the Bank” at Mûrs-Érigné (Anjou-FR) (Tomezzoli, 2016), of the Domaine de Pignerolle (Tomezzoli, 2019), for providing water in case of fire to the constructions of the station;
3/4 of the coverage of the construction (3) were still in place.
Figure 6. Hypothetical reconstruction of the E4 ELEKTRA station near Plougourvest.
On the basis of the information of the Rhubarb Operations, it was possible to proceed with a hypothetical reconstruction of the E4 ELEKTRA station near Plougourvest (Figure 6).
6. Conclusion
The story of the Plougourvest E4 ELEKTRA station is that of a disappeared monument. In 2018, many of its components were still in place. But, unfortunately, the lack of a preservation policy for the site made it possible for the disappearing, in the years following 2018, of practically all the station constructions for letting space to cultivated surfaces and facilitating the agricultural works of sowing and harvesting. However, it is hoped that this article will stimulate further studies on the station. In fact, many aspects have to be clarified, for example: who were the commanders of the station, which were the Luftwaffe units in service at the station, which were the missions accomplished by the station, where were located the two external masted stations.
NOTES
1Henoff, F., 2023, Flughafenbereich Morlaix-Flugplätze und Ln Anlagen 4318-631 im Fl.H.Ber. 10/XII. 1/500,000. Date 14.8.43. Private Archive.
2Rhubarb Operations, 1942, Rhubarb Operations—Appendix V. Secret. Target V/25. Morlaix/Plougourvest. Map No: G.S.G.S. 4040 B. Sheet 58 N.W. P.R.U. Sorties: O/32, No. 50. 3.9.42. Neg. No. 1457.