german fortification brittany, france ww2

Many of its members were to resurface when CELIB was created. A fortification on the edge of Saint-Malo was the final German position on the mainland to hold out, and surrendered on 17 August. Three different periods can be considered. Included were massive blockhouses with disappearing guns, newsreels of which the Germans sent out through neutral sources in an effort to awe their adversaries, but the numbers of big blockhouses actually were few. Photographer Stephan Vanfleteren traveled the length of the Atlantic Wall, capturing the stark and strange beauty of these often colossal remnants of World War II in the photobook Atlantic Wall. u/grazerbat Jan 23 '23. The campaign in Brittany intended the French Resistance to openly fight the Germans. The northern. Another reason was that the German commander in Brittany, General Fahrmbacher, had ordered all of his troops to the heavily defended ports therefore, there were fewer Germans in the interior of Brittany than the Americans had thought. Second came volunteer workers, often skilled technicians, such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians and metal workers. At the end of 1940, Job Loyant along with Kalondan, Andr Lajat, and Yves Favreul-Ronarc'h, a former leader of the Breton National Party in Loire-Atlantique developed the doctrine of the Brezona movement: supremacy of the Breton race, formation of a national community, and government by the elite. Yann Goulet, their leader, forbade participation in Bezen Perrot. The British, on the other hand, had prepared themselves for the kind of battle that in fact took place. Battle of France, (May 10-June 25, 1940), during World War II, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. When American troops arrived in 1944, communist maquis members began their repressive actions. As soon as the war ended, reconstruction began. 36.4k Upvotes. When I see most bunkers they are made of concrete which can be poured one wheel barrow at a time by soldiers. It had already been envisaged by German strategists that in the event of Allied invasion the Breton nationalists would form a rearguard, and that further nationalist troops could be parachuted into Brittany. Sites of D Day Landings | D Day France | Brittany Ferries The remains of concrete defensive structures are visible in the sea off the coast of Denmark along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). [3] Poland's geographical location, however, prevented the Allies from intervening directly. They symbolise the Liberty Road, the route taken by General Pattons Third American Army. But an amphibious invasion of Britain would only be possible, given Britains large navy, if Germany could establish control of the air in the battle zone. The Germans had constructed the strongest defenses in the Pas-de-Calais region facing the narrowest part of the English Channel and had stationed their most battleworthy troops there; demands of other fighting fronts had siphoned many of the best German troops from France; the Germans lacked air and naval support; Allied airpower was so strong that movement of German reserves was seriously impeded; landings of Allied airborne troops behind the beaches spread confusion in German ranks; and the Germans were deluded into believing the invasion was a diversion, that a second and larger invasion was to follow in the Pas-de-Calais. ", United States Army Center of Military History, "Hitler's Atlantic Wall: Should France Preserve It? was to transform this consultative committee into a true legislative assembly to tackle regional problems. "[17], The Channel Islands were heavily fortified, particularly the island of Alderney, which is closest to Britain. In desperation, the Americans prepared to drop napalm when the Germans finally surrendered.[4]. Along our roads, from Villedieu-les-Poles to Saint-Malo, stone markers decorated with a flame emerging from the water now form part of the scenery. Vloscnie from Paris to Mont Saint-Michel. ", Wood, James A. A brick trench runs through a field along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). The battle for Brittany took place between August and October 1944. Main objective: secure Breton ports which could prove useful to the Allies to land more supplies. Later extended northward to the Dutch frontier and southward along the Rhine to Switzerland, the West Wall was not a thin line of big forts but a deep band, up to five miles thick, of more than 3,000 small, mutually supporting pillboxes, observation posts, and troop shelters. [9] More gun emplacements and minefields extended inland along roads leading away from the beaches. The British had lost more than 900 fighters but had shot down about 1,700 German aircraft. After the Allies broke out of Normandy in June 1944, Brittany became targeted for its well developed ports which the Allies intended to use, whilst also stopping their continued use by German U-boats. 2.0k. Mackertich's large-format black and white photographs are the result of several recent years of exploring many of the abandoned German bunkers in France. The Battle for Brittany took place between August and October 1944. German fortification, Brittany, France. German fortification, Brittany, France. WW2. Imagine the noise inside Battle for Brittany - Wikipedia He refused with the comment a German soldier does not surrender. The Germans confronted that portion of the Maginot Line facing the Saar River with fortifications of their own, the West Wall. [34], Immediately after the war, there was little interest in preserving the wall due to the negative memories associated with the Nazi occupation. With his revolver in plain sight on the hip of the black uniform he wore as chief of the Youth Organizations, he left no doubt as to his intentions. [12]:350, The standardisation greatly simplified the manufacture of equipment, the supply of materials and the budgetary and financial control of the construction as well as the speed of planning for construction projects. For example, as the US 8th Corps advanced, Middleton determined that he should keep up with his men to facilitate communication. The German bombers lacked the bomb-load capacity to strike permanently devastating blows and also proved, in daylight, to be easily vulnerable to the Spitfires and Hurricanes. US troops began their attack on Brest, France. The manning and operation of the Atlantic Wall was administratively overseen by the German Army, with some support from Luftwaffe ground forces. This was in revenge for the Treaty of Versailles, and to ensure that Germany remained the only Continental power, with no threats on its western border. permalink; link; duplicates; dupes; reddit; reddit; 96% Upvoted. In France, US 4th Armored Division advanced to Lorient and US 6th Armored Division advanced toward Brest. Equipment was para-dropped in, but due to the rapid American advance, these weapons frequently landed in areas already captured forcing it to be moved up to them. [7] This decision required the army engineers and the OT to organise quickly. Biddiscombe, P. "The Last White Terror: the Maquis Blanc and its impact in liberated France, 1944-1945", in: French Section of the Workers' International, "Bezen Perrot: the Breton nationalist unit of the SS, 1943-5", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Breton_nationalism_and_World_War_II&oldid=1153415138, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2010, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0. The remains of concrete defensive structures lie abandoned in the sea off the coast in Northern France along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). Lastly came effective slave labour, paid little, badly fed and treated very harshly. From Pontaubault, and following the course of the Slune, we arrive at two towns presenting yet more symbols of the Battle of Normandy in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. The Maginot Line was an extremely well-developed chain of fortifications running from the Swiss frontier opposite . Having become a tourist spot for German soldiers, it was already unoccupied when the Allies arrived on 31 July 1944. Sadly, the finished version had to lose about 60,000 words, so the invasion of southern France and the fighting in Brittany faced the chop. The wall was frequently mentioned in Nazi propaganda, where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. Image. Bunkers at La Pointe de Pen Hir. St. Malo was also heavily defended as was the surrounding area. A view out to sea from the Norwegian coast as a German soldier guarding one of the thousands of fortifications along the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall) might have seen it. Some Breton nationalists were openly pro-fascist. Stephan Vanfleteren is a Panos Pictures photographer who specializes in black-and-white, social documentary photography. [13]:50, To offset shortages, captured equipment from the French and other occupied countries armies were incorporated in the defences, casemates designed for non-German artillery, anti tank and machine guns and the use of turrets from obsolete tanks in tobrukstand pill boxes (tobruk pits). WW2. The forces engaged in the battle were relatively small. Important members of the Breton National Party including Morvan Lebesque and Alan Heusaff began collaborating with the Germans to one degree or another. Embedded in the sand of the beaches below the high-tide mark were numerous obstacles, varying in shape and depth, some topped with mines. Ditches, embedded steel beams, and minefields guarded against tank attack. These massive concrete structures are the legacy of an attempt to hold Europe captive. A concrete defensive structure used by the German Army in WWII is visible in the sea off the coast of Denmark along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. With almost 80% of the town destroyed, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcout was considered by the Allies as a crossroads on the Caen-Rennes road that could be used by the German army. The Germans in Brittany - Axis History In four actions, on August 8, 11, 12, and 13, the Germans lost 145 aircraft as against the British loss of 88. In the campaign, the Luftwaffe had no systematic or consistent plan of action: sometimes it tried to establish a blockade by the destruction of British shipping and ports; sometimes, to destroy Britains Fighter Command by combat and by the bombing of ground installations; and sometimes, to seek direct strategic results by attacks on London and other populous centres of industrial or political significance. In just over six weeks, German armed forces overran Belgium and the Netherlands, drove the British Expeditionary Force from the Continent, captured Paris, and forced the surrender of the French government. Continuing eastwards, we arrive at Mortain-Bocage. The US 20th Corps, led by General Walker, moved south the Nantes. The defenders of these positions included foreign volunteers and Waffen-SS troops. The Atlantic Wall (German: Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1945 along the western coast of Europe and Scandinavia as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain. Privacy Policy. But already, by September 15, on which day the British believed, albeit incorrectly, that they had scored their greatest success by destroying 185 German aircraft, Fighter Command had demonstrated to the Luftwaffe that it could not gain air ascendancy over Britain. Once liberated, the Allies planned to build an additional harbour at Quiberon. There could be several construction companies working on each site. The fortress doctrine evolved towards the end of World War II, when the German leadership had not yet accepted defeat, but had begun to realize that drastic measures were required to forestall inevitable offensives on the Reich. ago This thing looks like a solid piece of iron to me. [35], One of the best preserved parts is the Todt Battery. [5]:197 The permanent fortification of the Channel Islands was to make them into an impregnable fortress to be completed within 14 months. Intelligence from the Resistance informed the Americans that the Germans had 10,000 men in the ports. The commander in Guernsey produced books giving detailed pictures, plans and descriptions of the fortifications in the island, Festung Guernsey. The fortifications included colossal coastal guns, batteries, mortars, and artillery, and thousands of German troops were stationed in its defences. Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_World_War_II_strongholds&oldid=1165202384, Contained until after general German surrender, Contained until general German surrender. [6] In late 1943 sabotage dumps had been hidden for use by the militia.[7]. The plan was for both units to link up at Lorient. These were based in an arc around England from Norway to the Cherbourg Peninsula in northern coastal France. The British disposed some 600 frontline fighters to defend the country. In April of 1941, laborers began building the concrete behemoths in La Rochelle's harbor. This was attributable to a number of reasons. Comments 164. Regardless of such glitches, the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) did have its triumphs. This movement was to have but a brief existence. The Americans faced a similar resolve in Brest. [19] The islands were some of the most densely fortified areas in Europe, with a host of Hohlgangsanlage tunnels, casemates, and coastal artillery positions. The Germans confronted that portion of the Maginot Line facing the Saar River with fortifications of their own, the West Wall. Having built a 630-km (390 miles) long defensive barrier along its borders with France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in the 1930s, German planners took the strategic building project to a whole new level after the British victory in the Battle of Britain and started to work on a comprehensive system of bunkers, fortifications and obstacles with the primary objective of thwarting an Allied invasion. Barbed wire and antitank and antipersonnel mines interlaced the whole. For more information, please see our The problem was that the Americans advanced so quickly that the equipment was frequently dropped in areas already taken by the Americans so that the resistance fighters had to wait for it to be moved up to them. An American cemetery, in Montjoie-Saint-Martin, near Saint-James, and a German cemetery, in Huisnes-sur-Mer, opposite Mont-Saint-Michel. The Germans did not rely on the West Wall to halt an attack but merely to delay it until counterattacks by mobile reserves could eliminate any penetration. The Atlantic Wall (German: Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom, during World War II. 1 mo. Cookie Notice The following extract was taken from the original draft of "The Germans in Normandy" (see also the interview ). The German air attacks began on ports and airfields along the English Channel, where convoys were bombed and the air battle was joined. The first such stronghold was Stalingrad. A French officer based in London, Albert Eon, was flown in to lead the 20,000 men and women of the resistance based in Brittany. Bretons were not considered untermenschen (subhuman) by the Nazis, unlike the Jews and Gypsies for example. Like other adherents of the deposed French Monarchy, La Bretagne favored the restoration of Brittany's pre-1789 regional autonomy and opposed the secessionist policies of the Breton National Party. A short-lived breakaway faction of the Breton National Party, created in 1941, was the Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton (Breton National-Socialist Workers Movement) led by Thophile Jeusset. One reason for the speed of the Americans advance was German disarray after D-Day. The issue of communication is mentioned above. For passive antitank defense the line depended upon natural obstacles, such as rivers and lakes, and upon dragons teeth, five rows of pyramid-shaped reinforced concrete projections. The value of their concept remains undetermined; the line was not attacked until late 1944, after the German armies had incurred severe defeats and lacked adequate reserves. 9 Jul 2023. Next came unskilled forced labour, paid very little and treated quite harshly. They, along with the FFI, had to attack and destroy over 75 strong points in the city. Download this stock image: WW2: remains of the German Atlantic wall in Brittany. [13]:534, The OT obtained quotes for necessary works and signed contracts with each construction company setting out the price and terms of the contract, such as bonus payments for efficiency, including the wage rates and bonus payments for OT workers (which depended on their nationality and skill). Nazi scholar Rudolf Schlichting toured the region and sent the following comment to his superiors: "from a racial point of view there would be no objection to a Germanization of the Breton population. German fortification, Brittany, France. WW2. - 9GAG German ww2 blockhouse hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy [8] The Breton nationalists sought to defend the fact[citation needed] that their widespread image as an overtly fascist, even Nazi, movement had nothing to do with the actual political backgrounds of their activists, as varied as the Action franaise (royalist), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist), the separatist Breton National Party (PAB), or the French Communist Party. There was little time to set up supply bases and the whole issue of logistics became an ad hoc one. Concrete spikes erected by the Germans in WWII are visible in a field near Julianadorp in the Netherlands along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). In Germany, among the rebuilding frenzy of the late 40s and 50s, almost all the concrete fortifications where eradicated. 40, which called for the creation of an "Atlantic Wall". To prevent a possible takeover of the BNP by this splinter group, Yann Goulet appeared at Nantes to pronounce the excommunication of the Brezona as "deviationists." Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital With the Germans in disarray after D-Day, the drive into Brittany should have been relatively easy once the Cotentin Peninsula had been taken. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Moreover, the formal annexation of Alsace-Lorraine was never proclaimed. A concrete bunker used by the German Army in World War II sits atop a hill along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). World War II - Invasion, Low Countries, France | Britannica He refused. U-boats and surface raiders had used these bases, despite a bombing campaign by the RAF, and the Germans had launched Operation Cerberus from Brest in 1942. 1.2k. Remember to keep comments respectful and to follow our Community Guidelines. 18 Sep 1944. Ironically, after so much effort, German sabotage proved so effective that the liberated Breton ports were unusable for the remainder of the war.[5]. The Nantes PNB meeting, at which the Brezona movement had hoped to take control, took place without incident. Despite at least comparable surprise and the same so-called blitzkrieg methods, the Germans required more time to penetrate the more dispersed forts of the Stalin Line in the Soviet Union. A concrete bunker used by the German Army in WWII sits precariously on top of an eroding sea front in France along the route of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall in German). From 6 to 12 August 1944, Allies and Germans clashed in what is known as The Mortain Counter-Attack. World War II in Europe began on 1 September 1939, with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Local dignitaries tried to persuade the German commander at St. Malo, General Andreas von Aulock, to surrender the ancient city. In June and July 1940, as the Germans gradually redeployed their forces, the air battle moved inland over the interior of Britain. As one European country after another succumbed to the relentless onslaught of Hitlers Wehrmacht sweeping across the continent in the early 1940s and German armies stood, peering across the water, on the Atlantic coast, military planning to fortify the new borders of the Nazi empire were in full flow. One assumed reason for the rapid advance of the Americans was that the Germans, had moved most of their forces back to the heavily defended ports, resulting in fewer troops in the interior than expected. Several leading Breton activists regionalists, federalists and separatists joined the Resistance against the occupation[citation needed]. This party's ideas were anti-republican and complacent towards xenophobia and antisemitism, influenced by German racism and close to all the varieties of European fascism. Lohmann W. & Hildebrand H., Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956), Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands, British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War, "Hitler's Atlantic Wall: Should France preserve it? The Battle of Britain was thus won, and the invasion of England was postponed indefinitely by Hitler. [13]:75 The OT ran training courses to improve labour skills. In France, where civilian workers were employed to build many of the structures, the historical significance of the Atlantikwall as a historical monument remains controversial. ago About two feet of solid steel, six gun ports manned by an MG42 on rails, and a reinforced concrete interior to the shell. A German bunker used by the German Army during its occupation of the Channel Islands in WWII is visible on the coast of Jersey. I've seen this posted before, and I think thisnwas uses for target practice after the landing. Others joined the Resistance as individuals and after the war restarted their involvement in Breton nationalism. . The town was therefore massively bombed during the first half of June 1944. On 22 January 1941, the Vichy government named Herv Budes de Gubriant President of the National Commission for Agricultural Cooperation. hide. 4. ISBN 978-2-7373-4685-9; (in French), Stphane Simonnet (2015), Les poches de l'Atlantique: Les batailles oublies de la Libration Janvier 1944 - mai 1945, Tallandier, ISBN 979-10-210-0492-4, Bradham, R. To the Last Man: The Battle for Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula and Brittany, Frontline Books, 2008, Marcel Baudot, Liberation of Brittany , 223 p., Hachette, Paris, 1974, A. Harding Ganz, "Questionable Objective: The Brittany Ports, 1944. The History Learning Site, 20 Apr 2015. A captured German army chaplain asked von Aulock to surrender his forces there. World War II - Battle of Britain, RAF, Luftwaffe | Britannica
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