Military

In spring of 1940, German armies occupied almost all of Western Europe:  Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and three-quarters of France. Along the entire coast, German troops stood ready to launch an attack on Great Britain. Then, after any potential threat to German hegemony from the west would be removed, Hitler could begin work on this war’s real objective: the destruction of the Soviet Union. The German Navy protected strategically important ports with coastal batteries and anti-aircraft batteries. Provisional defense systems were put in place along the coastlines of these occupied territories, since no serious landing was expected from across the Channel. Battle trenches, barbed wire, machine guns and light artillery were put in place at strategic locations. Other than that, the coast was viewed merely as a launch site for the assault on Britain. Ships were assembled in the ports ready for the crossing.

When the German air offensive did not yield the desired results, the invasion of Britain was first postponed and later cancelled. Meanwhile, England built up its forces and bombing raids on German targets increased steadily. As of June, 1941, Germany was also fighting a war on a long drawn-out eastern front and then the United Stated joined the war on the Allied side. At that point, the German supreme command realized that an invasion of Western Europe was only a matter of time. In January of 1942, construction was begun on light bunkers that would better protect the coastal defense forces and their ordnance. In the summer of that year, the supreme command decided that the scale of the coastal defenses needed to be increased substantially in order to be able to withstand a full-fledged invasion. In September of 1942, the Germans started building what was initially known as the Neue Westwall [New Western Wall], with reference to the older defense line – the Westwall, also known as Siegfried Linie – along the western border of the German Reich.  Soon thereafter, the chain of coastal defense fortifications became referred to by its own name: the Atlantikwall [Atlantic Wall].

The Atlantic Wall was made up of many small elements, which were concentrated and further fortified at strategically important locations. The smallest units were the so-called Widerstandsneste (resistance nests or cores of resistance) and the Stützpunkte (points of support). Each position usually had one specific function, e.g. coastal battery, command post, beach defense, hospital, anti-aircraft battery etc. The small Widerstandsneste usually consisted of several masonry structures, with maybe one or two heavy concrete bunkers. Stützpunkte were larger and, in addition to masonry works, they had several heavy concrete bunkers protecting the critical operations of the complex. Associated with a coastal battery, for example, would be various caliber guns, a fire control post, a command post, a gun crew/garrison and bunkers for ammunition. Provisions, water, spare parts, and small arms would be stored in brick buildings and the mess hall, connecting trenches and troop quarters would be masonry structures as well. The heavy concrete bunkers could withstand protracted shelling, whereas the masonry works only protected against small arms fire and shrapnel.

In strategically important locations such as ports, estuaries and coastal towns, multiple Widerstandsneste and Stützpunkte would be combined for the coordinated defense of the area. These sites would be surrounded by a tank barrier, in order for the fortification to be defended in all directions. Such a barrier could consist of concrete walls, dry ditches or canals, rows of steel railroad tracks set in a concrete foundation, a steep incline, either natural or man-made, or rows of concrete pyramids.  The positions within these tank obstacles would be fortified by the addition of heavy bunkers, and there would be extra troops stationed and supplies allocated. A Stützpunktgruppe [group of strong points] of this kind was expected to be capable of defending itself for several months.

In the strategically most important locations, such as naval bases and large seaports, the Stützpunktgruppen were further enlarged and fortified. These positions received multiple and special-function bunkers for the defense of their territory, the ports, manufacturing plants and communications infrastructure. These large, highly fortified areas were called a Verteidigungsbereich [defense zone] and some were later renamed/upgraded to Festung [fortress]. Occasionally, the Verteidigungsbereich or Festung might contain a last stronghold or reduit: a Kernwerk – a fort within a fort. This fort would consist of nothing but concrete bunkers and was capable, even under extreme duress, of fulfilling the core task of the Festung i.e. blocking access to the port.

The coast thus became lined with a string of smaller and larger “beads”. The German Air Force added its own positions: radar posts for the early detection of enemy bombers, because the coastline was the farthest west where this could be done. This is why anti-aircraft positions started to appear between existing coastal defense complexes. The German Navy added its own coastal radar posts in order to defend its ports and naval bases against enemy bombardment.

In other words, the Atlantic Wall was not a joint effort by the three branches of the armed forces. In fact, each section pursued its own interests at the expense of the competition. Even the Organisation Todt (OT), the umbrella-organization supervising the construction of the Atlantic Wall, had worries of its own: to process as much concrete as possible in the shortest period of time. In practical terms, construction was carried out by local contractors who worked under German supervision. This collaboration between the Dutch and the Germans was a matter of self-preservation, because such employment prevented deportation to Germany, laborers were assured housing and an income, and it enabled families to stay together.

In the fall of 1942, the construction program of the Atlantic Wall got off to a brisk start, but it wasn’t long before it met with setbacks. Effective protection against ever-increasing Allied air power necessitated reinforcements to bunkers that had already been completed. Furthermore, materials, transportation, fuel and manpower became scarce. The German army developed standardized bunker designs aimed at reducing materials, time and man-hours needed for the bunkers, but progress was increasingly frustrated by Allied air attacks. There were strategic issues to be resolved, too: should an invasion force be stopped and then repelled, or should it be prevented from reaching the beaches altogether? In the spring of 1944, the Atlantic Wall was reinforced with extensive tank barriers, barbed wire fences, mine fields and obstacles to air landings. The Germans continued construction as best they could. In June of 1944, the invasion force punctured the coastal defenses, although a number of Festungen remained in German hands while the Allied armies pushed on through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany proper. These holdout forts surrendered when the German Reich capitulated on May 8, 1945.