The Atlantic Wall | Atlantikwall Europe

The Atlantic Wall 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.

The need for a stronger defense

During the height of the Second World War, Britain had almost completely fortified their coastlines, and a lot of their defences were based on plans that had been drawn up in the early years of the war. However, many had been rendered obsolete by the advent of the fighter-bomber and land-based strategic bomber, which now rendered the old casemates and gun emplacements largely useless. Even so, they still provided excellent cover for enemy convoys, and as the Allies began landing troops in Normandy in June 1944, the German commander, General Henning von Tresckow, feared that Allied naval forces would begin landing troops on the German coast in droves.

What was the Atlantic Wall?

The Atlantic Wall was established by the German military to defend northern France and the Channel Islands against the anticipated Allied invasion of the European mainland. It was set to be the last defence line of defence before Hitler’s Wehrmacht attempted to either reach Britain through Norway or to invade Russia through Poland. Several lines of defence were established along the Norwegian and Belgian coasts, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea, as well as defensive positions along the eastern coast of England. The line, while it managed to survive the war, was eventually breached in 1945 by Allied forces in Operation Zitadelle.

The Allies’ strategy to break through the wall

In order to engage the Nazi defences and to allow allied forces to bridge the English Channel to attack Germany from the west, the Allied forces planned to launch an amphibious assault, spearheaded by two divisions from the British and American armies. The operation would not only aim to breach the German defenses, but also to attempt to create a corridor to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, where the forces planned to build another seaplane base in preparation for a future invasion of Germany. The new British 11th Armoured Division was one of the divisions to be included in the operation, and it was to launch a three-pronged attack along with a British 1st Armoured Division.

How many casualties did the Atlantic Wall cause?

Very little exact information is known about the number of casualties as a result of the construction of the Atlantic Wall. What are the Atlantic Wall sites? The Atlantic Wall was constructed along the German coast, along the coasts of Denmark and Norway, as well as between Iceland and Norway. The exact location of the barrier has been traced as far east as Wilsnitz, now the Polish city of Częstochowa. The Atlantic Wall can be divided into three zones, from north to south: Phase A – Vattenfall Vattenfall This phase encompassed approximately 100 coastal sites and became known as the Vattenfall Zone. At its peak, the section along the east coast of Denmark consisted of 84 sites and was referred to as Phase A. The Vattenfall sites along the Baltic coast were prefabricated off-site.

Section 5. Conclusion

The Atlantic Wall involved building coast defences in coastal cities and strategic points along the coast in key places in occupied countries in the eastern Mediterranean and along the North Atlantic coast of the United Kingdom. The purpose of the Atlantic Wall was to limit the beachhead’s ability to move up-country, and possibly resupply by sea, once it had reached the desired invasion sites. Prior to the conclusion of the Second World War, the shoreline of the occupied countries in the east was sparsely defended by small coastal artillery batteries, radar stations and field bunkers, and often the defences were spread out along long stretches of coast in many cases even as far inland as a hundred or so km from the coast.