The Atlantic Wall (1): France

The Atlantic Wall consisted of so many strongpoints, gun batteries and other fortified positions that it is impossible in this short survey to even list them all. Instead, some typical examples of defensive positions will be described.

Naval coastal artillery

The Kriegsmarine coastal artillery batteries varied in composition depending on the type and number of guns. Some of the naval artillery regiments (Marine-Artillerie-Abteilungen) were composed primarily of heavy batteries. A good example of this was MAA.244 located on either side of Calais. This unit included six heavy batteries averaging three guns per battery. A typical example was MKB Oldenburg, located immediately east of Calais in Moulin Rouge. This battery was armed with a pair of 240mm SKL/50 guns, which were Czarist 254mm guns captured in 1915 and re-chambered by Krupp. Originally installed in 1940 in open gun pits as part of the Operation Seelöwe build-up, the batteries were substantially improved starting in 1942 with a pair of massive casemates, along with two H621 personnel shelters, a H606 searchlight stand and numerous supporting bunkers. The neighboring regiment to the west, MAA.242, had some of the most famous naval batteries including Batterie Todt. Positioned along the high ground of Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez, this regiment had an extensive array of observation bunkers on the promontories, as well as radar surveillance stations. These two regiments constituted the densest and most powerful assortment of naval coastal batteries on the Atlantic Wall. This heavy concentration was in part due to the strategic decision to heavily fortify the Pas-de-Calais but the batteries also served to interdict Allied shipping in the Channel.

^{One of the most scenic gun positions on the Opal Coast is MKB Arnika (La Crèche II) of 4./MAA.240, which consisted of four H671 casemates for 105mm SKC/32 U-boat guns. Located along the edge of a cliff to the north of Boulogne, one of the four casemates has already succumbed to erosion and fallen into the sea below. (Author’s collection)}

Strongpoint WN10, Les Dunes de Varreville

WN10 was a fairly typical infantry resistance nest containing a mixture of reinforced concrete bunkers and earthen entrenchments. This was one of three inter-related strongpoints manned by 4.Kompanie, Infanterie Regiment 919, 709.Infanterie Division, and located to the northwest of Utah Beach, covering an area 600m wide and 300m deep. This strongpoint was manned by a reinforced platoon of about 40 troops. It was designed to cover the beach in either direction through the use of enfilade gun casemates on either end, a 75mm H677 casemate on the northern end and a pair of Skoda 47mm 36(t) casemates on the southern end. Defenses of the position pointing seaward included a 50mm pedestal gun in a Vf600 gun pit, a French 47mm anti-tank gun in an entrenchment, and a pair of Renault FT tank turrets with 37mm guns on reinforced tobruks. The center of the position was honeycombed with trenches and there were eight machine-gun emplacements. Fire support for the forward positions came from a pair of 81mm mortars in tobruks toward the rear of the position and there was a single 50mm pedestal gun covering the rear of the site. There were numerous small bunkers serving both as ammunition and personnel shelters. Two of the ammunition shelters were reinforced concrete but only one of the larger personnel shelters was concrete; the rest were heavy log construction, buried for some added protection. There were several small observation posts that were linked to divisional artillery by means of field telephones. This strongpoint was subjected to heavy naval bombardment on D-Day. The surviving defenders offered little resistance and the position was overrun by the 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, late on June 6, 1944. Most of the concrete structures of this strongpoint still exist. (Artwork by Chris Taylor)

Most of the other major Festung ports had a similar concentration of naval artillery, though often of less imposing size. A typical battery was MKB Vasouy, the 9.Batterie of Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung 266 (9./MAA.266) located along the south bank of the Seine River opposite Le Havre on the outskirts of Honfleur. The battery’s mission was to cover the mouth of the Seine River. Its basic armament consisted of four 150mm Tbts.K.L/45 guns, essentially a coastal version of the standard 150mm destroyer gun with an effective range of 18km and a rate of fire of 1.5 rounds per minute. These were enclosed in four M272 Geschützschartenstand (gun casemates) arranged in a line a few hundred meters from the river’s edge. This type of casemate was fairly typical of Kriegsmarine designs but not especially common in France, with only six along the Channel coast and 21 elsewhere including Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. This particular type of casemate was first built in April 1943 and required 760m³ of concrete. The guns were directed from a M262 Leitstand für leichte Seezielbatterie (fire-control bunker for light naval battery) located on a rise on the left of the battery position, connected to each of the four gun casemates by buried electrical cable. Although typical of Kriegsmarine fire-control bunkers, it was not a particularly common type, with only four on the French Channel coast and ten more in the Netherlands. Like most naval fire-control bunkers, it was two stories with an observation post in the lower level, and an optical rangefinder post on the upper level. Inside the bunker was a control room where the target was plotted and the aiming data sent to the gun casemates. The battery had a single munitions bunker on the other end of the battery site, and two personnel bunkers immediately behind the gun casemates. In 1944, the battery was entirely surrounded by barbed wire, and there were four tobruks armed with machine guns for site defense.

^{The St. Chamond 155mm K420(f) gun was adapted for coastal defense with a special armored mount to fully enclose the embrasure. This example is mounted in an H679 casemate of MKB Gatteville of 7./HKAR.1261 near Cherbourg. (NARA)}

^{Tobruks were also used to form the basis for Panzerstellungen using surplus tank turrets like this French APX-R turret with 37mm gun being used in the strongpoint at St. Marcouf-les-Gougins on the Cotentin coast north of Utah Beach. (NARA)}

Army coastal artillery

Fortified army coastal artillery batteries came in three main varieties, the dedicated army coastal artillery regiments (HKAA/HKAR: Heeres-Küsten-Artillerie-Abteilung/-Regiment) deployed in 1942–44, the fortified divisional artillery battalions, and the railroad artillery batteries. The army coastal artillery regiments could be found along many sections of the coast but they were not evenly spread. So for example, naval batteries dominated the Pas-de-Calais, while army batteries dominated lower Normandy, including HKAR.1260 located along the D-Day beaches and HKAR.1261 on the eastern Cotentin coast to the southeast of Cherbourg. Some of the batteries in these regiments were originally naval batteries such as 3./HKAR.1261 in St. Marcouf and 4./HKAA.1260 at Longues-sur-Mer, which were absorbed into the army regiments in 1943 to create a unified command. The most extensive of these was HKAR.1261, which had ten batteries stretching from St. Martin-de-Varreville near Utah Beach along the Contentin coast to La Pernelle on the outskirts of Cherbourg. In general, these batteries were not as well equipped to deal with moving naval targets as the naval batteries, lacking radars or plotting rooms in their forward observation bunkers. This regiment had some of the best of the army gun casemates, usually including at least partial armored shields for the guns. For example, its 7.Batterie located in Gatteville in H679 casemates had their 155mm K420(f) guns behind a traversable armored shield that completely covered the embrasure; the 2.Batterie in Azeville had lighter 105mm K331(f) guns, and these had an armored shield which partially covered the embrasure. These dedicated coastal batteries tended to have an extensive array of support bunkers, including personnel shelters and ammunition bunkers.

^{Most major coastal batteries included personnel and munitions bunkers. MKB St. Marcouf of 3./HKAR 1261 near the Cotentin coast had several shelters including this H622, a very common type in France with over a thousand built, including the related H502 type. Although built originally as a naval battery, it was subordinated to an army artillery regiment. (Author’s collection)}

^{H633 bunker for M19 automatic mortar}

^{The H633 Kampfstand für M19 Maschinengranatwerfer was an example of the influence of the earlier Westwall fortification program. This weapon was specifically developed for the Westwall but by the time that production began in 1940, the requirement had ended. Instead, most were eventually used on the Atlantic Wall, and some 79 were installed in the H633 and H135 bunkers, with 48 on the French coast. The first was completed in April 1942 and construction required 845m³ of concrete, 40 tonnes of steel rebar and 6.3 tonnes of other steel items. The bunker was usually manned by a crew of 14 and living accommodation was provided opposite the fighting compartment. The entryway was protected by an armored machine-gun embrasure and led to the usual gas lock prior to access to the living quarters. In the center of the bunker was a small room containing the ventilation equipment as well as the defensive machine-gun position. The mortar itself was located under an armored cupola and consisted of a two-floor assembly with the mortar in the upper chamber and an automated ammunition system below. Behind the mortar chamber was an ammunition room and the bunker typically stored 3,944 50mm mortar bombs stowed on special six-round clips. The mortar was crewed by two soldiers, a gunner and loader, while the other soldiers in the bunker helped supply the ammunition or served on guard duty. The M19 automatic mortar fired at a maximum rate of 120 rounds per minute and had a range of 50 to 750m.}

^{Like most bunkers of this period, it was constructed to Standard B with walls 2m thick. Ideally, the bunker was supposed to be buried flush to the ground with access to the entryway via a trench. Along the coast, it was sometimes built with the back wall into a dune facing the sea, with the rest of the bunker exposed. In this case, the entryway was usually protected by a berm or a concrete wall to prevent direct fire against the door. Only one of these bunkers was located near the D-Day beaches, north of Utah Beach, but they were more common on the Pas-de-Calais, with at least one still surviving, although largely buried, near Oye-Plage. (Artwork by Chris Taylor)}

^{Tobruks were generally buried since their protection was only B1 standards, 1.5m thick or less. Usually the tobruk included a small room for ammunition storage and crew shelter, which was usually accessed through a small door, requiring an adjacent trench. (Author’s collection)}

In contrast to the dedicated coastal artillery batteries, the fortified divisional artillery batteries tended to have simpler garage casemates without specialized armored protection for the embrasure since their weapons were towed field artillery pieces. Supporting bunkers were often less extensive due to the relatively late date of construction of many of these sites, which did not begin in earnest until January 1944. The degree of fortification was quite uneven so for example, the famous Merville Battery attacked by British paratroopers on D-Day had a selection of bunkers comparable to that of dedicated coastal artillery batteries due to the early date of its fortification. Many divisional artillery battalions were not fortified at the time of the D-Day landings.

The army’s railroad artillery batteries fell out of favor after the 1940 bombardment campaign as rail-guns were withdrawn to other theaters. The Dombunker construction program was not extended beyond the Pas-de-Calais, and the remaining railroad gun batteries such as those on the Cotentin Pensinsula near Cherbourg did not have dedicated bombproof shelters.

^{The Vf600 gun pits were one of the most common defensive positions along the Atlantic Wall, in this case armed with a 50mm pedestal gun. These guns were an adaptation of obsolete 50mm tank guns on a simple pedestal mounting with a gun-shield for crew protection. This one in the outer ring of Cherbourg defenses has an umbrella cover overhead for camouflage and weather protection, a common improvisation. (NARA)}

Army infantry strongpoints

Infantry platoon and company strongpoints followed no particular pattern and tended to be constructed on the basis of available concrete supplies, available fortification weapons, and the terrain features of the coast where they were located.

In general, the infantry fortifications on the Atlantic Wall were not as comprehensive as those on the Westwall built along the German frontier in 1938–40. There were two reasons for this, the first of which was the lack of time and supplies to complete any comprehensive fortification of the entire French coastline. The second reason was tactical. Von Rundstedt and many German commanders were leery of extensive infantry fortification, as they feared it would lead to rigid tactics based around fixed sites. The commanders did not want the infantry cowering in their bunkers while the Allies flowed past the defenses, but expected them to get out of the bunkers when necessary and use conventional infantry tactics. As a result, OB West favored the use of a generous number of fortified machine-gun, mortar and anti-tank positions, but most of the infantry would fight from normal slit trenches. Personnel bunkers were provided for shelter during naval bombardment, but not for fighting.

^{A good example of a Vf600E gun pit for the widely used pedestal-mounted 50mm anti-craft gun, seen here in a strongpoint near Grand Vey near of the mouth of the Vire River in lower Normandy. A version of this gun pit was also used for other small crew-served weapons, such as the 20mm Flak 30 and Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns. (NARA)}

The 4.Kompanie of Infanterie Regiment 919, 709.Infanterie Division, provides an example. This company was deployed along the Cotentin coast from St. Martin-de-Varreville to Ravenoville, a distance about 4km wide. This sector was a few kilometers to the north of Utah Beach on D-Day. Since German tactical doctrine recommended that a company defend a sector 400 to 1,000m wide, this sector was about four to ten times wider than would be assigned to an unfortified company in normal field conditions.

This company was commanded by Oberleutnant Werner, numbered about 170 men and deployed in three strongpoints, WN10, WN11 and StP 12. Of the three strongpoints, WN10 on the right flank was by far the largest and most amply equipped and it is shown in more detail on illustration on page 35.

The WN11 strongpoint in the center was primarily the company headquarters. It had minefields on either side and its principal bunkers facing the beach included two tobruks with 37mm French tank turrets, an artillery observation bunker, two machine-gun entrenchments and a 50mm gun in a Vf600 gun pit. Bunkers within the strongpoint included a mortar and a machine-gun tobruk, and five personnel and munitions bunkers. The northernmost strongpoint, StP 12, was small but heavily fortified and included four tobruks with 37mm French tank turrets, a H612 enfilade casement with 75mm gun, a modified H677 casemate with 50mm gun and a large H644 observation bunker with armored cupola.

As can be seen from this description, several types of bunkers were very common in these infantry strongpoints. By far the most common were the tobruks, which were not a single type of bunker but rather a generic term for a wide range of small defensive works characterized by a small circular fighting position, hence their official designation as Ringstand. They received their popular name from a type of Italian defensive position used during the Tobruk fighting in 1942 which had been constructed from a length of circular cement pipe buried vertically in the sand to create a protected firing pit. The German version was more elaborate since it generally included one or more compartments for the protection of the crew and for ammunition stowage. They were most often used to create a machine-gun position, but another common variant was a variety of mortar pit for either the battalion 81mm mortars, or company 50mm mortars. A third common application was to mount the turret from French Renault FT, Renault R-35 or Hotchkiss H39 tanks on the tobruk, all armed with a version of the short 37mm tank gun.

^{Besides its use in Vf600 open gun pits, the 50mm pedestal gun was also located in enfilade casements such as this H667, part of the St. Marcouf-les-Gougins strongpoint. (NARA)}

^{One of the more elaborate mounts for the 50mm pedestal gun was the R600, which had the usual hexagonal gun pit on the top of the structure, but included an alert room and ammunition storage in a chamber below. Normally, this casemate would have been buried in the edge of a coastal dune, but this example on the beach at Wissant has been left stranded by coastal erosion since the war, exposing its interesting shape, including the pair of rear stairways to the gun pit above. (Author’s collection)}

Another widely used fighting position was the Vf600 gun pit, typically fit with the 50mm anti-craft gun. This was a six-sided open concrete emplacement with semi-protected cavities for ammunition stowage around its inner perimeter. The 50mm anti-craft gun was an adaptation of the obsolete 50mm tank gun mounted on a simple pedestal with a shield added for crew protection. Both the short (KwK 38) and long (KwK 39) versions of the gun were used and a number of these guns were re-bored to fire 75mm ammunition. An interesting hybrid of the tobruk and Vf600 was the Michelmannstand, developed by Col. Kurt Michelmann, the commander of Festungs Pioneer Stab 27 responsible for fortifying Dieppe and upper Normandy. This was a prefabricated reinforced concrete machine-gun pit that could be rapidly emplaced on beaches or other areas in lieu of more conventional and time-consuming construction techniques. Although it resembled a shrunken Vf600, its tactical application was closer to that of a tobruk.

^{One of the most effective tactical beach defense bunkers was the H677 enfilade casemate for the 88mm PaK 43/41 anti-tank gun. This could control 3km or more of coastline and 116 were built along the Atlantic Wall in France. This shows the interior of one located in the Varreville strongpoint north of Utah Beach. (NARA)}