Forts, Fortifications, Citadels etc.

[manta22]

Just west of Bad Nauheim was Hitler's Western Headquarters, Adlerhorst & Ziegenberg- an enormous underground bunker complex. When I was atending Frankfurt American High School (FAHS Class of 1957), I had fantasies about getting into it and discovering a treasure trove of souvenirs. I did grab an enameled steel sign off the wall of one bunker, though. This is about 1955, my sister, Kathy, and me on the rubble of a destroyed section of the bunker in the color photos.
In those days it was not uncommon to see a farmer plowing his field around a concrete pillbox.

 

[nuuumannn]

There were a few posts on the Ukraine thread about forts and fortresses and some thought it might be a good idea to create a separate thread...so here goes.

How did I not know this was a thing?? Genius, Mark!

 

[nuuumannn]

This picture is taken from the rise between Asnelles, seen in the picture and Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France. That's Gold Beach on the far side of the town. On this spot the Germans had an OP.

Europe 55

Here's a plinth on which a radar dish was sighted, out of view from where I took the previous photo. The two low lying things in the water are a part of the artificial harbour created at Arromanches.

Europe 66

Down on the beach front at Asnelles, this would have held a PAK 40 or similar mobile field gun and was designed to spray the beach front following any invasion attempt, with the water facing side protected by the concrete shield.

Europe 59

The big bunker overlooking the site of Gold Beach. This had an eighty-eight and was responsible for destroying six British tanks wading ashore, before the gun was disabled by a 75 mm gun fired by the Essex Yeomanry, 6th June 1944.

Europe 60

Looking from the bunker toward the beach where British forces arrived.

Europe 61

Looking back toward the gun emplacement. The OP site from where the first two pictures were taken is on the hill between the bunker and the lookout tower, at where the Canuck flag is flying.

Europe 63 1

 

[Wurger]

 

[manta22]

Normandy in 2016.
There is a small medieval stone church in Angoville au Plain that was used by two American paratroop medics as an Aid Station. They went out, found wounded and carried them back here where they were laid on the church pews and treated. You can still see the bloodstains on the pews. At one point in the battle, the church fell into German hands and a German officer came into the church, saw that German soldiers were also being treated by the medics and he left them alone to carry on their work. At one point, a mortar shell came through the tile roof and hit the floor of the church's center aisle. Miraculously, it did not explode! In recognition of Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore, the church stained glass windows honor the paratroops and the two American medics.

 

[manta22]

Normandy- Pointe du Hoc 2016.

 

[manta22]

Normandy- St Mere Eglise 2016. A dummy representing an American paratrooper hangs from the church roof. A stained glass window honors the 82nd Airborn. It reads "They have come back".

 

[Wurger]

 

[manta22]

The Germans built a large submarine pen in St Nazaire, on the Atlantic coast of Brittany. The pen had 14 spaces for subs and was constructed with one million cubic yards of concrete. The roof was about 20 ft thick reinforced concrete. The entrance to the lagoon was through a fortified lock from the Loire estuary. This facility was next to the huge Normandie dry dock that was attacked and destroted by British commandos.

 

[J_P_C]

WWII Kriegsmarine torpedo weapon test facility - Gdynia, Poland

 

[J_P_C]

Krzyztopor castle - Ujazd, Poland

 

[J_P_C]

Nidzica castle - Czorsztyn, Poland

 

[Wurger]

 

[manta22]

One picture od Sword Beach, the others are Utah Beach. There is a small cafe at Utah Beach that is decorated with WW II mementos. Adjacent to the cafe is a communications bunker now a small museum. The cafe dog's name is "Churchill".

 

[Wurger]

 

[manta22]

Normandy- Omaha Beach 2016

 

[Wurger]

 

[manta22]

Normandy- Pegasus Bridge- captured by glider borne British troops led by Major John Howard.

 

[buffnut453]

The Germans built a large submarine pen in St Nazaire, on the Atlantic coast of Brittany. The pen had 14 spaces for subs and was constructed with one million cubic yards of concrete. The roof was about 20 ft thick reinforced concrete. The entrance to the lagoon was through a fortified lock from the Loire estuary. This facility was next to the huge Normandie dry dock that was attacked and destroted by British commandos.

I have a book about the St.Nazaire Raid that was led by Mountbatten. The book was handed around at a postwar reunion and has multiple signatures of survivors, including Mountbatten. The ship used in the raid was HMS Campbeltown which was one of the old WW1-vintage destroyers that Churchill managed to pry out of the US prior to December 1941.

Thanks for sharing these awesome pics. Definitely need to put St.Nazaire on the bucket-list of places to go in France.

 

[manta22]

I have a book about the St.Nazaire Raid that was led by Mountbatten. The book was handed around at a postwar reunion and has multiple signatures of survivors, including Mountbatten. The ship used in the raid was HMS Campbeltown which was one of the old WW1-vintage destroyers that Churchill managed to pry out of the US prior to December 1941.

Thanks for sharing these awesome pics. Definitely need to put St.Nazaire on the bucket-list of places to go in France.

Thanks. That book is a treasure with all those signatures!
Here is an excellent video about that raid: