The Atlantic wall, meant to be an impregnable line of beach obstacles, bunkers and minefields, was breached in Normandy on most places within a couple of hours. The Allies did not attack where the “wall” was strongest but even so, the speed with which they pushed through it came as a surprise to the Allies.
These are Propaganda pictures of the Atlantik Wall around the Pas de Calais where the Germans had expected the invasion to take place. This area was fortified with a continues line of bunkers and gun positions, as these pictures will show.
Mines on the Beach in the Pas de Calais
Czech hedgehogs on the beach in the Pas de Calais
Dragons teeth being manufactured (?) near Calais
Heavy gun in a bunker near Calais
General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen (right) inspects the Atlantik wall shortly before the Allied invasion in Normandy
General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen (left) inspects the Atlantik wall shortly before the Allied invasion in Normandy
German stands guard behind a “Spanish rider” barbed wire barrier
Installing beach obstacles
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel with officers on inspection of wooden barriers on the beach before the Atlantic Wall, April 1944.
15,5cm gun 418(f) in a gun bunker (Regelbau 694)
A bunker under construction
A bunker under construction
A German soldier stands guard in front of an observation bunker
The massive batterie Lindeman, now buried under tons Channel Tunnel soil
Germans with a heavy machine gun in a “tobruk” look out over the channel
Anti-tank obstacles made of steel as part of the Atlantic Wall
Batterie Todt
German artillery in an unfinished open gunposition
Installing a heavy gun in a bunker
All images courtesy of Wikipedia / Bundesarchiv