Existing comment:
Fortress Europe:
"It is my unshakable decision to make this front impregnable against every enemy."
-- Adolf Hitler, December 11, 1941
Since 1940, most of western Europe had been under Axis control. Hitler hoped to eliminate the threat of Allied invasion by building an impenetrable chain of defenses along the coast of Northwest Europe. These defenses, known as the "Atlantic Wall," were the backbone of what Hitler called "Fortress Europe." Begun in 1942, they included gun batteries, bunkers, observation towers, and radar posts.
As the likelihood of an Anglo-American invasion grew, Hitler focused most of is attention on the Atlantic Wall, particularly along the French coast. Because he expected an invasion force to strike at Pas-de-Calais, he placed a heavy concentration of coastal batteries in that region.
In January 1944, Hitler put Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of the Atlantic Wall. Rommel, the famed "Desert Fox" of the North African campaign, intensified the construction of beach defenses. By May 1944, he commanded 45 infantry, airborne, and panzer division. These forces would be the first to respond to the Allied invasion. |