Fortress Europe- European Fortifications Of World War II

by J E Kaufmann

  Of the few large Werkgruppe actually completed, the largest was Besseringen, near Edingen, a B-Werk with eleven blocks mounting no weapon larger than mortars and machine guns. A great deal of work was lavished on the huge fortress of Istein, which, nonetheless, never reached completion. Many of its subterranean works were excavated 60 meters below a ridge and the tunnel leading off to the rear support area, if completed, would have extended for over 2 km. The access gallery was beneath the ridge and opened into the railway tunnel that passed through it. The usine and service centers were also in this forward area. Six machine gun casemates were completed, some overlooking the Rhine and others, Istein. The types of cloches and weapons used on the East Wall were employed here and in other positions of the West Wall as well.

  A number of blockhouses built along the river, were not linked by galleries to Werkgruppe Istein.

  If completed according to specifications, Istein would have required a garrison of 2,600 men and been able to accommodate another thousand. The Werkgruppe would have incorporated a total of fifty combat positions, including emplacements for the new 50-mm automatic mortars, a 75-mm gun turret, two 170-mm gun batteries, and two 88-gun batteries. Plans also called for support facilities that included workshops, magazines, a huge tank garage, and so on.

  In addition to Istein, eleven more A-Werke and a large number of B Werke were planned for the area west of the Rhine. One Type A Werkgruppe would have consisted of six or more combat bunkers, a pair of entrance blocks, and a subterranean gallery system that would have rivaled the ouvrages of the Maginot Line. In fact, the plans for Werkgruppe Gerstfeldhohne, a few kilometers south of ZwibrUcken, were very reminiscent of a Maginot ouvrage, except for its blocks, which appear to have been smaller. Werkgruppe Gerstfeldhone was to have had two underground levels: the lower serving the entrances and the upper with a 4 km long tunnel linking fourteen combat positions for machine guns and howitzers. Work began on this Werkgruppe sometime in 1937.

  Plans were also drawn up for fourteen heavy Type A turret batteries similar to the ones designed for the East Wall, over 170 small B-Werke called Kleinstwerke, and twelve battery positions.12 Subterranean positions were to be used where needed, but no massive tunnel complex was projected. Blueprints were also drafted for a 50mm AT gun turret. Instead of being located at the end of each block as on the East Wall, the 105-mm gun turrets on the West Wall were to be located centrally on the block.

  About thirty-two B-Werke were completed, twenty-two of which were in the Pfalz Sector along with forty-eight B-Kleinstwerks (small B-Werke). The A-Werke and turret batteries were not begun and most such positions under construction in 1940 were never completed.

  Since the West Wall was designed for defense in depth, its key elements included massive mine fields and anti-tank obstacles defended by bunkers. The small number of large concrete bunker complexes was not a drawback because the small positions could effectively slow, stop, and entangle the enemy thanks to the massive obstacle barriers before them and artillery support.

  By the time the war began, the Todt Organization laborers were working on over 600 positions for light and heavy batteries, troop shelters, and munitions bunkers. The guns were usually placed in open positions. Five 170-mm gun batteries, a 240-mm gun battery, a 280-mm coast battery and a 305-mm gun battery, heavy rail guns, and several batteries of Czech 150-mm weapons supported the West Wall."

  According to Dieter Bettinger, the number of structures actually completed as of May 1940 was smaller than the official 22,000 claimed in 1939. Bettinger estimates that there was a total of 11,820 positions for infantry, 1,192 for anti-tank guns, 2,673 for artillery, and 1,544 for air defense. His figures also include 44 casemates for 47-mm anti-tank guns, 24 casemates for 75-mm Flak guns, 24 positions for 83.5-mm guns, 50 casemates for 88-mm Flak, 1 casemate for 105-mm Flak, 15 casemates for 170-mm naval guns, 2 casemates for 240-mm naval guns, 15 positions for 280-mm coastal defense howitzers, a pair of positions for 305-mm coastal defense guns, and 99 gun positions with crew quarters and munitions rooms. These numbers include 32 B-Werke that were also Panzerwerke.

  The famous concrete dragon's teeth of the West Wall were similar to those in the east but covered a greater distance. From the Rhine to the Aachen sector they covered 280 km. The 1938 type was usually poured in two bands of four rows and was able to stop a 20-ton armored vehicle. The new 1939 type usually formed five to six rows and could halt a 36-ton vehicle. The newer 1942 model was designed to check a 52-ton tank. Near crossing points they were five deep and flanked a concrete gate holding a huge steel beam.

  To conclude, the West Wall was essentially a position of relatively light defenses with great depth and formidable obstacles. The individual bunker positions, like those of the East Wall, normally housed about five days of supplies, whereas Werkgruppen had larger stores. The fortifications were manned by the field army and were not intended to remain isolated in battle for long periods of time.

  3. The Coast Defenses

  The North Sea approaches to the Elbe and the ports of Pillau and Swinemunde in the Baltic Sea, were the most vulnerable to attack in the event of war. These coast defenses could not be considered formidable by 1940 standards. They lacked sufficient artillery, had no anti-aircraft defenses, and had to rely on the new Kriegsmarine for defense rather than their own weapons. Thus the navy was the first line of defense and, although many of its vessels were new, it remained a small surface force. Its main advantage was in the Baltic, where its potential naval opponents were not much stronger.

  In the North Sea, Section Borkum Island, Section Norderney Island, and Section Wangerooge were assigned a naval artillery detachment, a naval anti-aircraft detachment, and a small flotilla each. Section Wangerooge activated a second naval artillery detachment after the war began. Section Emden had two naval anti-aircraft detachments, and Section Wilhelmshaven a flotilla and the 2nd Naval AntiAircraft Regiment. Section Wesermunde included two naval anti-aircraft detachments and Section Cuxhaven one anti-aircraft detachment and a flotilla. The small key island of Helgoland comprised a naval artillery detachment and a naval antiaircraft detachment. Section Brunsbiittel covered the west end of the Kiel Canal with the 14th Naval Anti-Aircraft Regiment. Section Sylt on the island off the Danish coast, had the 8th Naval Anti-Aircraft Regiment and three additional naval anti-aircraft detachments.

  In the Baltic, the West Baltic Command was assigned a naval artillery detachment and the 1st Naval Anti-Aircraft Regiment, at Laboe, on the east end of the Kiel Canal. In addition, eight more naval anti-aircraft detachments operated in the same area. The Pomeranian Command at Swinemunde included the 3rd Naval AntiAircraft Regiment and a naval artillery detachment, the East Baltic Command, two naval anti-aircraft detachments, Section Gotenhafen and Section Pillau, two naval anti-aircraft detachments and a naval artillery detachment, and Section Memel both a naval artillery and anti-aircraft detachment.

  The weapons used for coast defense included a number of older pieces from World War I, some of which were mounted on pedestal-type mounts with or without gun shields, and a few were in turrets or casemates. The old 240-mm SK (naval) guns were mounted in open barbettes and turrets. At Borkum a pair of old Russian 280-mm guns occupied open emplacements. The elderly 170-mm SK guns on pivot mounts formed batteries at Helgoland and Kiel. Forty 50-mm tank guns mounted on pivots in concrete pits supported the small 37-mm dual purpose Flak gun batteries.

  The heavy gun batteries defending the German coast when the war began included:

  North Sea Frisian Island Borkum Norderney Wangerooge Sylt Heligoland Baltic Sea Kiel Fehmarn Swinemunde Pillau Battery Oldenburg 2 x 240-mm SK guns Battery Coronel 4 x 280-mm SK guns 4 x 240-mm SK guns Battery Hamburg Battery Graf Spee 4 x 280-mm SK guns Battery Friedr. August 3 x 305-mm SK guns 4 x 240-mm SK guns Battery Skagerrak Battery Jakobsen 3 x 170-mm SK guns Battery Ehrhardt Schmidt 3 x 170-mm SK guns BatteryTirpitz 3 x 280-mm SK guns Battery Prinz Heinrich 2 x 280-mm SK guns 4 x 210-mm SK guns Plantagenbatterie Battery
Goeben 4 x 280-mm SK guns Battery Grosser Kurfiirst 4 x 280-mm SK guns

  In the 1930s the navy modernized some of the old forts retained after World War I, such as Fort Kugelbake at Cuxhaven. Kugelbake and neighboring Fort Grauerort, served as munitions depots in the 1930s since most of their weapons, such as the 280mm guns, had been removed for use on the Western Front during the Great War.

  Additions were made to the fort to accommodate its new role. By 1939 positions for a Naval Flak Battery were set up at Kugelbake, which may have included 88-mm guns with gun shields. Four 105-mm guns in turrets replaced these weapons by 1942. This battery was part of sixty others that formed the Luftverteidigungszone (Air Defense Zone) West in 1939.

  WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT

  Note: the above artillery weapons from 75-mm to 150-mm were not installed in the East Wall or West Wall because the positions for them were never built or completed. The exception were the weapons used in open firing stands.

  SUPPORTING ARTILLERY 305-mm SK** 240-mm SK MAXIMUM RANGE (METERS) 48,000 26,700 170-mm SK COASTAL ARTILLERY 305-mm SK 280-mm SK U45 240-mm SK 170-mm SK 150-mm SK C/28 150-mm SK U40 105-mm SK C/32 (Dual)*** 105-mm SK U60 (Dual) 88-mm SK C/35 75-mm Anti-Tank gun 50-mm Tank gun 37-mm Flak gun **SK= naval gun ***Dual= for both surface and Flak use. 27,000 48,000 36,100 26,700 27,200 23,500 20,000 15,300 13,500 12,300 9,800 6,500 (horizontal) 6,000

  German armor was coded according to an ingenious system: the first number referred to the Type, the letter P for Panzer or armor, and the following number to the year of production. For example, 10P7 meant Type 10 Armor for 1934, 424P01 means Type 424 Armor for 1937.

  The Germans also established a Standard Design or Regelbau for each type of bunker, which came into use for the building of the West Wall since most of the East Wall positions were built to meet the demands of the specific situation. The Inspectorate of Fortifications created numerous standard types that helped speed up construction on the West Wall. These standards allowed the use of prefabricated parts and equipment that included everything from armored pieces to doors. The Luftwaffe and Navy used the same Regelbau, but designed their own bunkers if the existing designs did not suit their needs. In 1939 the Series S-100 type was introduced followed in 1940 by S-400 and S-500 types. Selected types used on West Wall:

  (NOTE: See Der Westwall by Bettinger and Buren for complete listing).

  WORLD WAR II

  1. The East Wall

  When the war began in 1939, the East Wall consisted of a number of lightly armed Werkgruppen. The Frontier Guard Corps that garrisoned much of the line watched the war pass it by. In East Prussia the defenses were equally inactive. After 1942 much of the equipment in the east was shipped westward in response to the demand for armament on the new Atlantic Wall. In addition, some of the underground facilities were converted into factories.

  When Army Group Center on the Eastern Front was destroyed in the summer of 1944 by the Soviets, the Germans, realizing that their situation was becoming precarious, decided to quickly revitalize the East Wall. Trenches were dug and new Tobruck positions-small concrete shelters for small arms with a circular opening in the roof serving as the firing position-were built.

  Despite these last-ditch efforts on the part of the Germans, the Soviets moved relentlessly forward. In late January 1945, a Soviet armored formation penetrated the OWB Line. By April the Soviets crossed the Oder, many of the positions of the OWB were destroyed, and much of East Prussia was overrun, the final showdown taking place around Fortress Samland. German resistance in the East was fierce in most cases, but hopeless because their poorly armed positions were no match for the Russians.

  2. The West Wall

  The West Wall was first manned during the Czech Crisis of 1938, growing much stronger in the following year with additional construction. When the invasion of Poland began, the West Wall was entrusted to German frontier and reserve units backed by a few regular formations. As the Polish Campaign wound to a close, army divisions were rushed back to the West Wall.

  However, before the switch could happen, the French launched their Saar Offensive in support of Poland. Even though it was a half-hearted operation, the French should have been able to overcome the small German force in the West. Instead, the French invasion ground to a halt when the French units made their acquaintance with one of the most devastating weapons ever invented: the anti-personnel mine used in massive mine fields. Following this disastrous incursion, the French were accused of lack of aggressiveness, which is partially true, but what has been forgotten is the catastrophic psychological effect of a weapon that was only then making its debut in modern warfare.

  Many pre-war analysts expected the Second World War to revolve around the Maginot and Siegfried (i.e. West Wall) Lines. As history has shown, this did not happen. The Germans manned the West Wall with a weak army group and concentrated their efforts on a revised version of the Schlieffen Plan.

  Once victory was assured in the West, the Germans promptly lost interest in the completion of the West Wall. The grandiose plans for large A-Werke and B-Werke were soon abandoned. Much of the equipment used in the West Wall was removed and sent to the Atlantic Wall; only the mine fields and obstacles remained in place.

  However, the Germans did not completely abandon the idea of building forti fications. Late in the war they still designed the Regelbau 687 Bunker, mounting a Panther tank turret with its 75-mm gun, some of which were actually built on the Eastern Front (not the East Wall), and on the Gustav Line in Italy.

  In 1944 the Allies advancing upon the West Wall found its depth to be the greatest problem. It was the last barrier that remained between Germany and the Allies in late 1944 and was only breached after the massive offensives of 1945.

  3. The Coastal Defenses

  The anti-aircraft batteries on the North Sea ports saw little activity until 1941, except for their limited action against British bombers in 1939. Some of these positions were later improved and incorporated into the Atlantic Wall. The Germans moved most of the heavy coastal defense batteries of the North Sea and Baltic to other locations, after the fall of Norway and France. By 1944 these coastal areas of Germany were considered less vulnerable to invasion than the conquered territories, so they were not significantly updated, receiving only new Flak.

  Left: West Wall "Dragon's Teeth;' Type 1938. (Archives of Jurgen Kraft)

  Below: West Wall Luftwaffe Regelbau 11 Doppelgruppenunterstand of the Air Defense Zone (LVZ) with flanking defensive embrasure. Located near village of Eisen near Berkenfeld. The LVZ included over 1500 bunkers by 1940. (Peter Waltje)

  Above: OWB tunnel system. An example of the difference in size of the main tunnel and access tunnels. The installation of the rails for the subway was never completed. (Kaufmann)

  Above: One of many portable concrete bunkers for one man created late in the war. Robert Jurga standing next to the entrance. (Kaufmann)

  Below: Tobruk position used on OWB. These were used on most fronts. The entrance can be seen in the depression. Dragon's Teeth in the rear. (Kaufmann)

  West Wall, MG Bunker. Simple open position for a MG with light armored crenel.

  FFOWB Line Concrete Cloche with 6 embrasures. Imitation of 20P7 cloche.

  Cross section of 6 crenel cloche 20P7 for two MG and observation.

  Chapter 8

  BELGIUM

  BACKGROUND

  Born out of revolution in 1830 when it successfully broke away from the Netherlands, Belgium quickly gained recognition from other European nations, which guaranteed its neutrality. The last battle it fought in Europe in the nineteenth century was when it drove a Dutch invasion force from Antwerp. After that, Belgium saw no necessity to modernize its armed forces. However, twice in the twentieth century, its neutrality failed to keep it safe. Unlike Switzerland, Belgium could not rely on its geography for its security even though a 1839 treaty had removed the Dutch threat. The fact remained that its other borders continued to be vulnerable to its more aggressive neighbors. To c
omplicate the situation, Belgium occupied a major invasion route between the German states and France.

  The southern part of Belgium, occupied by French-speaking Walloons, was dominated by the hilly wooded terrain of the Ardennes. The rest of the country, occupied by the Flemish-speaking Germanic population, lay in the open North European Plain where some wooded regions and a few watercourses offered some limited defense and where most of the industry was located.

  After the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Belgium, concerned about future relations with the newly formed German Second Reich, decided to take steps to ensure its security. The task was assigned to the military engineer Henri Brialmont, who soon became one of the most prominent designers of fortifications of the century.

  After 1871 rings of forts were created to protect Liege, which blocked the invasion route from Germany, Namur, which guarded the road from France, and Antwerp, which was not only the largest city in Belgium but also a vital seaport. The capital, Brussels, located near the center of the triangle formed by these three fortresses, had no major defenses.

  Each of the fortress cities received a ring of new forts by the end of the nineteenth century. Although Antwerp already had an older ring of forts, it got a newer ring by 1914 to keep the city outside the range of newer models of enemy artillery. The Brialmont forts of Liege and Namur, mistakenly believed the best of the time, did not, in fact, compare favorably with the French and German forts of the period. In the first place, the Belgian method for pouring concrete and the lack of reinforcement made their forts vulnerable to heavy artillery. Secondly, Brialmont made the fatal error of concentrating all the heavy gun cupolas in a central citadel, making them easy targets for enemy fire. Infantry positions, added to the surface of the forts, had a limited value. The army neglected to set up defensive positions in the gaps between forts, which allowed an enemy to pass between the forts unhindered.