Atlantic fortresses of the Third Reich
On January 19, 1944, Adolf Hitler declared 14 sections of France's Atlantic coastline, part of the so-called Atlantic Wall (German: Atlantikwall), as well as the occupied British Channel Islands, Atlantic fortresses (Atlantikfestungen). In English-language sources, they are referred to as "Atlantic pockets." Some of these fortresses, located far from the Western Front, staunchly resisted even after May 9, 1945.
Germany's Atlantic fortresses
The purpose of these fortress-ports was twofold: in the event of a landing of Western Allied troops with the aim of opening a Second Front, to prevent their replenishment and supply through these ports; and to attempt to preserve them as submarine bases, which played an important role in combat operations along the Allied communications ("fortresses" in the Bay of Biscay).
In addition, coastal batteries with high-powered guns were located within the "pockets" along the English Channel coast, capable of shelling not only enemy ships and vessels but sometimes even coastal areas of England. For example, the Lindemann battery, located near Calais and named after the commander of the battleship Bismarck, who perished with his ship, was equipped with three 40,6 cm (at that time, gun caliber in Germany was measured in centimeters, not millimeters) 40.6 cm SK C/34 guns with a range of up to 56 km. This allowed the English coastline from New Romney to the port of Ramsgate to be bombarded.
Gun of the Lindemann battery
The first to enter the battle were the German "fortresses" adjacent to the Allied landing area in the Bay of Seine (Operation Overlord), or, as it is more commonly called, in Normandy, which began on June 6, 1944. Since the German military command considered the coast between Boulogne and Dunkirk to be the most likely area for an enemy landing, the actual landing site was rather weakly fortified.
The disposition of German forces at the time of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.
One of the Allies' primary objectives was to capture the ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre, which would ensure reliable supplies for the landing troops.
The immediate capture of Cherbourg failed due to stubborn resistance from German units, and fighting lasted from June 6 to July 1. On June 18, American forces cut off German forces in the northern Cotentin Peninsula, and two days later, three Yankee divisions, with a total strength of 45,000, began an assault on the port city.
The American offensive on Cherbourg
The situation was exacerbated by a severe storm that raged in the Bay of Seine from June 18 to 22, destroying the Allied artificial port of Mulberry. Capturing the ports became a critical objective.
They were confronted by a lightly armed German fortress infantry division, whose average age was 36 years, sailors from coastal units and the crews of sunken ships, and workers from the Todt organization. Some of the defenders were members of the "Eastern Battalions," formed from Soviet prisoners of war who had defected to the enemy. Coastal batteries played a key role in the defense: four 240mm and eight 150mm guns.
One of Cherbourg's coastal guns
The operation was accompanied by massive, indiscriminate bombing from the sea and air, resulting in enormous losses among the "friendly" French population and negligible casualties among German troops. The city was razed to the ground.
Fire from the sea was carried out by 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and 11 destroyers of the American and British fleets... During artillery During the duel, nine Allied ships were damaged, while German guns suffered minor damage. Hundreds of tons of bombs rained down on German positions from the air. For example, on June 22, more than 600 bombers participated in the raids.
The American battleship Texas under fire from German coastal batteries at Cherbourg.
Although American troops managed to capture Cherbourg after bloody battles, the Germans were able to disable or mine all port facilities and sink 110 ships in the harbor, which completely blockaded the port.
Destruction in the port of Cherbourg
American Colonel Alvin J. Viney, who was tasked with developing a plan to commission the port, wrote:
The destruction of the port of Cherbourg was a masterpiece, without a doubt the most complete, intensive and well-planned operation of its kind in stories.
Nevertheless, engineering units and ships from the American and British fleets quickly managed to clear the port waters of sunken ships and mines (by July 13, 133 mines had been cleared), although four Allied ships were lost. The first transport was unloaded in Cherbourg on July 16, although it took three months for the port to reach full capacity. By the end of the war, 2,826,740 tons of cargo and 130,210 Allied soldiers and officers had passed through it.
From September 10 to 12, the 1st British Army Corps (three British infantry divisions and a Canadian motorized rifle regiment) carried out Operation Astonia to capture the important French port of Le Havre, located on the east coast of the Bay of Seine at the mouth of the river of the same name.
Battle of Le Havre
At the start of Operation Overlord, Le Havre was home to destroyers, torpedo boats, minesweepers and patrol ships, mostly converted from civilian vessels, as well as the "miracleweaponThe Kriegsmarine had the Neger and Marder single-man torpedoes and the Linze explosive boats. These forces attempted to counter the Allied fleet, but achieved little success, suffering heavy losses.
The Marder human-controlled torpedo
In turn, several hundred British aircraft struck the port of Le Havre on June 14–15, dropping thousands of tons of bombs. 5,4-ton Tollboy bombs were used to destroy the concrete bunkers housing the torpedo boats. The consequences were catastrophic: three destroyers, nine torpedo boats, 20 minesweepers and patrol ships, 19 tugs, and many other vessels were sunk. About a thousand German sailors perished. Some of the surviving ships managed to slip through the Allied blockade, and by August 30, the port was deserted.
On September 3, Lieutenant General John Crocker, commander of the British corps, offered the city's defenders the chance to surrender, threatening a massive bombardment if they did not. Colonel Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth, the commander of the German garrison, refused to capitulate and asked Crocker to allow the civilian population (approximately 50 Frenchmen still remained) to leave the city, but his request was refused.
Defenders of Le Havre
Massive aerial bombardment by the Royal Air Force began on September 18 and lasted until September 800. Approximately 80 tons of bombs were dropped, including a large number of incendiaries. The bombing primarily targeted not the German fortifications on the approaches to the city, but its central districts. Civilian casualties amounted to approximately 5000, while the Germans suffered between 8 and 19. 82% of buildings were destroyed, leaving 000 people homeless. Le Havre is considered the worst-damaged city in France during World War II.
Bombing of Le Havre
Le Havre after the bombing
From the sea, the British battleship Warspite and the monitor Erebus, armed with 381-mm guns, fired 4,100 tons of shells at coastal targets. They were opposed by German army and naval coastal batteries armed with 75-170-mm guns. The 170-mm guns managed to hit the Erebus twice from a range of 28 km, forcing it to return to England for repairs.
Monitor Erebus
After fierce fighting, the German garrison at Le Havre capitulated on September 12, with 11,300 men taken prisoner. The strategically important port was destroyed, the harbor and Seine estuary mined, and approximately 350 ships were sunk. The port received its first vessels only on October 2, but it did not return to full capacity until much later.
Destruction in the port of Le Havre
The next step of the Allied forces was the capture of the port fortresses on the northern coast of France from September 17 to 30: Boulogne, Calais, Saint-Malo, and Brest, including 17 coastal batteries and two single-gun 210mm railway batteries on the coast of the Strait of Pas-de-Calais. These batteries, armed with 75–406mm caliber guns and part of three naval artillery divisions (Marine Artillerie Abteilungen), almost completely blocked through-channel shipping until May 9, 1945.
The most powerful of these were the aforementioned 406mm Lindemann battery and the four-gun 380mm Todt battery (firing range up to 55 km). Despite the Allied bombing aviation (on September 20 alone, the battery was attacked by 633 bombers), Lindemann bombarded the coast of England until September 26, but was captured by the Canadians the next day.
Battery Todt proved a tough nut to crack for Canadian troops. Its assault lasted from September 17 to 29, 1944. Churchill Mk.3 and Mk.4 heavy tanks, Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tanks based on them, and AVR assault tanks armed with 305mm mortars were used. 305mm shells could penetrate concrete walls up to 3 meters thick. Despite this, the battery continued firing until September 26, when the Germans blew up the guns before retreating.
Gun of the Todt battery
This time, the Allies performed a "noble act"—at the request of the Germans, they allowed civilians in Boulogne and Calais to leave the battlefields. In addition to hundreds of bombers, the Canadian advance was supported by long-range coastal artillery from the English coast. By September 30, the Allies had captured the stretch of coast from Cherbourg to Calais, with approximately 30 Germans captured and their enemy losing approximately 1500. However, the ports were permanently disabled.
The capture of Boulogne
Allied tanks destroyed in Boulogne
The Capture of Calais
Until the end of the war, the port of Dunkirk, on the northern coast of France, remained in the hands of German troops under the command of Admiral Friedrich Frisius. It had been blockaded by Allied forces as early as early September 1944. The Germans established defensive fortifications along the perimeter of the "pocket," and minefields, including remotely controlled ones, flooded low-lying areas. Attempts by the Canadians and British to storm the city met with staunch resistance from its defenders, consisting of soldiers from the army, navy, air force, and SS, and resulted in serious losses. A further assault was abandoned, and a systematic siege was instituted. In October, the Czechoslovak Independent Armored Brigade assumed responsibility for the area.
The German garrison didn't limit itself to defense; it also carried out daring sorties. For example, on the night of September 26-27, the Germans attacked a village occupied by the British, blew up a windmill serving as an observation post, and partially captured the battalion command post, housed in a concrete bunker.
On October 4, the warring parties agreed to a 36-hour ceasefire to evacuate civilians and the German and British wounded. They also agreed to clear mines from the humanitarian corridor and subsequently install new minefields.
Occasionally, German torpedo boats and aircraft managed to deliver food and ammunition to the blockaded garrison, and on April 28 and May 2, 1945, a group of Seehund-class midget submarines managed to break through to the besieged port with supplies, and they returned with mail.
The Dunkirk garrison capitulated to the Czechoslovaks at 16:00 pm on May 9, one day after the general capitulation of the German armed forces.
Fighting for the 'festungs' on the coast of Dover
West of the Allied landing zone in Normandy, German forces continued to hold the Atlantikfestungen of Saint-Malo and Brest, where fierce and brutal fighting ensued. On one side, the fighting involved troops from the United States, Great Britain, and Free France. On the other, in addition to a hodgepodge of units from all branches of the Wehrmacht, including the Eastern Battalions, there were also sailors from the 1st Marine Division of the fascist Italian Social Republic (Mussolini's belated attempt to return to socialist ideas).
Battle of Saint-Malo
The fighting for Saint-Malo lasted from August 4 to 17, and the nearby island of Cézembre held out until September 2. The Germans used numerous ancient forts for defense (in the 16th and 17th centuries, Saint-Malo was the capital of French corsairs such as Duguay-Trouin and Surcouf; its grandiose city fortifications were built according to the designs of the famous fortification engineer Vauban). They were supported from the sea by a six-gun (captured French 194-mm guns from 1870) coastal battery from Cézembre Island. In turn, the Allies "softened" the enemy's defenses with massive bombardments. As a result, the ancient city was reduced to a pile of ruins.
Bombing of Saint Malo
American soldiers fight on the streets of Saint-Malo.
Sesembre Island, covering just 18 hectares, was staunchly defended by approximately 300 Germans and Italians under the command of Oberleutnant Richard Seuss. The Allies began shelling the island on August 9, dropping a total of 19,729 aerial bombs, including massive quantities of white phosphorus and napalm, and approximately 20,000 artillery shells.
A 194mm coastal gun on Sesambre Island, a modern photograph
Occasionally, small ships from Jersey (Channel Islands), which remained in Wehrmacht hands, managed to break through to Sescambre at night, delivering ammunition and evacuating the wounded. A hospital ship and barge were also sent to evacuate the wounded from the islands, but they were captured by the Allies. The depletion of fresh water supplies forced the island's defenders to capitulate. To this day, a significant portion of the island, littered with unexploded ordnance and mines, is fenced off with barbed wire and closed to the public.
Bombing of Sesambre Island
Napalm bomb explosion on Sesambre Island
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