Atlantic Wall - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Atlantic Wall Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,753,679,204 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Atlantic Wall

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.

Atlantic Wall

Fortifications built by the Germans in World War II on the North Sea and Atlantic coasts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. They proved largely ineffective against the Allied invasion in 1944.

The defences extended 2,750 km/1,700 mi from the North Cape to the Spanish frontier and did not actually form a continuous wall, but were grouped according to the likelihood of the area being used for landing. Millions of tons of concrete went into the construction of gun batteries, pillboxes, and tank obstacles, slave labour from Organization Todt was liberally employed, and the permanent works were interspersed with barbed wire, mines, anti-tank ditches, steel underwater obstacles, and other defensive devices. All were carefully studied by the Allies, who then set about devising methods of countering them when invasion took place. In the event, careful preparation and the experience of the Dieppe raid enabled the Allies to overcome these obstacles.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The area west of the river, including the port of Boulogne, was a key part of the Atlantic Wall with seven separate gun positions capable of all around fire.
Decentralized information stormed the beaches on June 6, 1944, and irreparably breached the Atlantic Wall by dusk.
Mindful of the booby-trapped beaches, Eisenhower knew he had to attack at low tide just after dawn, when the full extent of Rommel's deadly Atlantic Wall would be exposed.
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.