Slammer
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2013
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 125
People like the Maginot line, I think it has to do with the way the name rolls of the tongue, it feels good to vocalize Maginot.
But you must remember that the Maginot line had a German counterpart the Westwall, in typical ante-bellum GRRRR-WoofWoofery, Germany built a series for fortifications from the border of Switzerland to Holland, you know it as the Siegfried line.
There are quite a few bunkers here in the Tri-state area of Switzerland, France and Germany, at the moment the Rhein harbor is undergoing extension work and the shipping lanes are under development, due to the work the meandering "old" Rhein needs to have work done on the embankments and a re-opening of the flood planes.
Suddenly formally "lost" Westwall and Maginot bunkers have been found, most of them immediately fall to the wreckers might.
One or two may survive.
This one on the left of the Rhein in France was only uncovered last week, before that it was totally covered in overgrown woodland, it is behind heavy duty chain link fence and you can't get at it, only a few meters from the road, passed by many in the decades, seen by none.
It looks very French and of a WW1 design.
Almost opposite on the German side a machine gun bunker has stood "Wacht am Rhein" for almost eighty years. It was a good day to take Iron Pig and go bunker hunting.
Iron Pig says "Hi!"
Cold, almost eerie, strange because the day was so warm and nice.
Unlike British bunkers, these had to prove their worth in the fury of war.
The bunker is part of the defense of the dam you can see in the picture, seven Lancaster bombers attacked the dam in 1944, two bombers were shot down with the loss of all crew members, the dam suffered no damage.
A bit further down the road in Efringen-Kirchen one of the largest bunker systems of the Westwall was built into a limestone cliff called Isteiner Klotz. Most of the miles and miles of tunnels have been demolished by the limestone cement factory chewing at the hills.
However last winter When the trees were empty I caught the glimpse of concrete, yesterday I went for a look.
3.5 meter thick re-inforced concrete, collapsed like a house of cards.
I have the feeling that this a an example of a very rare Regelbau 687, or a so-called "Panther-turm," a speciality of the Westwall, in effect you take the cannon and tower of a Panther tank and incorporate them in a a bunker.
The business end, amazing how the bunker was blown from the inside, resulting in massive cracks in the 3.5 meter concrete.
At the top, where the tank coupola was positioned, a circular shaft that goes all the way to the bottom.
10 Meters straight down.
I ain't gonna go in there, not for love nor money...
..Not going there either.
Horrific damage, must have been quite a sight to see it blow.
But you must remember that the Maginot line had a German counterpart the Westwall, in typical ante-bellum GRRRR-WoofWoofery, Germany built a series for fortifications from the border of Switzerland to Holland, you know it as the Siegfried line.
There are quite a few bunkers here in the Tri-state area of Switzerland, France and Germany, at the moment the Rhein harbor is undergoing extension work and the shipping lanes are under development, due to the work the meandering "old" Rhein needs to have work done on the embankments and a re-opening of the flood planes.
Suddenly formally "lost" Westwall and Maginot bunkers have been found, most of them immediately fall to the wreckers might.
One or two may survive.
This one on the left of the Rhein in France was only uncovered last week, before that it was totally covered in overgrown woodland, it is behind heavy duty chain link fence and you can't get at it, only a few meters from the road, passed by many in the decades, seen by none.
It looks very French and of a WW1 design.
Almost opposite on the German side a machine gun bunker has stood "Wacht am Rhein" for almost eighty years. It was a good day to take Iron Pig and go bunker hunting.
Iron Pig says "Hi!"
Cold, almost eerie, strange because the day was so warm and nice.
Unlike British bunkers, these had to prove their worth in the fury of war.
The bunker is part of the defense of the dam you can see in the picture, seven Lancaster bombers attacked the dam in 1944, two bombers were shot down with the loss of all crew members, the dam suffered no damage.
A bit further down the road in Efringen-Kirchen one of the largest bunker systems of the Westwall was built into a limestone cliff called Isteiner Klotz. Most of the miles and miles of tunnels have been demolished by the limestone cement factory chewing at the hills.
However last winter When the trees were empty I caught the glimpse of concrete, yesterday I went for a look.
3.5 meter thick re-inforced concrete, collapsed like a house of cards.
I have the feeling that this a an example of a very rare Regelbau 687, or a so-called "Panther-turm," a speciality of the Westwall, in effect you take the cannon and tower of a Panther tank and incorporate them in a a bunker.
The business end, amazing how the bunker was blown from the inside, resulting in massive cracks in the 3.5 meter concrete.
At the top, where the tank coupola was positioned, a circular shaft that goes all the way to the bottom.
10 Meters straight down.
I ain't gonna go in there, not for love nor money...
..Not going there either.
Horrific damage, must have been quite a sight to see it blow.
