As if the Atlantic Wall defensive strongholds in the Ostend dunes were not enough, Nazi Germany erected a second line of defence in the hinterland.
The German army built a defense line along Europe's beaches from 1942 onwards to discourage an Allied attack: the Atlantikwall. Defending Europe's coasts was a daunting task. From Norway through Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, the coastline measured almost five thousand kilometers. The German army, therefore, concentrated on the most likely places for an Allied invasion: Normandy and Calais.
As if the Atlantic Wall defensive strongholds in the Ostend dunes were not enough, Nazi Germany erected a second line of defence in the hinterland.
The dunes of Raversijde, a seaside resort west of East, are home to not one but two German bunker complexes.
Anyone entering Nieuwpoort via Kinderlaan will come across the remains of the World War II German Widerstandsnest Karthauserdünen.
The Atlantic Wall, Nazi Germany's World War II defence line, stretched over 4,000 kilometres from the North Cape to the most south-westerly tip of France, namely Hendaye.
The Western Scheldt, the gateway to the port of Antwerp, played an essential role during World War II.
On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed on the coasts of Normandy. D-Day marked the downfall of the Nazi Empire and the end of World War II.
Just below Wissant, in Audinghen, the heavy guns of Battery Todt had a range of 55 kilometers, just far enough to hit England.
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