The German army misled the Allies by building a fire control post near Oye in the shape of a church tower.
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.
The German army misled the Allies by building a fire control post near Oye in the shape of a church tower.
One of the dunes of Blériot-Plage, west of Calais, was crowned with a command post in the autumn of 1943. The coastal batteries of Waldam, Oldenburg, Bastion II, Fort Lapin, Sangatte and Lindemann were controlled from here.
During the Second World War, the Germans built an observation bunker between Zuydcoote and Leffrinckoucke on top of the dunes.
At the beginning of October 1944, the British Air Force bombed the sea dike at Ritthem in the Netherlands. The aim was to flood Walcheren and force away the German army.
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Eighty years ago, the world witnessed the fall of Berlin—and with it, the end of the deadliest conflict in human history. On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe (VE) Day marked the official surrender of Nazi Germany.
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