The Atlantic Wall… the First Line of Defense Against Allied Landings

1. The Atlantic Wall… the First Line of Defense Against Allied Landings Forces: Nazis in concrete bunkers and trenches Attackers: American, British, and Free French

3. Dunkirk Hitler's army was winning against France, despite help from more than 300,000 troops sent by Britain to help the French repel the invasion. The German army had surrounded and trapped most of the allied forces in the northernmost corner of France at the Dunkirk Beaches. Despite severe causalities the British troops could not retreat as their escape routes were all blocked by German soldiers… except for the sea. They decided to evacuate the soldiers by using Britain's navy, the largest at the time to evacuate the allied soldiers. It was not just there navy that helped but also privately owned boats and yachts. The person in charge of troop evacuation, Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay, who was the man who organized a rescue operation called Operation Dynamo. But there were certain problems with the operation. The troops had to be rescued within a week as the beaches they were crammed on and were being mercilessly shelled by the Nazis. The Germans had launched a few submarines near there so ships had to be carful. Nearer the beach the water was too shallow for the transport ships and destroyers to get close to the shore. What's more the British troops did not have enough vessels to transport the huge numbers of soldiers that were trapped on the beach. In the end most of the soldiers were successfully evacuated. This was at a cost of hundreds of thousands of tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles that would be hard to replace. The Nazis captured them and used them for their own reasons.

4. How It Came To Be When the Nazis took over France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway they knew the allies would try to strike back and invade. After the evacuations at Dunkirk the Germans had supplies to spare. They knew the allies would be back in greater numbers and knew that it would be by sea. They decided to build the Atlantic Wall. This series of fortifications consisted of bunkers, pill boxes, mines, and weapons that were lost at Dunkirk. They used tank tops as turrets, artillery lost there, and metal from vehicles they could not use to line the insides. They now knew if the allies came they would be ready.

6. Goliath: The Remote Control Bomb When the Nazis invaded France they brought with them an innovative idea that was far ahead of there time. It was a bomb capable of destroying even the toughest armor of a t-34 tank. This was because it was packed with180lbs. Of TNT. What made it so revolutionary was the fact that it was controlled by a remote from a person on another end of a wire. This bomb looks like a tank but is only 3 and a half feet long and two feet tall. It could drive up to the front of a target and explode with the push of a button.

8. Flamethrower??? The Germans had built a flamethrower like the Americans. What made it so unique was the fact it required no push of a button. The flamethrower would be buried in the sand with only its top nozzle sticking out. Then, when an allied soldier steps on a wire the flamethrower will ignite sending the unlucky soldier along with others reeling back into the ocean in pain. It would be able to go for awhile because it contained 30 liters of gasoline! The one pictured was only found in 2005!

9. PAK 40(75mm Anti-tank Gun) The pak gun as allied tankers liked to call it, was a powerful weapon. The weapon was accurate and packed enough of a punch to blow an allied tank sky high!!! This weapon is 20 meters long and weighed 1.5 tons.

10. V1/V2 Rocket The Nazis had by 1944 developed something no country used in war until after world war 2. Rockets were a way of hitting the enemy where it hurt without knowing it was coming until it was too late. They were silent until they were within a few mere miles within its target. If you heard it you would have mere seconds to duck and cover!!! The rockets were filled with enough explosives to blow up Buckingham palace… including the gardens. The only problem with the weapons was that they were inaccurate and it was hard to hit the right target. But with them the Nazis were able to strike fear in allies soldiers.

13. D-Day The Allies by June 1944 had an array of weapons. They wanted to surprise the Germans with weapons they never thought were possible. They came up with tanks that could float(They didn’t work and out of 28 only 2 made it to land.)Here are a few that you may not know about.

14. DUKW D=year of prototype (1942, Military year) U=Designates as an amphibious vehicle. K=All wheel drive W=Double axle at rear. Length=9.45 meters. Width= 2.5 meters Height=2.7 meters Load(max) 2.5 tons at land and 5 tons at sea. Max speed=70km/h land and 11 km/h at sea. Armament=12.7 M36 or 105mm HM2 cannon, 2 at minimum. 25 soldier maximum load.

16. BrowningM1919-A4 Over 400,000 of these models were produced for infantry. They had different models for airplanes and vehicles.