Space was tight, with about 1m2 (11sqft) per soldier, who was given a sleeping-place and a stool; the commanding officer had a chair. Scandinavia is often described by the same old clichs. South of Rott the Americans cracked a number of bunkers and at 1225 achieved a penetration in the German MLR. Scattered MG 42 and MG 34 emplacements added additional defence against both air and land targets. [citation needed]. After D-Day in June 1944, as the Allies raced across France and threatened to pierce into the Reich, the Germans fell back on the West Wall. It formed a section of a network of tank defenses and forts called the Hindenburg Line. ABOUT THE BATTLE FOR THE SIEGFRIED LINE The Battle of Hrtgen Forest was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944 between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II in the Hrtgen Forest, a 140 km2 (54 sq mi) area about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the Belgian-German border. . The Siegfried Line, known in German as the Westwall, was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. The Siegfried Line (or Westwall, as the Germans called it) was a defence line tracing over 630 kilometres of the western border of the German Reich, made up of more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and countless trenches and tank barriers. The name Limes was chosen because it comes from the Latin word meaning path or boundary and is often used by historians to describe the borders of the ancientRoman Empire. When the campaign finished, transportable weapons and materials (metal doors for instance) were removed from the Siegfried Line and used in other places such as the Atlantic Wall defences. . Once the war was over, and there were no tanks to stop, most of the structures were removed. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. There were also thousands of anti-tank obstacles, largely Drachenzhne or dragons teeth, laid between the manned structures. The armour-plated sections were designed to include the embrasures and their shutters, as well as armoured cupolas for 360 defence. The Siegfried Line was a series of fortifications on the western border of Germany, stretching more than 390 miles from Kleve, near the Dutch border, all the way to Weil am Rhein near the border of Switzerland. . Ch. [CDATA[ Dictionary of American History. Despite France's declaration of war on Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, there was no major combat at the Siegfried Line at the start of the campaign in the west, except for a minor offensive by the French. From September 1944 to March 1945 the Siegfried Line was subjected to a large-scale Allied offensive. The cheapest way to get from Luxembourg to Siegfried Line Museum costs only 31, and the quickest way takes just 1 hours. "Siegfried Line A crater blocked the tanks from crossing normally by road. Advancing from Roetgen, a small village at the border Belgium-Germany, to Rott they came across the first dragon teeth. Running from the Lowland countries to Germany's . //]]>. The Western Air Defence Zone (Luftverteidigungszone West or LVZ West) continued parallel to the two other lines toward the east, and consisted mainly of concrete flak foundations. MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE (26 September11 November 1918). Work on the various elements began in 1938 and lasted until 1940. However, each country has its own distinct style; Denmark's scene rivals traditional North American jazz, Norway tends to get experimental and Sweden treads the line between the two. This army group included US formations and the resulting fighting brought total US losses to approximately 68,000. This standardisation was the most effective use of scarce raw materials, transport and workers, but proved an ineffective tank barrier as US bulldozers simply pushed dirt bridges over these devices. The building of the line was overseen by Fritz Todt, a civil engineer who built many of Nazi Germanys military installations, as well as road networks and other large government projects. Siegfried Line is the line of fortification drawn up by Germany on its border with France. Water filled ditches and steel bars were also employed in tank defenses. German General Alfred Jodl said after the war that it was "little better than a building site in 1939", and when Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt inspected the line, the weak construction and insufficient weapons caused him to laugh. Siegfried Line East: France & Germany (at the time of Second World War) 16 Parallel North: . Tank traps still exist in many areas; in the Eifel, they run over several kilometres. I want to see hotel recommendations when using Rome2rio Working conditions were highly dangerous. If the contour of the land allowed it, water-filled ditches were dug instead of tank traps. David Crossland Nov 30, 2008 https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/siegfried-line, "Siegfried Line More embrasures were provided for riflemen, and the entire structure was constructed so as to be safe against poison gas. This respite helped the Germans mount their counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest, and the Allies did not break through the entire line until early 1945. The bunkers were still fitted with guns, which proved inadequate early in the war and were subsequently dismantled. The staggering success of German armed forces had led to the swift conquest of France. "Dragon's teeth" tank traps were also known as Hcker in German ('humps' or 'pimples' in English) because of their shape. The Siegfried Line, 1945 - Context By the end of January 1945, Germany forces had been squeezed out of the Bulge, the salient in the Allied lines created by the German Ardennes counteroffensive of December. Dictionary of American History. It included photos of strong concrete forts. The Roer River Dams. But whatever the period may lack in sweeping accomplishment it makes up in human drama and variety of combat actions. This elevated section had embrasures at the front and sides for machine guns. Sebastian Schne of the environment group Bund, inspects a Siegfried Line bunker in a forest south-west of Cologne, Germany. There were serious clashes along other parts of the Siegfried Line and soldiers in many bunkers refused to surrender, often fighting to the death. In World War Two, Germany once again erected a line of defense along her western flank. See details. Match all exact any words . Construction began immediately on a series of fortifications, but this was during the turbulent period before war was declared, so the Limes program was disguised as an archaeological expedition. On est juste sur la ligne Siegfried, cher ami. After the Battle of Hrtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge began, starting in the area south of the Hrtgenwald, between Monschau and the Luxembourgish town of Echternach. When asked about the Siegfried Line, General George S. Patton reportedly said "Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity. 17th Parallel defined the boundary between North Vietnam and South Vietnam before two were united. The name derived either from a German defensive position of World War I, the Siegfriedstellung, or from the Siegfried legend celebrated in Richard Wagner's operas; it was popularized by a British music hall tune, "We're Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line." When the existence of the Siegfried Line was announced, it was done with great fanfare. Running the whole length of the Franco-German border, it gave Germany protection against its most persistent enemy of the previous 70 years. Its theme is war, but it also views itself as a memorial to peace. These are visible from B265, there is a first line of small dragon's teeth (~18" high) with about 100 yards to this larger set (3-4' high). Prefer, Nathan. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Siegfried-Line, Knowitall.org - Liberation, Part 5 - The Siegfried Line | South Carolinians in WW II. Patton's Ghost Corps: Cracking the Siegfried Line. As the name suggests, these bunkers were the de-facto standard bunker design built by the Germans along the Siegfried Line and the Atlantic Wall as well. It formed a section of a network of tank defenses and forts called the Hindenburg Line. Transport of materials and workers from all across Germany was managed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn railway company, which took advantage of the well-developed strategic railway lines built on Germany's western border in World War I. The mothballing of the Siegfried Line was hurriedly undone. 20,000 laborers were summoned to work on the line. (October 27, 2022). Separating both are dragon's teeth to funnel tanks to certain crossing points. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"GSdJ6r6aRUrcWinPWf0w9OA5L7Tlu5voeEX28Uju7PI-86400-0"}; Many people outside Germany regarded the line as a waste of time and money, a fake deterrent at best. The Siegfried Line at the start of the Second World War had serious weaknesses. Were Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Linewas a popular morale-boosting song among the British soldiers as they were sent off to fight in France. They called up civilians to dig new communication trenches and make something that could be defended. Luckily for Germany, the Siegfried Line saw little action in the early war years, but it did play a role in what later became known as the Phony War, a stand-off between the opposing forces. Information and translations of siegfried line in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. It formed a section of a network of tank defenses and forts called the Hindenburg Line. Show algorithmically generated translations. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Despite lost keys and four years of rust, the defenses were re-opened and re-equipped. Updates? 27 Oct. 2022 . The Siegfried Line proved one of the toughest parts of Germany to take. Built as a series of forts, bunkers, and tank traps, the West Wall--known as the Siegfried Line to the Allies--stretched along Germany's western border. When the Allies began fighting their way through Normandy in 1944, it became apparent Germany would need to be defended. This brings the overall cost of the Siegfried Line Campaign, in US personnel, close to 140,000.[6]. Known to the Germans as the Westwall, it was begun in 1938 as a short belt of fortifications opposite France's Maginot Line but later was extended to the Swiss and Dutch frontiers. Among them were men who would go on to become President of the United States of America, Prime Minister of Great Britain, US Secretary of State, a movie star, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Standard construction elements such as large Regelbau bunkers, smaller concrete "pillboxes", and "dragon's teeth" anti-tank obstacles were built as part of each construction phase, sometimes by the thousands. In 1938, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of a 400-mile long, 2 1/2-mile wide fortified rampart. Download Unionpedia on your Android device! Much of it ran counter to the French Maginot Line, itself an . Getting 360,000 people to turn up and dig was still an impressive achievement. There are two typical sorts of barrier: Type 1938 with four rows of teeth getting higher toward the back, and Type 1939 with five rows of such teeth. between India and Pakistan. Siegfried Line is the line of fortification drawn up by Germany on its border with France. It stretched more than 630km (390mi); from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border with Switzerland and featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. The Mighty Endeavor: American Armed Forces in the European Theater in World War II. Siegfried Line Stock Photos. Washington, D.C: The Center for Military History, United States Army, 1984. March 27, 2017 ; 15.4K views ; Boundaries between Countries. April 28, 1989 12 AM PT. The Siegfried Line Campaign. Siegfried Line, system of pillboxes and strongpoints built along the German western frontier in the 1930s and greatly expanded in 1944. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Despite hundreds of thousands of laborers and uniformed soldiers overseeing their work in the border regions, Hitler made no announcement of what was underway. -. As well as tank obstacles, trenches, and barbed wire, the line included 22,000 bunkers and pillboxes. Home. During the build-up to WWII, the German government commissioned a line of defenses all along its border with France. The Aachen-Saar programme bunkers were similar to those of the Limes programme: Type 107 double MG casemates with concrete walls up to 3.5m (11ft) thick. Touted by German propagandists as impregnable, the line contributed to German success in bluffing France and Great Britain at Munich in 1938. Referred to as the Westwall. Boundaries between Countries. It was a massive task, but one that Hitler wanted to be done in secrecy. When the Allies reached the Siegfried Line, they spent six months fighting its defensive positions and the men holding them. At the start of the war, the opposing troops remained behind their own defence lines. The Americans, British, Canadians, and French suffered over a quarter of a million casualties while taking the line. One difference was that there were no embrasures at the front, only at the sides of the bunkers. 1 2. Surviving examples still retain signs warning "Walls have ears" and "Lights out when embrasures are open!". Flannan Isles Lighthouse: The unsolved mystery of the three missing keepers, Haytor Granite Tramway and its unique granite railway tracks. 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