** NOTE - This item is not always held in stock. We therefore advise a 7-14 day processing time for orders containing this item ** The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal defenses built by Nazi Germany along the western coast of Europe, stretching from Norway to the French-Spanish border. Constructed between 1942 and 1944, it was designed to prevent an Allied invasion. Key features of the Atlantic Wall included: - **Concrete Bunkers:** Fortified structures that housed artillery, machine guns, and observation posts. These bunkers were strategically placed to cover potential landing sites with interlocking fields of fire. - **Tank Traps and Obstacles:** Including anti-tank ditches, steel hedgehogs, and mines to impede the movement of invading forces. - **Artillery Batteries:** Heavily fortified gun emplacements with large-caliber coastal guns to target ships and landing craft. - **Infantry Strongpoints:** Fortified positions equipped with machine guns, mortars, and anti-aircraft guns to defend the beaches and hinterland. By 1944, the Atlantic Wall comprised thousands of these defensive structures. Despite its formidable appearance, the Wall had vulnerabilities, including incomplete sections and undermanned defenses. During the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, Allied forces managed to breach the Atlantic Wall, leveraging extensive planning, deception, and overwhelming air and naval bombardments to overcome the German fortifications and establish a foothold in Normandy. This is part of our D-Day set that will be able to link to other pieces forming part of the atalantic wall setup on your battlefield. These models have instructions but really lend themselves to your creative changes to make your beach defenses truely unique.
